Do maintenance intakes really vary from person to person?
Fithealthyforlife
Posts: 866 Member
If you have two people with similar everything--at least superficial stuff...sex, height, weight, LBM, activity level, exercise habits, eating history, stress levels, sleeping patterns, etc., can their maintenance intakes really vary that much?
I know the somatotype thing is a total myth. But even in normal ranges, different people's hormone levels and the timing of hormone release varies somewhat from person to person. People do have slightly different thyroid levels, insulin, sensitivity, etc.
But when one guy claims he can bulk on 2600, and another says he needs 3600, and they attribute it to the former being "endomorphic" and the latter being "ectomorphic", what gives?
Can hormone differences really make two otherwise physically similar people's needs that disparate? Something tells me if this were the case, MFP and other methods of calorie counting wouldn't work for most people. But they do work.
I know the somatotype thing is a total myth. But even in normal ranges, different people's hormone levels and the timing of hormone release varies somewhat from person to person. People do have slightly different thyroid levels, insulin, sensitivity, etc.
But when one guy claims he can bulk on 2600, and another says he needs 3600, and they attribute it to the former being "endomorphic" and the latter being "ectomorphic", what gives?
Can hormone differences really make two otherwise physically similar people's needs that disparate? Something tells me if this were the case, MFP and other methods of calorie counting wouldn't work for most people. But they do work.
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Yes they do vary on an individual basis regardless of stats and other than the obvious differences from LBM, the other factor that has an effect is NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). NEAT is basically everything we do besides sport type excercise and sleeping. NEAT is also effected somewhat by energy intake and energy expended as well.....for example if we eat at a deficit we reserve energy automatically from firstly not generating enough from eating and it's also a defence mechanism and so the calories burned from NEAT decrease. Intense training while it increases our metabolism at that moment the result from that type of exercise can also decrease NEAT by slowing down your normal activity otherwise.........basically we rest more after intense training. The difference in NEAT from person to person is probably not that much if lifestyle is similar.....possibly a few hundred calories, but there also can be huge differences of 500-1000 calories.
Calculators are just a tool to get you off the starting line and the real calculations start when you begin to record your energy in and out in regards to your requirements, which is also never a linear thing..............personally I don't really see the use of calculators because we need to actually know in real life what we consume and burn over a timeline........that is the only accurate way of knowing,a dn so the calcxulator question will always just be a guessing game with people throwing in confounders that only complicate the process and the hundreds of posts confirm this.0 -
Yes they do vary on an individual basis regardless of stats and other than the obvious differences from LBM, the other factor that has an effect is NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). NEAT is basically everything we do besides sport type excercise and sleeping. NEAT is also effected somewhat by energy intake and energy expended as well.....for example if we eat at a deficit we reserve energy automatically from firstly not generating enough from eating and it's also a defence mechanism and so the calories burned from NEAT decrease. Intense training while it increases our metabolism at that moment the result from that type of exercise can also decrease NEAT by slowing down your normal activity otherwise.........basically we rest more after intense training. The difference in NEAT from person to person is probably not that much if lifestyle is similar.....possibly a few hundred calories, but there also can be huge differences of 500-1000 calories.
Calculators are just a tool to get you off the starting line and the real calculations start when you begin to record your energy in and out in regards to your requirements, which is also never a linear thing..............personally I don't really see the use of calculators because we need to actually know in real life what we consume and burn over a timeline........that is the only accurate way of knowing,a dn so the calcxulator question will always just be a guessing game with people throwing in confounders that only complicate the process and the hundreds of posts confirm this.
Interesting; thanks. I guess the MFP settings for how active you are, are intended to approximate the NEAT calories burned. I have mine set to "Active"...I'm always moving. I get pain if I sit still too long.0 -
My understanding of NEAT is that it's more the very light activity like fidgeting, pacing, crossing your legs, tapping your foot, typing out posts on MFP
and just generally not sitting still. Not necessarily anything to do with your job or lifestyle. I do think this makes a big difference from person to person.
ETA -- quick google search
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11101470
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14692603
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4468682
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/01/990119080449.htm
Also, you were right, it's not just fidgeting but any light activity.
As far as variation between two people with similar stats, I don't know for sure but I imagine, like for most things, it falls on a bell shaped curve. So most people will be somewhere in the middle as far as metabolic rate, while fewer will be at the high and low ends. If you compare those at the high and low ends there will seem to be a lot of variation, but this won't be true in most cases.0
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