1.1 - TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

Understanding your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is vital for understanding how many calories our body needs to function, lose, maintain and gain weight.

1.2 - BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)

BMR makes up most of your TDEE approximately 70%, so it is important to work out your individual BMR. Your BMR varies based on your gender, age, height, weight and body composition. The equation I will use to work out your BMR is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.

*Please note there are different equations for your BMR so you may see others around however this is the one I use as it is one of the most accurate. All of the different calculations will lead to a similar number and this will be a good estimate of your BMR.

1.3 - TEF (Thermic Effect Of Food)

Your Thermic Effect of Food makes up approximately 10% of your TDEE. The Thermic Effect of Food is referring to the amount of calories we burn throughout the process of digesting the foods that we eat and some foods are harder to digest than others i.e. protein.

1.4 - NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

Your NEAT refers to the amount of calories that we burn throughout our everyday lives that is not through sleeping or planned activity. Common tasks that we carry out day to day that is considered NEAT are things such as walking around, shopping, cleaning, gardening, cooking and walking up the stairs etc. Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis accumulates to approximately 15% of our total TDEE. These calories will add up and could be the difference between gaining, maintaining or losing weight, so keep your NEAT up.

1.5 - EAT - (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

Your EAT refers to the amount of calories that we burn through planned activity. This can be anything from resistance training, cardiovascular training, high intensity interval training or a variety of sports. Exercise Activity Thermogenesis accumulates to approximately 5% of our total TDEE. It is worth noting the importance that EAT plays as it is vital for health & fitness, muscle, bone health, body composition and mental health. So although it only accumulates to 5% of our TDEE it counts for a lot more in terms of our mental and physical well-being.

1.6 - Activity Level

Now we have looked at all of the components of your TDEE we now need to multiply your BMR by your individual activity level. This will then allow us to find out how many calories you will need to consume in order to maintain your weight.

1.7 - Calorie Surplus, Maintenance & Deficit

Now we know how many calories you need to be consuming to maintain your weight. I will now discuss what the terms calorie surplus, maintenance and deficit mean and whats goals tend to be derived from each of these terms.

1.8 - Calories Trial & Error

Why am I not losing weight when I am eating the amount of calories calculated?

The process above will give us a good estimate of the amount of daily calories for our goals. However if you plan to lose, maintain or gain weight and you aren’t managing that with your set calories, then they will need a little tweaking. Take a look at how I advise you to do that.

1.9 - Tracking Methods

Here I will go through two different tracking methods to help you keep a closer eye on your calorie targets. The first way of tracking your calories is via the MyFitnessPal ® app which I recommend even if its just for two weeks, so you can get an idea of your daily consumption. However if you don’t want to track that seriously then you can also learn to use your hands as your own personal measuring tool. I will attach a guide below that you can follow along with a visual step by step guild to make sure your are doing it correctly.

1.10 - Food Diary

Keeping a weekly/fortnightly food diary can be a great way to assess your current eating habits. This can be a good tool when done correctly, firstly make sure you write down everything you eat and drink as and when you do, not at the end of the day. Secondly you need to eat exactly the same as you have done before. A food diary will be a irrelevant tool if you record incorrectly in the first place. So if you would usually eat a piece of cake in the day, then you must record this as it will distort your results if you aren’t completely honest from the start.

1.11 - Weight Management Summary

Here are my take home points and aspects I want you to focus on within this section in order to keep you progressing in the right direction.

• Work out/have an understanding of your individual TDEE.

• Trial your calculated TDEE number for two week. To get an understanding if that is accurate and how much volume of food that is in a day.

• Trial different tracking methods and portion control methods until you find one that you are happy with. E.g. tracking app, using your hands, food diary or actively eating trying to eat less food.

• See how your weight responds and adjust when required e.g. eat a little more if you're losing weight too quickly or want to gain a little bit of weight or eat less if you are not losing weight. Be patient and wait 7-10 days before adjusting calories or exercise. Remember weight loss isn't always linier.

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