Move More, Build Muscle: The Secret to Sustainable Weight Loss

When it comes to changing your body and losing weight, there are a lot of factors that can influence your success. At times it might feel like you are doing SO MUCH but still aren't seeing the progress you were hoping for. What you might not realize, is that there are so many other factors that impact results outside of just eating less and moving more. Sleep, stress, exercise, hydration, nutrition, and how much you move your body throughout the day all have an impact on seeing results.

Understanding how your body actually burns calories can help you get a better idea of how to achieve the results you want. The strategies that make the biggest impact aren’t always the ones you’d expect. In this blog, we’re going to take a closer look at how Total Daily Energy Expenditure impacts fat loss and body composition changes and how you can optimize your routine for better and lasting results.

Understanding Total Daily Energy Expenditure:

Total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE is the total number of calories you burn in a day. TDEE is made up of: exercise and non-exercise physical activity, the types and amounts of food you eat, and something called your basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR accounts for the amount of calories your body needs to function at rest. If you were to do absolutely nothing for 24 hours, your body would still burn calories! BMR includes basic processes like breathing and circulation, cell function and hormone production.

Why Muscle Matters:

Many things can influence your BMR - including age, gender, body size, hormones and genetics. Sounds like a lot of things we can’t control, right? BUT! BMR is largely determined by muscle mass. Lean mass requires a lot of energy to maintain. Which means that an increase in muscle mass = increase in how many calories you burn in a day, even at rest!

This is where STRENGTH TRAINING comes into play! Cardiovascular exercise is going to burn calories while you do it, and will help to increase your TDEE. However, strength training has a much larger and longer lasting impact on TDEE by increasing BMR through muscle gain. More muscle mass means more calories burned even after you stop working out. If your goal is weight loss, try not to focus as much on how many calories your smart watch says you’ve burned in your workout, but rather focus on building lean muscle and getting stronger over time. 

You've likely heard our coaches challenge you with “increase the weight this week" or "add more reps.” They’re not just saying that for kicks! They want to help challenge you to build muscle and in order to do this, you need to incorporate progressive overload with your training. (Stay tuned for next month's blog where we dive deeper into this topic!)

What About … NEPA?

We mentioned that another important part of TDEE is your daily physical activity, categorized into exercise and non-exercise movement. We typically think of intentional exercise as the main driver for burning calories, but it is actually a much smaller percentage of your daily calorie burn!

Non-exercise physical activity (NEPA) accounts for a much larger portion of the calories you burn and includes activities like walking (grocery shopping, around your house etc), cooking, cleaning, or even fidgeting at your desk. In fact, NEPA can account for up to 50% of your daily expenditure! Increasing your NEPA can help lead to weight loss and body composition changes.

So, how can you sneak in more movement? Ever wonder why our parking lot is a mile away? Just kidding... we’re not that strategic. But small changes add up! Try parking farther away the next time you go grocery shopping, take the stairs instead of the elevator, stand while you’re at your desk, or even take a walk during your next conference call. Every little bit helps.

Bottom Line: 

Achieving lasting body composition changes isn't just about eating less and exercising more. It's about understanding how your body burns energy, and making small consistent adjustments to your routine. Prioritizing strength gains over sweat equity, and adding more movement to your day can help drive the results you've been looking for. 

If you have questions on how to optimize your training or dial in your nutrition to finally see the results you want to see, schedule a free consult with us!