If you have ever searched how to increase your metabolism, or scrolled through Instagram or TikTok, you have probably heard these acronyms but may have no idea what they mean. I am going to help you try to understand them and what they mean! This is a general overview and every single person varies and responds to things differently, but this should give you a general idea and some ideas on ways you can increase your activity.
The pyramid above is what a day of “metabolism” looks like. It varies by each person but this is a general idea.
TDEE= Total Daily Energy Expenditure- This is the total amount of calories (energy) that you are expending (burning each day) from all sources. When someone is determining how many calories they should consume, they usually try to estimate this number and then decrease their calories they take in.
EAT= Exercise Activity Thermogenesis- This is the calories the energy you are burning during intentional exercise (refer to previous post if you need to clarify physical activity vs. exercise). I bet you didn’t realize this number was so small! Although it is small it is important. Other factors may impact the energy and calories burned, but exercise has so many benefits that outweigh mere calorie burn. Things such as, increasing longevity, increasing flexibility, strength increase, decreasing risk of some cancers and so much more.
TEF= Thermic Effect of Food- This is the energy you burn by eating, breaking down the food and absorbing the nutrients. Certain foods take more energy to be broken down than others. Protein is a good example of this. It is more complex and requires more energy to break it down and digest it.
NEAT= Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis- This is the energy you burn outside of exercise. This means any movement that is not planned exercise. Walking around your job or house, parking further at the grocery store, fidgeting, etc. You can increase your NEAT by increasing your movement throughout the day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away at the store, get up and walk around during work breaks instead of sitting at the desk, etc.
BMR= Basal Metabolic Rate- This is the energy you burn at rest. These are the calories keeping you alive and doing things like breathing. You can’t affect your BMR significantly, but you can increase it by increasing your overall muscle mass. Your body will burn more energy at rest the more muscle mass you contain. You can only accomplish this by lifting weights.
Each one of these categories is important in each way, but the easiest way to impact your overall energy expenditure is to increase your NEAT (think about increasing steps and activity) and to increase intentional exercise or EAT.
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