Other sources of energy expenditure are far more variable – the thermic effect of food, which is the number of calories expended by digestion, NEAT – your non-energy activity thermogenesis, otherwise known as the activities of daily living, and your EAT – energy activity thermogenesis, which is intentional exercise. It’s also hard to measure BMR, unless you have specialized equipment that 99.9% us don’t have access to. BMR fluctuates, but not by a lot, at least not day to day. So, BMR includes things like breathing, brain and other organ function, and metabolism, and is the largest source of energy expenditure for the human body ( around 60%-70%). It works like this: you have your BMR – basal metabolic rate – which is the amount of energy (aka calories) required to keep you alive. Which I’m pretty sure you haven’t.Īnd even if you have? Our calorie needs change day to day because of anything from activity levels to body temperature to energy intake. You don’t really know how many calories you need in a day, unless you’ve done calorimetry. And I know that having a specific number to aim for appeals to some people, but the risks and downsides to that number far outweigh the benefits.įirst off, the number goal itself is nothing more than a guess. Listen, cutting calories causes weight loss, and nobody is disputing that. Even with my ‘activity level’ taken into account, that number was so far off. I’d lose weight, but I’d also lose my sanity. I was once given a 1200 calorie goal by MyFitnessPal, and I’m going to tell you right now that I would be an absolute wreck with only 1200 calories a day. I also have my own negative history with calorie goals. Even nutrition labels are written for a 2500 calorie a day diet. But calorie goals are everywhere: on food tracking apps and meal plans, on social media influencers’ ‘what I eat in a day’ posts (which I hate), and in basically every diet book out there. I instantly recoiled, because I can’t stand calorie-specifics or counting. ![]() ![]() The other day when I was reviewing another MLM nutrition company, I came across their ‘nutrition guide’ outlining how to ‘eat healthy.’ In it, there was a list of calorie goals to follow according to your weight.
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