Most people have heard of the calorie, but not many know what a TDEE is. In short, your TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It’s basically the amount of energy (measured in calories) that you need to support all of your body’s functions for a given day. Your TDEE has four main components:
1. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
Most of us have a pretty good idea of our daily calorie needs. We know roughly how many calories we need to maintain weight, and we can adjust up or down based on whether we want to lose, gain, or maintain weight. But many people don’t realize that our bodies have an inherent calorie burn that exists even when we’re not actively doing anything.
This is what’s known as our basal metabolic rate, or BMR. This is the calories our body burns carrying out basic functions, like breathing and heart beating. It makes up a large portion of the calories we burn daily, and it can vary significantly from person to person. Factors like age, weight, gender, and muscle mass all play a role in determining our BMR.
2. Physical Activity
Most people know that physical activity is important for overall health, but did you know that it can also help improve your mental health? Exercise releases endorphins, which have mood-boosting effects.
Additionally, physical activity can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and it can also improve sleep quality. In fact, just a moderate amount of exercise can make a big difference. For example, a recent study found that walking just 20 minutes a day can help to improve mental health symptoms. So if you’re feeling down or stressed, consider going for a walk or hitting the gym. You might just find that it makes a world of difference.
3. NEAT(Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)
Most people are familiar with the concept of exercise-induced thermogenesis, or the calories burned during physical activity. However, another important thermogenesis source that often goes overlooked is non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT. This is the calories you burn during non-exercise activities. Going grocery shopping, gardening, walking around at work.. While these activities may not seem very strenuous, they can actually contribute a significant number of calories to your daily total.
In fact, studies have shown that NEAT can account for up to 50% of your daily energy expenditure. So if you’re looking to boost your metabolism and burn more calories, don’t forget about NEAT!
4. TEF (Thermic Effect of Food)
You may not realize it, but your body burns calories just by digesting your food. This process is known as the thermic effect of food, or TEF. While the amount of calories burned can vary depending on a number of factors, such as the type of food you eat, it is generally estimated that TEF accounts for 10% of your total daily calorie burn. So, if you consume 2000 calories per day, you can expect to burn 200 calories just by digesting them! While this may seem like a small amount, over time it can significantly affect your weight and overall health. And, since digestive processes occur continually throughout the day, every little bit counts!
How to burn the most calories!
I’m sure that if I asked a bunch of people where we burn the most calories, many would say Physical Activity, but that’s not the case; it’s our BMR where we burn the most calories each day and our NEAT where we can make the most significant changes.
Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that you don’t need to work out because there are so many important benefits to our physical and mental health that planned exercise is necessary to achieve, but if we are looking to lose a few KGs, then improving our NEAT is going to make the most significant difference to our TDEE and it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Improving your NEAT means that we have to make the active choice where possible; you may walk to the corner store instead of driving if it’s not too far, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or spend some time gardening than watching TV. Simple choices that increase your level of physical activity can make more of a difference than we realise.
In short, the more we move, the more calories we burn, so make the active choice, even if it seems small and insignificant, because it all adds up and really does make a difference.
See you at the gym
Coach’s Corner Fitness Blog
Author: Sarah Paterson
Oceanic Martial Arts Academy