NEAT and exercise calories

naturalbeautii
naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
edited December 19 in Fitness and Exercise
I am currently losing weight and i have lost 32 pounds so far. So i must be doing something right but I am still trying to understand this weight loss and exercise thing. Example: My NEAT is 2,373. I want to lose 2 pounds per week so my daily calorie intake is 1,373. Now i know with exercise it adds on to the 1,373. If I burn 500 calories during exercise and I eat back half of that will i still lose weight? And if I go over my NEAT does that mean I will gain weight?

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Do you mean NEAT or TDEE?
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    NEAT. Are they the same?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited December 2018
    NEAT = Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis

    So when you exercise your calorie burn is higher than your NEAT.

    Using the numbers you gave

    2373 (NEAT) + 500 (exercise) = 2873 Total Calorie Expenditure

    To lose 2 lbs a week, you subtract 1000 calories a day.

    2873 - 1000 = 1873

    So yes you want to eat some (if not all) of those exercise calories. You won’t be doing your body any favors by creating a larger deficit with exercise.

    Personally I eat every calorie I get and lost over 100lbs doing so.

    As for gaining weight, well you can experience temporary water weight gains for a lot of reasons that don’t mean you are gaining fat.

    Now say you go over your TDEE by 250 one day. You will lose maybe 1.6 lbs that week instead of 2lbs.

    Or if you did that twice, you will lose 1.28lbs instead of 2lbs.

    Now this doesn’t mean you won’t see the scale go up after a day where you eat more than normal. The extra weight of food in your system and water retention from increased sodium and/or carbs is likely to show on the scale. It’s temporary weight and not fat.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    NEAT. Are they the same?
    NEAT = Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis

    TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure

    NEAT doesn’t include an estimate of exercise calories burned. TDEE is everything you burn including exercise.
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    Ok. Now I understand the difference between NEAT and TDEE. Wow!! very detailed info.
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