Calories & Weight Loss

Below is an excerpt from Part Two of

The 2004 Multi-Diet

by Anderson A. Anonymous, M.D., Ph.D.

Activity Energy Expenditure (AEE)

Your AEE (activity energy expenditure) is normally the second largest component of your total energy expenditure. This is the amount of energy in addition to your REE that you expend by moving around and doing things.

The energy expended during many different types of activity has been measured and summarized into five categories called “activity levels”, for which numerical activity factors have been calculated.

Activity Levels

Estimate your average daily physical activity level by using the following definitions:

• Resting Level: Sleeping, reclining.
• Very Light Level: Seated and standing activities, painting trades, driving, lab work, typing, sewing, ironing, cooking, playing cards, playing a musical instrument.
• Light Level: Walking on a level surface at 2.5–3.0 mph, garage work, electrical trades, carpentry, restaurant trades, house-cleaning, child care, golf, sailing, table tennis.
• Moderate Level: Walking at 3.5–4.0 mph, weeding and hoeing, carrying a load, cycling, skiing, tennis, dancing.
• Heavy Level: Walking with a load uphill, tree chopping, heavy manual digging, climbing, basketball, football, soccer, etc.

(Note that if you really want to be sophisticated, you can record the number of hours each day that you do each of the above types of activities and calculate an average level to use in the tables below. This is probably a bit more effort than most people will want to bother with, however. )

1. Multiply your REE by your Activity Factor to get the approximate number of Calories of energy you expend moving around every day. 
2. Add this number to your REE to get a total.