I would say lightly active also.

Ok, I was thinking of going with moderate which is 3-5 hours a week of moderate exercise.
Think that is too much?

Lisa

i think moderate exercise implies fairly intense cardio/weight lifting, where your heart rate is going to be quite elevated. I doubt you would be in that kind of range cleaning.

Do you sit during the day at your job or are you constantly on your feet? I would think that being on your feet all day picking up after people in addition to gardening, etc. would fall more in the moderate, but since I'm confused about me, I may be wrong.

Question: Does Scooby have formal definitions of their exercise levels? What does light vs. moderate mean in terms of its calculations? Is it about what types of exercise you do or is it more about length of time? I ask because I do bodyrock, which is somewhat high intensity, but short time, so I'm questioning my moderate selection.

I assume he has borrowed them from here


Harris Benedict Formula
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

When you first start out, it's all trial and error anyway.

Pick a daily calorie allowance, stick to it for 2 weeks, then adjust up or down by 100 if you need to

These are guidelines after all, find what works for you.

If you are going the TDEE route, ignore what MFP (or any other online calorie burning thing) says, they are unreliable at best and you don't need these figures anyway.

Like i said, pick a calorie allowance and then find your way from there, make things as simple as possible.

This may help

What is Physical Activity?
Physical activity simply means movement of the body that uses energy. Walking, gardening, briskly pushing a baby stroller, climbing the stairs, playing soccer, or dancing the night away are all good examples of being active. For health benefits, physical activity should be moderate or vigorous intensity.

Moderate physical activities include:

Walking briskly (about 3 ½ miles per hour)
Bicycling (less than 10 miles per hour)
General gardening (raking, trimming shrubs)
Dancing
Golf (walking and carrying clubs)
Water aerobics
Canoeing
Tennis (doubles)
Vigorous physical activities include:

Running/jogging (5 miles per hour)
Walking very fast (4 ½ miles per hour)
Bicycling (more than 10 miles per hour)
Heavy yard work, such as chopping wood
Swimming (freestyle laps)
Aerobics
Basketball (competitive)
Tennis (singles)
You can choose moderate or vigorous intensity activities, or a mix of both each week. Activities can be considered vigorous, moderate, or light in intensity. This depends on the extent to which they make you breathe harder and your heart beat faster.

Only moderate and vigorous intensity activities count toward meeting your physical activity needs. With vigorous activities, you get similar health benefits in half the time it takes you with moderate ones. You can replace some or all of your moderate activity with vigorous activity. Although you are moving, light intensity activities do not increase your heart rate, so you should not count these towards meeting the physical activity recommendations. These activities include walking at a casual pace, such as while grocery shopping, and doing light household chores.

From ChooseMyPlate.gov http://www.choosemyplate.gov/physical-activity/what.html