Metabolism vs. TDEE...are they the same ?

BUMP! Great question...

Bump..Def need some clarification

So how is it possible to burn so many calories a day with your TDEE, yet your metabolim is running slowly ? how can that be?

If you have very little lean body mass, then your basal metabolism will be lower. So, a quick calculation of a 150 pound person with 40% body fat. 150 x 0.4 = 60 pounds of fat. 150 - 60 = 90 pounds of lean body mass. 90 x 24 = 2160 / 2.2 = 981.8181818 BMR, which we would all agree is very low.

Now, instead of being a sedentary individual, the above person works as a nurse and is on their feet all day, so they would be considered Active or Moderately Active. 981.8181818 x 1.5 activity factor = 1472 RMR. Then they go to the gym and hit it hard for a couple of hours to burn 1000 calories for the day. 1472 + 1000 = 2472 TDEE. This would make their TDEE 2.5 times their BMR. So, as you can see it is possible to have a relatively low metabolic rate and dramatically increase your TDEE through your daily activity and exercise.

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16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

Just wondering everyone's thoughts on this. Is your metabolism your TDEE as well ?

I have a BodyMedia Fit and it tells me my calories burned or my TDEE in a day.... if that is a high # does that mean my metabolism is running high ? Just trying to wrap my head around this....

Is it possible to have a high TDEE but a slow or sluggish metabolism ?

BMR means Basal Metabolic Rate, meaning it is a measure of your metabolism. TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure, meaning it is the energy you burn for you normal metabolic rate plus any added activity. If you look at the true definition of metabolism as all activity and include your daily movement and exercise, then TDEE would be a measure of your total metabolism. However, since you are only increasing the energy expenditure over your BMR while you are active, others would argue that while you are increasing your energy usage, you aren't actually increasing your normal metabolic rate. In this case, you can have a lower metabolic rate and a high energy expenditure for TDEE based on doing a lot of activity.

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16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

So how is it possible to burn so many calories a day with your TDEE, yet your metabolim is running slowly ? how can that be?

If you have very little lean body mass, then your basal metabolism will be lower. So, a quick calculation of a 150 pound person with 40% body fat. 150 x 0.4 = 60 pounds of fat. 150 - 60 = 90 pounds of lean body mass. 90 x 24 = 2160 / 2.2 = 981.8181818 BMR, which we would all agree is very low.

Now, instead of being a sedentary individual, the above person works as a nurse and is on their feet all day, so they would be considered Active or Moderately Active. 981.8181818 x 1.5 activity factor = 1472 RMR. Then they go to the gym and hit it hard for a couple of hours to burn 1000 calories for the day. 1472 + 1000 = 2472 TDEE. This would make their TDEE 2.5 times their BMR. So, as you can see it is possible to have a relatively low metabolic rate and dramatically increase your TDEE through your daily activity and exercise.

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16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

*Thanks for sharing! Bump this to save for later!*