What is my actual activity level?

QueenofCups

I am having a hard time figuring out what to say my activity level is on this site and others, while I am trying to determine BMR.
I am a stay at home Mom. I see other people put "chores/housecleaning" in as exercise (and have done once or twice myself), but that's basically what my day consists of. But I don't know if what I do would constitute "Active" or "slightly active" or what.
If someone could give me their opinion on this I would greatly appreciate it. I feel like if I am ever going to get a handle on my fitness/nutrition I need to have a more accurate idea of where I am at.
I only have 5-10 lbs left to lose and no matter how much of a deficit I have, no lbs are coming off. It keeps going down a few pounds, up 3, down 2, up 3 more, etc. So I am thinking it might be I am not eating ENOUGH. (This is a pattern of mine). But I don't want to consistently up my calories incorrectly and just gain all my weight back.

So here's the skinny: I have 2 kids, they are 3 and 2 years old. I play with them, take care of them, etc. Normal Mom stuff. I change diapers on the floor instead of a changing table (although only my son is in diapers now, yipee!).
I "cook"/prepare 3 meals a day and wash the dishes after each meal. I sit at the computer probably a total of 2 hrs a day intermittently and then have about 3-4 hrs of TV time in the evening. The rest of the time I am on my feet for the most part. Vacuuming, sweeping, cleaning up toys, etc.

So what do you think I should put my activity level at? (not counting exercise)

nancymmorris

I would not record anything as extra exercise if it is what you normally do daily. I feel that it takes that into consideration when you enter your activity level.

LinsdayMV

If I compare your day job (momming, interacting with your busy children, maintaining a household and all the busyness that that can bring) with my day job (sitting at a desk for 8 hours, except when I walk to the office meeting room or bathroom) I would say your day is definitely more active than mine! So, if a sit on your butt desk job is "sedentary", I would definitely count your lifestyle as somehow more active than that. Not sure if that helps but I wanted to draw a picture of what a truly inactive day could look like! ))

superstah00

I felt like I was just reading about myself in what you typed LOL. I am a stay at home mom also. I have 4 kids that are 10,6,4, and 8 mos. I also run a daycare. So, like you, I spend 90 percent of my day chasing someone or changing diapers or cleaning! :yawn: I had my activity level set at "lightly active" because I figured that chasing kids and stuff would put me to that. I lost NOTHNG!! So, I set it to sedentary, and I've lost almost 20 lbs since Jan 10. I think everyone's body is different though too. Make sure you eat your allotted calories and make sure if you exercise you eat those back also. Good luck, I hope this helped, and I'm going to friend request you now:laugh:

Tamstar1985

i am a housewife (perhaps junior housewife? coz we're not married yet?) who works in a training centre on the weekends... i typically am very active at home, cooking, cleaning and whatnot... but i still set my activity level to "sedentary", because i think the estimates for active or slightly active lifestyles are rather high. also, when i clean or do other household activites, i never count them into my exercise! they honestly don't add up to much unless i am going up and down 6 flights of stairs several times to take out my garbage, etc. even then, i just consider that bonus activity

funkyspunky871

Definitely take a week or two and find out what your weight loss is like set at a different activity level. If you gain/maintain, then obviously you're not as active as you originally thought. If you can get away with eating more calories and still lose weight, WHY THE HELL NOT?! Why eat 1200 calories a day when you can lose weight eating 1500? Haha. That's why I also advocate trying to eat exercise calories back. I'm insanely jealous of all the people who can!

But, yeah, give it a few weeks. See for yourself.

QueenofCups

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I think I am going to try the eating a little more for a while and see what happens. I was eating 1200 calories for a little while and didn't lose anything and even gained a few pounds at one point. But when I upped my calories to 1500 I started to lose. Then I went back to 1200 b/c I was getting greedy with the weight loss and now I am at a standstill/fluctuation again. So back to eating more I guess. IDK. Anyway, thanks again.

jenniferhiggins

if you workout 7 days a week at the gym would that be very active or active. I am a housewife, but do not have kids yet.

BobbyClerici

I started with very active and wish there was a very, very active.
You need to tweak this and measure your results against not only this setting but how you log in burned calories and exercise calories.

Once you find your zone, that's when the fun really begins.