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NIFS Healthy Living Blog

Is Metabolism the Reason You’re Having Trouble with Weight Loss?

ThinkstockPhotos-505722820.jpgWe often hear people talk about their slow metabolism being the reason they cannot lose weight. While this may be true for some individuals, it does not apply to the majority of the population. If you have never actually had blood work done saying you have a slow metabolism, this more than likely is not the issue. Instead of blaming the metabolism, you have to look at the basic “recipe” for weight loss.

Two Ways to Lose Weight

As you might know by now, weight loss is caused by putting the body in a caloric deficit. Being in a caloric deficit means that the number of calories burned by the body has surpassed the amount of calories consumed by the body. This simple definition of a caloric deficit helps further explain the two popular methods in which you can obtain caloric deficiency.

  • Option 1: Consume fewer calories than required by the body for optimum energy output.
  • Option 2: Burn off more calories than consumed by the body.

Factors Affecting How Many Calories You Burn

Now let’s take a look at the things that affect your energy expenditure.

The first thing that affects total energy expenditure (TEE) is your resting metabolic rate (RMR). RMR is defined as the energy your body requires for normal daily functioning without movement. This is your body’s set energy output on a daily basis.

TEE also takes into consideration something called the thermic effect of food (TEF). This is described as the energy required to break down the food you consume. Thermic effect of food usually makes up 10–15% of your energy expenditure.

The rest of your TEE is made up of your movement with intentional and non-intentional exercise or non-exercise physical activity (NEPA). NEPA can make up anywhere between 15–50% of your energy expenditure. If you are sedentary for a majority of the day, you may be burning only 15% of your energy expenditure; when you remain active for a majority of the day, you may be burning up to (but not limited to) 50% of your energy expenditure as compared to your RMR.

Looking at BOD POD Results

To put this into perspective, here is my BMR and TEE that I received from doing my NIFS BOD BOD.

TEE = RMR + TEF + exercise
RMR = 1,642 kcals 
TEF = 246 kcals (15%)
Intentional Exercise/ Non-intentional exercise = 246 kcals (15%) (1,642 x .15)
821 kcals (50%) (1,642 x .5)

Using the numbers above, on a sedentary day I would burn around 2,102–2,134 kcals (15%). On an active day, I would burn around 2,709–2,857 kcals (50%). On a very active day I could burn up to 3,415 kcals for the day. Now let’s say I eat around 2,200 kcals on a consistent basis. Eating 2,200 kcals on a sedentary day would put me in a caloric surplus, whereas eating 2,200 kcals on an active day would put me in a caloric deficit.

Sedentary day = 66 kcal surplus
Active day (including intentional exercise and NEPA) = 657 kcal deficit

So just by being more active throughout the day I would be able to take myself from being in a surplus to being in a caloric deficit, which is the basis for weight loss.

ThinkstockPhotos-154306165.jpgDo You Just Need to Move More?

Now ask yourself this: Are you having trouble losing weight because you have a slow metabolism, or are you just not moving and burning calories throughout the day? More than likely your caloric deficit difficulties are because of a lack of calorie burning due to a lack of movement throughout the day.

Being sedentary vs. engaging in intentional exercise and NEPA can make a world of difference as to whether you are achieving a caloric deficit. So if you don’t take anything else from this blog, remember this: weight loss usually requires a LIFESTYLE change instead of just engaging in intentional exercise. You must maximize your energy expenditure throughout the entire day to widen the gap between calorie consumption and total energy expenditure.

Schedule your BOD POD assessment today to find out your true numbers by calling 317-274-3432, ext. 262.

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This blog was written by Darius Felix, Health Fitness Specialist. To find out more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Topics: NIFS weight loss calories metabolism BODPOD