Follow By Email: Do You Actually Burn Calories While Eating? 🤔

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I can't tell you how many times we've had athletes or active individuals come to us who have used an online calculator to determine their energy needs. Basing your caloric intake solely on your basal metabolic rate will result in underfueling and all the risks that come along with low energy availability (ex: early fatigue, irritability, decreased performance, amenorrhea in females, decreased testosterone in men, impaired bone health and immunity).

This week we're walking you through all the components of total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and ways to increase your TDEE.

What is TDEE?

There are four components of total daily energy expenditure: resting metabolic rate (RMR), energy expended during exercise, non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), and the thermic effect of food (TEF).

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): the energy needed while your body is at rest for activities like breathing, circulating blood, and muscle protein synthesis. This can comprise 70% to 75% of sedentary individuals' total daily energy expenditure. For athletes training for hours at a time, it may account for only half of their total daily expenditure! Many factors determine your RMR, including age, body size, body composition, gender, hormones, and genetic influences.

Energy Expended from Exercise: The energy used in planned, structured exercise. This is typically the most variable component of energy expenditure and will depend on the frequency, duration, intensity, and mode of exercise.

Nonexercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): NEAT is the energy used throughout the day outside of structured exercise for activities of daily living like standing, typing, fidgeting, walking, cleaning, and so on. NEAT is also a variable component of TDEE and is often the most overlooked. This can range from 15-50% of total daily expenditure.

Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): the energy used to digest, absorb, metabolize, and store food. The effect of individual macronutrients vary, with fat being the lowest at 3%, carbs ranging from 5% to 10% of ingested carbohydrate calories, and protein being the highest at 20% to 30%. The average TEF for a mixed macronutrient meal accounts for ~10% of consumed calories.

4 Ways to Increase TDEE

Increase NEAT. Of the four components of TDEE, NEAT and energy expended from exercise are the easiest to manipulate. NEAT can even vary by up to 2000 calories per day in individuals of the same body size. NEAT is the energy used for activities of daily living like standing, walking, taking the stairs, cleaning, etc. Increasing your step count, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and taking a short walk during work breaks are easy ways to improve your NEAT. Increasing your NEAT can be beneficial in weight management and the prevention of some chronic diseases.

Strength Train. Strength training helps to increase energy expended from exercise and assists in maintaining and building lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass can help increase TDEE by increasing your resting metabolic rate.

Increase your Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). As mentioned above, TEF is the energy required to digest food. TEF can range from 8-15% of TDEE. Of the three macronutrients, protein requires the highest amount of energy to be digested. Fiber can also help to increase TEF, while consuming a majority of highly processed foods can lower TEF. To help increase TEF, aim to include protein and fiber at every meal and snack. Below are five simple ideas that contain both protein and fiber.

Hard boiled eggs with 1 cup of raspberries
Whole grain bread with ½ avocado and 3 oz. shredded chicken
Greek yogurt, nuts, and berries
1 cup edamame with a piece of fruit
Fruit and protein smoothie (1 cup milk/non-dairy milk, 1 banana, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 Tbsp chia seeds, 1 handful spinach)

Avoid Large Calorie Deficits. While trying to lose weight as quickly as possible may be tempting, it can cause you more harm than good. Resting metabolic rate slows to conserve energy and protect your organs when you are in a calorie deficit. While a drop in resting metabolic rate can be expected due to decreased body size, large calorie deficits can cause more significant reductions than expected, hindering weight loss. Large calorie deficits also increase the risk of lean muscle mass loss. If you are pursuing weight loss, stick with a smaller deficit (300-500 calories) to ensure a slow weight change and best support your metabolic rate.