When you are looking to achieve a body composition change and loose fat the one key thing is a Calorie Deficit, which means burning more calories than you eat.
When we think calorie burn, most of us will immediately think “Exercise” but thats just a small part of the puzzle.
Here are all the ways our bodies burn calories:
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR):
This is the energy your body uses to maintain basic life functions while at rest, such as breathing, circulation, and cell production. It accounts for the majority of calories burned daily.
- Physical Activity:
Any movement burns additional calories. This includes:
- Exercise (e.g., running, swimming, weightlifting)
- Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): daily activities like walking, cleaning, fidgeting
- Thermic Effect of Food (TEF):
The energy used to digest, absorb, and metabolize food. It typically accounts for about 10% of total daily energy expenditure.
- Adaptive Thermogenesis:
The body’s ability to generate heat in response to environmental changes or diet.
- Growth and Development:
Children and adolescents burn extra calories for growth. Pregnant women also burn additional calories to support fetal development.
The component that contributes most to our daily calorie burn for most people is the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
BMR typically accounts for 60-75% of total daily energy expenditure for sedentary individuals. This means that even if you were to lie in bed all day, your body would still burn a significant number of calories just to keep your basic life functions operating.
The exact percentage can vary based on factors such as:
- Age: BMR tends to decrease with age.
- Body composition: More muscle mass increases BMR.
- Gender: Men generally have a higher BMR than women due to greater muscle mass.
- Genetics: Some people naturally have a higher or lower BMR.
- Health conditions: Certain medical conditions can affect BMR.
It’s important to note that while BMR is the largest contributor to calorie burn for most people, physical activity can significantly increase total daily energy expenditure, especially for very active individuals. For athletes or people with physically demanding jobs, the calories burned through activity might approach or even exceed their BMR.
The one that generally gets overlooked but can actually end up having a BIG effect on your daily burn is NEAT – Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.
Tips for increasing NEAT in daily life:
- At Work
Use a standing desk or treadmill and vary your position throughout the day.
Take walking meetings instead of sitting in a conference room.
Set a timer and stand up at least once every hour. Add in a stretch if possible, or a walk around the building.
Use a smaller water bottle so it needs filling more often.
- At Home
Do more vigorous versions of chores (scrub the floor rather than mop for example).
Stand or pace while using your phone.
Do simple exercises or stretching during tv commercials, or between episodes.
Dance while listening to music.
- During Commutes / Errands:
Park further away from entrances of buildings.
Get off public transport one stop early and walk the rest of the way.
Carry groceries instead of using trollies for small shops.
Walk or bike instead of using your car wherever possible.
- Social Activities:
Suggest active things to do; mini golf, bowling etc.
Play active video games that require movement.
- Throughout the day:
Fidget more; drum your fingers, tap your feet etc.
Increase your daily step count wherever possible.
Use a smaller water bottle so it needs filling more often.
- At Night:
Do some light stretching or yoga before bed.
Tidy your living spaces before going to bed.
Remember, the goal is to make movement a natural part of your day. Even small increases in activity can add up over time and contribute to higher overall calorie burn.
Walk Your Way to Faster Running
RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
Periodisation Deep Dive
Low Energy Availability (LEA):
How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:
Supercompensation – the effective but counterintuitive training methodology.
Practical Mental Coping Strategies for Endurance Lows
Avoiding the Euphoria-Despair Roller Coaster in Endurance Racing
The Importance of Periodisation in Endurance Training
Monitoring and Managing Fatigue in Endurance Training
All About Stress
Train your breathing for better race results
Does how you breathe really matter?
Unlocking Your Athletic Potential: Nature vs. Nurture
Recovery: The Unsung Hero of Triumphs
Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly
Minimum effort. Maximum Impact
Specificity is KING for Endurance
Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance
The 5 Pillars of the DB Training Methodology
The Three Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes make…
Mastering the SAID Principle for Endurance Training Success
Mastering Heart Rate Zones for Peak Endurance Performance
Can Herbal Adaptogens help Perimenopause?
HIIT – Are you doing it right?
Setting your HR Zones & How to Judge Progress
How to Test your Lactate Threshold
Why Lactate Threshold trumps Max Heart Rate for Endurance Training
Golden Rule #5 Extreme Ownership
This is a question I hear a lot!
Usually it means the person asking the question is only focussing on the number on the scale and that is not something I’m a huge fan of (but you can read all about that in my next blog!).
Hopefully you know by now that to achieve fat loss you need to be in calorie deficit.
The number one reason people who are tracking their calorie intake don’t see movement on the scales is simple… They are under estimating the amount of calories they eat.
