When trying to lose weight there a two main components:

• total calories consumed (food/drink eaten)

• total calories spent (TDEE; total daily energy expenditure = BMR + TEF + EEE + NEAT)

When determining calories spent the following needs to be taken into account:

For determining BMR (basal metabolic rate):

• weight (in kg)

• use of skinfold calipers to measure body fat percentage

• lean body mass (in kg)

  • LBM = body weight (in kg) x [(100- body fat percentage)/100]

• use of the Katch-McArdle formula to determine BMR:

  • BMR = 370 + (21.6 x lean body mass (in kg))

For determining TEF(thermal effect of food):

• TEF = BMR x .1

• depending on what foods you consume TEF can move up or down

• protein requires the most energy to digest, meaning that diets high in protein will have a higher TEF

• fats and carbohydrates have similar energy requirements, 0-3% and 5-10% respectfully

For determining EEE (exercise energy expenditure):

• no recognized formula to determine

• fitness trackers do “track” this but can overestimate by as much as 90% of actual calories expended

For determining NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis):

• no recognized formula to determine

• NEAT takes into account calories spent when blinking or other subconscious mannerisms

• calorie intake (surplus/deficit) will have largest effect; large deficit will decrease NEAT the greatest

An in depth breakdown of weight gain/loss/maintenance….

An oversimplified approach to weight gain/loss/maintenance….