Stay at home moms

I had this problem too. I'm not sitting all day long like at a desk job but I'm also not doing anything that really requires effort. Like you my days consists of laundry dishes and toddler play. I logged it as a desk job though because I didn't know which one to chose.

Hi-

I need your help to determine the appropriate activity level for my MFP profile. I don't want to put in sedentary and log in all my exercises, because honestly, besides walking the dog and gardening I don't do any formal exercise. I have a 20 mo. old and a 4 year old. I run around after them, play (a lot), chase, puzzles, I'm constantly cleaning the house, laundry, folding, tiding up. I do get breaks in the day, when they nap for about 2 hours and that's when I cook. I don't ever feel like my daily work is going to make me break a sweat. I don't know how to honestly gauge my activity level. What have you done? Thanks for your help.

i would try adding a brisk 30 minute walk to your daily routine

I thought I would be sedentary for sure, but when I got my fitbit I realized that chasing after kids, taking them to school and doing housework works out to lightly active most days. On major grocery shopping days and days we have activities with the kids then my calorie burn pushes me to the moderately active area. On no day has my burn ever been sedentary with kids at home. We do much more then you give yourself credit for.

Im a stay at home mom with a 5 year old and 21 month old and I always log days that I do heavy cleaning but It doesnt feel like I burned a lot of calories so I also workout 6 days a week (I do my workouts when my youngest takes her nap) and I walk 4-5 miles a couple times a week.

I'm a stay at home mom of 5. I have mine set to sedentary and then I log my workouts.

I'm not a stay at home mom but I dont consider anything other than actual working out to be anything more than sedentary.

true

I don't log daily activity with the kids, or housekeeping etc... I did those things when I was over weight so I don't count them now.
I just count purposeful exercise.

BUT I have a fitbit so I know I burn at minimum 2200 calories a day doing nothing but being a Mom all day, and up to 3000 if I physically do Insanity or go to the gym or run.

For the sake of comparison I work 2 days a week at a hospital for 8 hours (when my hubby is at home) and at the hospital I am on my feet 65% to 75% of the shift. On those days I burn 2450 calories average - only 250 more then when I am just at home with my kids and I would consider working days moderately active.

So for me my cal burn works out like this (based on my Fitbit which has been quite regular).

Stay at home Mom days: 2100-2250cals
Days in hospital working: 2450 cals (this is almost always dead on give or take 15 calories)
Days where I go to the gym or do insanity: 2800 - 3000 cals
Days I do insanity and hot yoga (this happened twice, I am not that crazy on a regular basis): 3000 - 3250

My new caloric intake: 1400 plus attempting to eat back on average 50% of my exercise calories. I personally suck at eating that much though. I have a hard time getting over 1700 most days.

Granted I am in a plateau right now but I should bust through that any minute now.

I try to still get 1400 cal after I exercise, but that seems hard for me right now, I am working up to it but some days with all the activity I still end up at 1000, other days I am 1800. I guess it evens out in the end

I put sedentary as well. It puts me at 1470 calories right now. I exercise and usually don't log it and I don't eat it back (really because I have no clue how much I burn, if I just do a 30 minutes walk I'll log it though), I just don't sweat it when I'm over a little (which rarely happens).

I've never been a super active sahm though. I have twins and they play together a lot, and cleaning the house just seems like a waste of time considering how much mess they make, so I don't do it that often.

I do sedentary but honestly, besides working out, walking the dog, light chores, and boinking, I am a pretty lazy person. HAHA If I was a neat freak scrubbing and vacuuming all the time I might put otherwise...I do maintenance at sedentary and get 1550 cal a day + do a 30 min jillian michaels video 5-6 days a week + 30-45 minutes a day of 3.5 mph walking (and sometimes eat back some of those calories) and I don't lose or gain (which is fine with me.)

(My kids are 10 and 7 so not babies needing chasing all the time.)

I don't actually count the stuff I do at work or home on a routine basis as exercise. I am on my feet the majority of the day at work and I clean at home, but the way I look at it..."I got fat doing all those things, so must not be burning too many calories." When my kids were little and even now, I get up an hour earlier than I need to (that mean 4am for me) and do work out videos at the house before I go to work. Right now, it is just low impact aerobics, but every little bit extra helps that is above and beyond your normal routine.