Daily activities

jenmom2myboys

Hey guys I am transitioning from losing weight to maintenance. What would you put as daily activities for a stay at home mom, sedentary or lightly active. My 2 older sons are at school and I am home with a 3 year old. He isnt a maniac so I am not constantly chasing him. I actually feel like I would fall somewhere inbetweeen those 2 categories. I am not on my feet all day but I dont sit all day either. I would think more sitting, I would like some input thanks!

SezxyStef

I personally think SAHM are not sedentary...

Even if you aren't chasing kids around you are playing with him, up doing other stuff like tidying, cleaning, laundry etc...

jenmom2myboys

I wish there was something inbetween because I definitely dont think I am as active as a waitress.

tinkbaby101

I'm a SAHM too, and I've always taken "sedentary" to mean something along the lines of desk job or couch potato, where you're essentially confined to a chair the majority of the day. I have mine set to lightly active, even though I don't feel like I move around as much as a waitress, either. With cleaning and chores, playing, shopping, etc, I feel like I'm closer to lightly active than sedentary.

lioness803

I would definitely do lightly active. Sedentary would be if you were sitting basically all day.

jennifer_417

I would definitely do lightly active. Sedentary would be if you were sitting basically all day.

+1

SezxyStef

I wish there was something inbetween because I definitely dont think I am as active as a waitress.

I think you would be surprised at how much walking a waitress doesn't do...

I did that for years in High school and yes you were busy for breakfast rush, lunch etc but a lot of your day is spent sitting or just standing which I understands burns more calories than sitting but I never lost weight while waitressing...

doctorsookie

Definitely lightly active. SAHMs are not sedentary by a long shot.:glasses:

doctorsookie

I wish there was something inbetween because I definitely dont think I am as active as a waitress.

I think you would be surprised at how much walking a waitress doesn't do...

I did that for years in High school and yes you were busy for breakfast rush, lunch etc but a lot of your day is spent sitting or just standing which I understands burns more calories than sitting but I never lost weight while waitressing...

Thanks, I always wondered about this.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I doubt you're sedentary. I'm employed part time and it's a desk job, and I don't have any kids, and I'm still lightly active (usually get just over 5000 steps, which is the threshold).

heathl39

Taking the little one on a nice walk a few times a week might help.

jenmom2myboys

I wish there was something inbetween because I definitely dont think I am as active as a waitress.

I think you would be surprised at how much walking a waitress doesn't do...

I did that for years in High school and yes you were busy for breakfast rush, lunch etc but a lot of your day is spent sitting or just standing which I understands burns more calories than sitting but I never lost weight while waitressing...

. I never thought about it that way, thanks.

jenmom2myboys

Thanks everyone. I will up it and see how it goes.

nxd10

I wouldn't guess. I'd by a $39 fitbit zip, use it to calculate calories, set yourself to sedentary and eat them back.

I have been a stay-at-home mom. I used to have crazy busy days and sit around days. Same as I do now working outside the home. Some Saturdays I burn 3000 calories. Others I don't hit 1000 steps by 5 because I'm doing bills and working on homework with my son.

The zip - or any other pedometer - helps you say how your days go and I find it motivating to get off my bottom. I also find that - just like MFP - it's eduational. I walk to work every day. I walk home for lunch. I run up and down stairs all day. I still don't hit 10,000 steps unless I make an effort to walk for 45 minutes. And, as I say, I can sit and work all day on Saturday and not hit 1000 steps.

Any kind of shopping though - even the grocery store or running into Walmart - and I get an extra 3000 steps.

I don't think we estimate well. Just my 2 cents.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I wouldn't guess. I'd by a $39 fitbit zip, use it to calculate calories, set yourself to sedentary and eat them back.

I have been a stay-at-home mom. I used to have crazy busy days and sit around days. Same as I do now working outside the home. Some Saturdays I burn 3000 calories. Others I don't hit 1000 steps by 5 because I'm doing bills and working on homework with my son.

The zip - or any other pedometer - helps you say how your days go and I find it motivating to get off my bottom. I also find that - just like MFP - it's eduational. I walk to work every day. I walk home for lunch. I run up and down stairs all day. I still don't hit 10,000 steps unless I make an effort to walk for 45 minutes. And, as I say, I can sit and work all day on Saturday and not hit 1000 steps.

Any kind of shopping though - even the grocery store or running into Walmart - and I get an extra 3000 steps.

I don't think we estimate well. Just my 2 cents.

This is what I would do if it were feasible right now-- it's in the plans for the future.

