What physical activity level should I choose?

The Daily Plate calculates your recommended daily calorie goal based on several factors, including your age, height, weight, and your daily activity level.

That daily activity level can be a source of confusion sometimes. The dropdown menu on the calorie goal page explains the options we have to choose from pretty well, ranging from Sedentary to Extremely Active.

The source of confusion is this: Our MyPlate tracking also takes into account your daily fitness. You can track your daily exercise, like running, weight-lifting, yoga, cardiovascular workout machines, etc. But you can also track activities like "sitting in class" or "driving to work."

In general, we recommend that if you choose any of the "active" activity levels on the calorie goal page, that you don't track activities like "sitting in class" or "driving to work" separately; those are already included in our calculations for you based on your activity level. If you prefer to track those activities yourself, we recommend choosing the "sedentary" activity level instead.

Example: If your job has you up on your feet most of the day and you take the stairs a few times each day, you'd probably want to choose the "lightly active" or "moderately active" lifestyle. Then, if you workout twice a week for an hour on the elliptical machine, track that exercise separately, since it's "above and beyond" your daily activity level that you set.