CALORIES!! The name is the game. Isn’t it? Are we not always bothered and conscious about this one word, Calories? And how our whole fitness regime only revolves around calories. Not only is the fitness community bothered about the calorie intake, but everyone is.
We keep focusing on how many calories should I consume in a day, and then we want to work towards how much calories should we burn depending on our fitness goals.
If one has a goal of weight loss or fat loss, or simply maintenance, the calorie intake is the only way to make a change or gauge what are your current fitness levels. A target with a planned calorie deficit is what is required for a progressive fitness journey.
You may be wondering often, how many calories do I burn in a day? Or maybe thinking of this often, that how much calories do I burn each day?
Let us understand this whole process. The human body is always burning calories. In all the daily activities, we are always burning calories. So next time you think, how much calories do I burn a day, understand that you are always burning calories, in all your basic activities like, sitting, standing, moving around, and even while sleeping.
In your total energy expenditure, referred to as TEE, you are always burning atleast 1300 calories. When one is having a moderately active lifestyle to a highly active lifestyle, the number of calories shall increase.
Upto 75% of the calorie burn is in basic body functions such as breathing, sleeping, working etc. One has to understand the basic estimate of the calorie burn that is required for your body, to plan your fitness journey. Hope this answers the question, how many calories do I burn each day? You can calculate once you have an understanding of the overall calorie expenditure.
You can have an estimate and always plan your calorie burn accordingly. You can plan your activities, workouts, workout intensity and get an estimate of how much to eat and how much to burn as per your fitness goals.
DAILY CALORIE BURN:
Learn about the terms TEE, TOTAL ENERGY EXPENDITURE, and TDEE, TOTAL DAILY ENERGY EXPENDITURE.
The TEE is referred to as your Total Energy Expenditure, and TDEE is the total energy daily Expenditure.
TEE or TDEE is a dependent on various factors:
- RMR: RESTING METABOLIC RATE
- NEAT: NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS
- TEF: THERMIC EFFECT OF FOOD
And also, the calories burned during exercise.
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
Resting Metabolic Rate is the amount of the energy the body needs to maintain the basic functions such as breathing, building cells etc. The body weight, gender, affect the resting metabolic rate. The RMR accounts for 60% of the total calories you burn in a day.
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
The daily amount of energy that your body uses to do daily activities like walking, working, even working on your laptop, etc. The amount of calories burned in NEAT are dependent on how active you are otherwise. The more of an active lifestyle you have, the better shall be the calorie burn in NEAT.
Thermic effect of food (TEF)
Though TEF is responsible for only 10% of the calorie burn; the food intake, the way we chew and how each food impacts us, is dependent on TEF.
CALORIE BURN:
This is through your physical activity. If you are into heavy exercising, and have high intensity workouts, your calorie burn will be high, and you will always be active.
You still may ask How many calories do I burn in a day, or how much calories do I burn in a day?
While being aware about these terms may not give you an exact way to burn calories, but you can use either of the following ways to calculate your average calorie burn.
METABOLIC TESTING
It is available at labs, but it is an expensive process. Some people also get their BMI or BCA 9body composition0 checked, to understand their current body analysis. This gives an idea of the muscles mass, and fat percentage, and one can calculate the target calorie burn accordingly.
ACTIVITY TRACKER
One of the most popular and easy way to track your calorie intake is an activity tracker, like a fitness watch. There are many smart watches available that have an inbuilt fitness tracker, and there are other fitness trackers too. It’s always wise to keep one with you.
OTHER FACTORS
Your other factors like your metabolic rate and lifestyle shall also have an impact on your calorie burn. So, it’s best to have an active lifestyle and exercise and eat well, to hit your target calorie burn.
