Calories in vs Calories out

There are many ways to skin a cat (or so I’ve been told, personally I don’t know where to begin when it comes to peeling felines), but all fat loss success stories have one crucial thing in common. Less calories were consumed than were “burned”.

This is an unavoidable truth when it comes to weight loss, so let’s examine how the formula breaks down.

Calories in is as simple as it sounds. Whatever you consume that has calories will contribute to your calories in. Easy stuff, right? Well hold on a second, because calories out is a bit more complex.

Note - energy is synonymous with calories/kcals in the context of this article.

Calories out, or total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), is composed of multiple factors. 

These are:

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) – the number of calories required just to keep your body working, even if you were lying completely still.

The Thermic effect of food (TEF) – the calories required to digest and absorb what you consume.

Non exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) – the calories you burn while performing subconscious movements such as fidgeting.

Non exercise physical activity (NEPA) – the calories you burn while performing conscious physical actions that are not considered to be exercise e.g. walking to the shops, or gardening.

Exercise activity (EA) – the number of calories you burn both during exercise and after exercise (due to metabolic changes).

So, TDEE = BMR + TEF + NEAT + NEPA + EA

“That’s all very well and good, but what am I supposed to do with this information?”

That’s a fair question to be asking. You came here for practical advice that you can apply to your daily life, but believe me when I say that a greater foundational knowledge of these things will aid your understanding of the advice I give in the rest of the series.

But I’ll leave you now with a teaser. YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO CARDIO TO LOSE FAT. Sounds like fitness industry sacrilege, right? Cardio is simply a brick that may or may not be used in the structure of your fat loss plan, one that is beneficial for some, but not necessarily for others*.

*Disclaimer: I’m speaking from a purely fat loss perspective; aerobic activity is an excellent way to improve the health of your cardiovascular (heart) and pulmonary (breathing) systems.