For the time being I bought a $5 pedometer. It's about as good as you'd expect a $5 pedometer to be, but it has helped me figure out whether I'm sedentary or lightly active.

AsaThorsWoman

Sedentary. Even office workers walk about a bit, but that is still considered sedentary.

nxd10

Sedentary. Even office workers walk about a bit, but that is still considered sedentary.

So true. I think it's 4500 steps to get over sedentary.

ILiftHeavy - I love my old pedometer. I'm not sure they work worse than the zip, they just log automatically.

rbiss

Lightly active. For comparison, I have a sedentary desk job and I log maybe 3000 steps unless I am chasing something down. On weekends, through normal stuff, I can log up to 10,000 steps.

rbiss

I wish there was something inbetween because I definitely dont think I am as active as a waitress.

You can always get a fitbit and set it up allowing for negative calorie adjustments. That way, it wil calculate what you are actually burning throughout the day and it will automatically adjust you calories. I sort of hate it because it gives you a moving target every day. I leave mine un-synced just to get an idea of how many calories I burn in a day through normal activity but right now need that set target.

morethenjustmum

I am set to lightly active here is an example of my average day

Getting my three boys up, dressed, fed, jackets ect and a 15min walk to school and back i average 2000 steps, and that is all between 730-9 am. Then me and the baby take a nap and i dont move for 2 hours. Then we play and pick the boys up and make dinner, pjs and general tidying and such. By the time all this is done i am at about 7000 steps or there abouts.
I walk my dogs for 30 and hit 10000. I let my fit bit calculate anything over this average.

karmac0matic

I have set mine to sedentary so that each day will be its own adventure in my exercise journal. Like, if I have it at active, I can't really log going to work for a shift because it's already included, whereas if I set it at sedentary, I can actually see the differences day to day of how I work.

Idk just makes more sense to me to set the activity level low and add in what you do during the day, even if it's like a quick add 200 calories of spending time with your children.

jenmom2myboys

okay now I am confused again, lol. Maybe I should get a fitbit. I agree with the poster saying every day is different. Some days I am up doing stuff, some days not so much. With my 2 older in school now. I do less. Summer may be busier. I could put it at lightly actove but do an average of sedentary /lightly active and shoot for inbetween.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

okay now I am confused again, lol. Maybe I should get a fitbit. I agree with the poster saying every day is different. Some days I am up doinf stuff, some days not so much. With my 2 older in school now. I do less. Maybe I should keep it at sedentary for now and see how my maintenance goes and then I can adjust accordingly. Summer may be busier.

If you want a fitbit that's a good way to go-- my friends who have them love them.

If you're not crazy about that idea then just pick one, doesn't matter which, and then reevaluate based on your results in a month.

jenmom2myboys

I do want to get something like a fitbit. I will have to look into it. Thanks!

ilfaith

I am a SAHM and I do have a Fitbit. I will say that even on the days that I don't workout or play tennis, I still average over 10,000 steps just running around after my kids, doing things around the house, and taking care of errands. On the days I make a point of exercising I have no problem getting 15,000-20,000 steps in.

Grammanut

My DIL is a SAHM and yesterday she had 15,222 steps on her Omron Ped. by 5pm

einzweidrei

I wouldn't guess. I'd by a $39 fitbit zip, use it to calculate calories, set yourself to sedentary and eat them back.

I have been a stay-at-home mom. I used to have crazy busy days and sit around days. Same as I do now working outside the home. Some Saturdays I burn 3000 calories. Others I don't hit 1000 steps by 5 because I'm doing bills and working on homework with my son.

The zip - or any other pedometer - helps you say how your days go and I find it motivating to get off my bottom. I also find that - just like MFP - it's eduational. I walk to work every day. I walk home for lunch. I run up and down stairs all day. I still don't hit 10,000 steps unless I make an effort to walk for 45 minutes. And, as I say, I can sit and work all day on Saturday and not hit 1000 steps.

Any kind of shopping though - even the grocery store or running into Walmart - and I get an extra 3000 steps.

I don't think we estimate well. Just my 2 cents.

Just wanted to throw in my two cents...

I bought a FitBit and then deactivated it. It had my calories set lower than MFP even had and I had upped mine from what MFP said because I found that I could. So I was always overeating, according to FitBit, which really started to drive me crazy. It's not necessarily more accurate.

MargaretSobers

Yes, I am also a SAHM. I hate to go to gym, according to me it is a waste of time. I prefer some housework as gardening, vacuuming, mowing the lawn, mopping, tidying the house, taking care of children and moving around them whole day, washing the dishes, doing the laundry and many other small works. They are sufficient to keep me fit.