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activity levels?

sylvabelle89
sylvabelle89 Posts: 61 Member
edited January 7 in Health and Weight Loss
question. since I'm at home most of the time taking care of my two children do you all think my activity level would be light activity or sedentary? i do exercise also. but i also sit in the floor playing a lot. Just wondering because that makes a big difference in my caloric goal. Thanks.

Replies

  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Do you clean? Do laundry? Carry kids up and down stairs? I am pretty active when I'm home with my kids (weekends), and it seems MFP estimates pretty low for a lot of people (I have mine set to very active even though I work a desk job). I'd go with the higher setting.
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    how much exercise do you do?

    generally speaking the sedentary setting gives out crazy numbers that only seem to make sense for people in a coma or on bedrest. go with lightly active at a minimum, if not higher.
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
    I put sedentary. I'm moving around making meals, going on potty breaks, down on the floor playing, etc. but between the two, sedentary was more realistic for me. If I work out or just have an especially active day, I'll add it in the exercise log.
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
    What kind of crazy numbers? Like higher calories or lower?
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    What kind of crazy numbers? Like higher calories or lower?

    low

    like BusyLady above, i have to jack it up to "very active" even though i'm sedentary at work and at home (aside from the vigorous exercise that i do 4-6x/week).

    if i put sedentary i would be hundreds of calories low every day.
  • sylvabelle89
    sylvabelle89 Posts: 61 Member
    I clean and do laundry. fix lunch, change diapers, take out trash. I've been exercising about 3-4 x a week for 45-75 min of cardio each time.
  • sylvabelle89
    sylvabelle89 Posts: 61 Member
    I noticed zaph0d that you've lost quite a chunk of weight. did it make an enormous difference when you were eating fewer calories?
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    I clean and do laundry. fix lunch, change diapers, take out trash. I've been exercising about 3-4 x a week for 45-75 min of cardio each time.

    lightly active or very active for sure. you might also consider just doing a TDEE-based approach.

    i would also cut down some cardio and start strength training yesterday, but that's getting off topic :)
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
    I put sedentary and my goal comes out to 1200 calories/day. But yesterday and today I took a 30 minute walk (woopdy doo) and it gave me an extra 100 something calories. I'll try to do 30 min on the elliptical tonight and that'll be another 400 or so. If I set mine to anything other than sedentary, it would want me to eat thousands of calories over what it says now. Eek!
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    I noticed zaph0d that you've lost quite a chunk of weight. did it make an enormous difference when you were eating fewer calories?

    it made an enormous difference in that i was always hungry. i only followed the mfp recommended calories for sedentary for a short amount of time. i learned very quickly to bump up my intake.
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