What is my activity level??

Fat2FitChick
Fat2FitChick Posts: 451 Member
edited September 25 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been here for over 2 months and have been losing weight at a pretty steady rate. I have always wondered if I have chosen the correct activity level to calculate my caloric needs. I originally put sedentary but now i am not so sure.

I am a stay home mom with a 4 year old at home with me. I am not very active but once a week I take him for a walk to the park and of course I have to push him on the swings and chase after him for about 30 minutes. I also do some light house work like dishes, vacuuming ( not every day, just every couple of days), dusting but for most of the day I am at my desk on the computer since I own a home business.

I work out for at least 45 minutes 6 days a week doing Turbo Fire which is high intensity cardio but I didn't count that towards my activity level.

Should I bump my activity level to lightly active or leave it at sedentary?

Replies

  • Bridgetc140
    Bridgetc140 Posts: 405 Member
    I'm in the same boat as you, stay at home mom. I put sedentary also; however, with the weather getting warmer I'm always more active..so I will probably change it to lightly active in about a month or so.
  • goal30Lori
    goal30Lori Posts: 307 Member
    You can't go wrong leaving it at sedentary, that's what I do. That way anything you do during the day(activity wise) could theoretically be counted as exercise, but it'll just make the weight come off more quickly if you don't count it!
  • ShelleyBowman
    ShelleyBowman Posts: 54 Member
    I would say Lightly Active... because of your housework & parenting plus your exercise routine, you are definitely not Sedentary.
    Good luck!
  • california_peach
    california_peach Posts: 1,809 Member
    Okay, so I am also a stay at home mom and I had mine set at sedentary. But I decided to change to lightly active, because well duh moms are more than slighty active and it DID NOT change my calories at all. They stayed the same. I don't what that is all about.
  • WashingtonGrown
    WashingtonGrown Posts: 97
    I would say Lightly Active... because of your housework & parenting plus your exercise routine, you are definitely not Sedentary.
    Good luck!

    I sit a lot during the day but I'm also up doing house work, grocery shopping, or just out doing stuff. I never just sit the entire day (8+ hours like a desk job). I'm also a SAHM and I chose lightly active, I've lost 4lbs in 2 weeks (15lbs in 2 and half months). So I agree with the above statement, but if what you have is working for you then not sure if changing it is really a good idea. Do you log your exercise? I log ALL exercise but not my daily activities like a hard cleaning, or a long grocery shopping day. I will however log the days I go to the zoo and walk for 2 hours or shop at the mall for more than an hour.
  • Shamrock40
    Shamrock40 Posts: 264
    bump
  • Fat2FitChick
    Fat2FitChick Posts: 451 Member
    Yes I do log all of my scheduled exercise but not daily chores such as housework, walking th market when grocery shopping etc...
  • Jess21684
    Jess21684 Posts: 202 Member
    personally i think it sounds like you were right and you sound more sedentary. I put myself Lightly active ( I work retail and am on my feet all day long and never sit while im at work) I dont know but it says lightly active would be people who work sales and nurse and stuff like that and the way you described your typical day, it sounds more sedentary and since you work at a computer. You cant go wrong leaving it at the lowest even if you may be considered lightly active. if your not certain, i would just leave it at where its at.. nothing bad will come from it if you are in fact burning a lil more than planned, the only thing you will have to lose is weight!!!!
  • timplar
    timplar Posts: 19
    Yes! you need to move that up to Lightly Active. Here is the deal. Although you are at home, you don't sit in one spot for hours on end. Think about a person that has a desk job, because they are sitting there working, they are staple to their desk for hours at a time. I know when I'm at home, I get up and move around my house so much because I go and do this and I go and do that. Most people will do a lot of that throughout the course of a day. Move it up.
  • Fat2FitChick
    Fat2FitChick Posts: 451 Member
    Thanks for your help guys! I think I will leave it where it is and if my weight loss starts to stall I will change it to lightly active. You don't know what works for you unless you try it right? So I'll give it a few more weeks and then change it.
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