Are you guilty of blaming your ‘slow’ metabolism for not losing weight? Part 1

What is your metabolism?

The majority think metabolism is just your resting metabolic rate (RMR), but its so much more than that.

Metabolism = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)

Example TDEE – 2500 Calories (You burn this amount everyday)

1500 calories (60% RMR)
1000 calories (40% everything else)

Total Daily Energy Expenditure consists of 4 key components, including

RMR – resting metabolic rate – up to 60% of your TDEE

What makes up RMR?- Bone mass, Organ Mass, Fat Mass and Muscle mass

NEAT – Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis 20% of TDEE

This is all the movement you do that is not planned exercise e.g. moving your hands, walking to the shops, cleaning.

EAT – Exercise Activity Thermogenesis – 10% of TDEE

e.g. football, spin class, lifting weights, cardio

TEF – Thermic effect of food – 10% of TDEE

The amount of calories your body uses to break down and digest food.  Here an example – If you consume 2000 calories, 10% of that is lost through your body efforts to digest the food, so your actually consuming 1800 calories.

These 4 together make up what is know as your metabolism.  Out of the 4 factors i mentioned above, the one you can influence the most is NEAT. Find ways to be on your feet more. This is why i am a big advocate of tracking your steps and keeping on about hitting 10,000 steps a day.

I advise getting a steps tracker to ensure your burning calories, that you creating a large energy output. However it’s important to bare in mind controlling your calorie intake- no point of increasing NEAT if you are not eating less.

In Part 2, i will discuss practical implications of metabolism and mention a few studies to show your metabolism may not to blame for your slow weight loss