Pick the activity level that describes the week you actually had, not the one you plan to have — and if you are between two, pick the lower. On our calorie calculator the five levels are not vague adjectives; each one is a fixed pair of answers (training sessions per week, movement outside training) that adds up to an exact multiplier. Knowing what each level really means makes the choice much easier.
The five levels and their multipliers (table)
The dropdown labels are the ones on the calculator. Behind each label the calculator sets two values — a training base and a NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis — all the movement that is not training) adjustment — and adds them:
| Dropdown label | Training sessions it assumes | Movement outside training it assumes | Multiplier | TDEE on an 1,830 kcal BMR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary (little or no exercise) | 0 (base 1.2) | sedentary (−0.05) | 1.15 | 2,105 kcal |
| Lightly active (1–3 days/week) | 1–3 (base 1.375) | sedentary (−0.05) | 1.325 | 2,425 kcal |
| Moderately active (3–5 days/week) | 4–6 (base 1.55) | moderate (0) | 1.55 | 2,837 kcal |
| Very active (6–7 days/week) | 7+ (base 1.725) | very active (+0.10) | 1.825 | 3,340 kcal |
| Extra active (2× per day or physical job) | 7+ (base 1.725) | very active (+0.10) | 1.825 | 3,340 kcal |
TDEE = round(BMR × multiplier)
Two things the table makes plain. First, the steps are not even: 320 kcal from sedentary to lightly active, 412 to moderately active, 503 to very active. Rounding yourself up one level is a bigger decision than it looks. Second, "very active" and "extra active" produce the same multiplier. The calculator keeps both labels because they describe different lives, but it has no higher setting than 1.825; a two-a-day athlete and a roofer who lifts daily get the same estimate and are both expected to correct it with data.
Training days versus job activity
The most common mistake is counting a physical job as "training days", or counting training as "being active all day". They are different inputs and the app treats them differently.
- Training sessions are the deliberate ones — lifting, running, a sport. Count what you did in a typical recent week. Three sessions is 1–3; five is 4–6; a genuine every-day habit is 7+.
- Job and life activity is NEAT: on your feet for the shift, walking the commute, carrying, cleaning, chasing children. It is a bigger share of the day than training for most people, and it is asked about as its own question in the MacroDiet onboarding ("sedentary", "moderate", "very active").
On the calculator's single dropdown the two are bundled, so translate: a desk worker training three times a week is "lightly active" (1.325) — the sedentary NEAT is doing real work in that number. A nurse on 12-hour shifts who does not train is closer to "moderately active" than to "sedentary", because the job is the activity. Someone who both trains five times a week and works on their feet is honestly "very active" even without 7+ sessions, since the calculator has no "4–6 sessions + very active NEAT" rung (that combination, 1.65, exists only in the app's two-question onboarding).
In plain terms: sessions go in the training question; standing, walking and lifting for a living go in the movement question.
If you are between two levels
Take the lower one. Two reasons:
- The penalty is asymmetric. Choosing too high a level sets a maintenance figure above your real expenditure; a "deficit" built on it can be no deficit at all, and nothing happens for weeks. Choosing too low means the trend moves faster than planned, which you notice within a fortnight and fix by raising the target.
- People round up. Self-reported activity is optimistic almost everywhere it has been checked. If you are torn, that is usually the higher option flattering you.
If the honest answer is "I train four times most weeks but sit the rest of the time", that is a 4–6 base with sedentary NEAT — 1.50, a rung the dropdown does not have. Pick "lightly active" (1.325) rather than "moderately active" (1.55) and expect the data to nudge you up, or use the macro calculator and MacroDiet's onboarding, which ask the two questions separately.
Recheck after two weeks
Whatever you pick, it is a hypothesis. Log intake and weigh in most mornings for two weeks, then look at the trend:
| What trend weight did | What it says about the level you picked |
|---|---|
| Held steady while eating near the "maintain" number | The level was about right |
| Fell while eating at "maintain" | Real expenditure is higher — the level was too low |
| Rose while eating at "maintain" | Real expenditure is lower — the level was too high |
The size of the move gives the size of the correction: roughly kg changed × 7,700 ÷ 14 kcal per day, using the app's planning figure for a kilogram of body fat. A 0.4 kg drift in two weeks is about 220 kcal a day — a bit under one rung on the table above. MacroDiet's expenditure estimate runs this check for you continuously once it has three consecutive days of logging (see how apps estimate energy expenditure), so the dropdown only has to be close, not right.
This is arithmetic about a dropdown, not medical advice. The multipliers are the app's defaults; the rung you pick is a starting guess that two weeks of your own data will improve.
The short version
Five labels, four distinct multipliers: 1.15, 1.325, 1.55 and 1.825 ("very" and "extra" active are the same). Count training sessions as training and a physical job as everyday movement; when in doubt pick the lower level; and treat the result as a first guess to be checked against two weeks of trend weight. Educational overview only — not medical advice.