What is my activity level

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19MKCKE95
19MKCKE95 Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
I am a stay at home mom of 9 kids. I have a son 18, Two daughters 16 & 15. Three more sons 13,12 & 9. A girl 7 and two more boys 4 &1. I am up at 6 am every school morning to help the first 5 school kids get clothes, breakfast and not fight or miss their buses. Then I get the other 2 school kids up for breakfast, and my husband gets up and drives them to school and goes to work. Then I feed the last 2 kids their breakfast. The rest of the day is going back and forth between dishes, laundry, child care and cleaning the house. If it is nice out I spend a good part of this time outside with the 2 youngest boys. None of the house work ever really gets finished. Then at 3 pm one by one all the first 5 kids come home from school with all their different needs. Then at 3:20:pm I pick the 2 other kids up from school. (This is my 10 min. walk. ) Then the rest of the afternoon is spent fixing dinner and breaking up little fights between my kids. If it is nice I spend a good amount of this time out side with the kids too. My 18 yr old son has his own work schedule and social life. I usually try to put my 3 boys to work around the house. My 16 and 15 yr old girls usually have a ton of homework. My husband works late and usually is not home for dinner. He usually calls me at this time. After dinner the evening is spent cleaning up from dinner and keeping the kids from causing too much trouble. Then I give the 3 youngest their baths. Then usually my husband comes home around 8 pm. The rest of the night is spent as a family and I get to bed by about 11 pm most nights. Do I have a sedentary life?

Replies

  • literique
    literique Posts: 85 Member
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    Lightly active.
  • SusanKing1981
    SusanKing1981 Posts: 257 Member
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    What do you think???

    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)

    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)

    Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)

    Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)

  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Reading your post made me dizzy and I only have 2 kids. I would have to estimate light active assuming that you are on your feet most of the day. But I have to say congratulations on not losing your mind.
  • kikichewie
    kikichewie Posts: 276 Member
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    I wouldn't call it sedentary at all. I'd guess you could classify yourself as active. I have one toddler and I classify myself as slightly active bc I generally take naps when she does and I still do a lot of sitting. Story time, just holding her, sitting with her during bath time, etc. A lot of my household stuff involves standing mostly in one place, like cooking, putting dishes away, folding clothes, etc. In the morning I sit and drink my tea, and after the baby is in bed we watch TV. So all that sitting adds up, even in a busy day (even though it feels exhausting). Oh, and driving is sitting. So I'm guessing you're at least slightly active to active. I wouldn't guess higher than that unless you have a job that keeps you on your feet or constantly moving and lifting. Hope this helps as a comparison for you.
  • chriscolh
    chriscolh Posts: 127 Member
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    No, you do not have a sedentary life. You are incredibly busy, and are constantly on the move. I have 5 boys, and can't keep up with everything - I can't imagine 9! That being said, when calculating my daily calorie intake, I do choose "sedentary." I want to know what my base level should be. When I do something that makes me sweat, I log it. And if I'm having a very hungry day, I'll eat back my exercise calories. Overall though, I try to keep my calorie intake within 100 cals. of my "sedentary" calorie goal. When I do this, I lose 1-1.5 lbs a week. I'm still quite fluffy, and I think as I get closer to goal this will slow down, but this is what works for me. Play with your numbers a little bit. If it makes you feel better, go up an activity level. But if you were to do that, you might want to be a little more careful about not going over if you're looking for weight loss. I guess I like "sedentary" because it gives me a little more slush room.
    Hope that was what you were looking for!
    Good luck!
  • Angierae75
    Angierae75 Posts: 417 Member
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    My advice for anyone with days like this is to get a Fitbit. Set yourself to sedentary, and then eat back the extra calories it gives you.

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