Whether they are tracking via an app such as My Fitness Pal or Chronometer… or keeping a manual diary, it is very common, and very easy to record less calories than you consume.
Main ways to wrongfully track:
- Not weighing / measuring your food and estimating the amount.
- Not tracking EVERYTHING you eat and drink – the snacks, that latte, that slice of cheese… it all adds up.
- Eating out and not taking into account the added fat etc of restaurant meals.
- Choosing similar meal options in your tracker app/calorie book which is less than the meal you actually eat.
The second reason is related to the first and again, really common… Over estimating the amount of calories burnt through exercise.
FitBit, Apple, Garmin… all the activity trackers, the machines at the gym… nearly all will over inflate your calorie burn. AND if you have your activity tracker linked to your My Fitness Pal, all this will encourage you to do is eat back the calories you burnt.
DO NOT link your activity tracker to your MFP account, or you chosen calorie tracker app of choice. Figure out what your calorie intake should be to achieve fat loss at a sensible rate (read about that here: Calorie Deficit) set that in your app and eat to that… do not make it more complicated than that!
One of the first things I knew I had to do as part of my IM journey is lose a bit of fat and get as lean as possible.
I am by no means big but by making myself as lean as possible I give myself another key for success, alongside my training.
This was one of the things I discussed with my coach, Kerry, in that initial meeting. Literally the week before I had signed up for the IM I had set new goals for all of my lifts and was going to focus on improving all things barbell related. Funny how things can change so quickly! All that had to go out the window and the focus now has to be using lighter weights and moving faster.
Anyway, back to the fat loss bit. I had my daily macro targets, I had the different targets for different days depending on how active I was on each day so now it was time to invest in the paid version of MyFitnessPal and get to work.
In my first 6 weeks this is the change in my body composition:
- Weight: -1.5kg
- Fat %: – 2.8%
- Muscle %: – +1.8%
And, this is the change in my measurements:
- Bust: -1 inch
- Back: -+/- 0
- Waist: – 1.5 inch
- Stomach: – 1 inch
- Hips: – 1.5 inch
Not a bad start, I still need to lose about another 4kg in total but it’s careful and slow process as quick weight loss usually means muscle loss and my goal is fat loss and becoming lean. It isn’t just about the number on the scale, nor should it ever be.
Although it’s careful and slow, it isn’t complicated. Companies like Slimming World and Weight Watchers make it complicated but they are businesses and their main aim is to make money. They thrive on repeat business and sadly, their businesses are booming. We all know roughly what we should and shouldn’t eat. We are generally all aware of foods that are nutritionally good and those that bring us little or no benefit.
If you want to lose some fat and change your body composition for the better you just need to do the following… and it’s all free! It’s simple, you can have the things you want, nothing is off limits, you just can’t have everything you want. Then you can take that money you give to these crappy “weight loss” companies and use it for something good.
- Figure out your calorie deficit (read my previous blog post for more info)
- Download the MyFitnessPal app and set up a free account
- Track your daily consumption and be honest about it
- Keep your daily macros at roughly 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein
- Make sure that less than 10% of your daily calories come from junk food and things that have little or no nutritional benefit.
- Give yourself a break if you have a day where it all goes wrong. Forget about it and make sure the next meal you have puts you back on track!
It really is that simple. No, it isn’t always easy but for the general population, it isn’t anymore complicated than this.
I’ll check back in in a month and update you with my progress 🙂
Walk Your Way to Faster Running
RED-S; Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport
Periodisation Deep Dive
Low Energy Availability (LEA):
How do we burn calories? Let me count the ways…
Fuel Up to Smash Your Endurance Goals:
Supercompensation – the effective but counterintuitive training methodology.
Practical Mental Coping Strategies for Endurance Lows
Avoiding the Euphoria-Despair Roller Coaster in Endurance Racing
The Importance of Periodisation in Endurance Training
Monitoring and Managing Fatigue in Endurance Training
All About Stress
Train your breathing for better race results
Does how you breathe really matter?
Unlocking Your Athletic Potential: Nature vs. Nurture
Recovery: The Unsung Hero of Triumphs
Build Consistently, Adapt Relentlessly
Minimum effort. Maximum Impact
Specificity is KING for Endurance
Strength Reigns Supreme in Endurance
The 5 Pillars of the DB Training Methodology
The Three Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes make…
Mastering the SAID Principle for Endurance Training Success
Mastering Heart Rate Zones for Peak Endurance Performance
Can Herbal Adaptogens help Perimenopause?
HIIT – Are you doing it right?
Setting your HR Zones & How to Judge Progress
How to Test your Lactate Threshold
Why Lactate Threshold trumps Max Heart Rate for Endurance Training
Golden Rule #5 Extreme Ownership