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Writer's pictureKatie Crokus

The Impact Of Exercise


Anyone else sleep through their alarm this morning? Or get totally irritated by the phrase ‘Never Miss a Monday!’⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ WELL. Let me share something that was not only eye-opening for me, but also puts me at ease when something keeps me from my workout.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Here are the 4 major players, in order of most to least impact when it comes to your TDEE:⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ 1️⃣ Basal Metabolic Rate - what your body will burn if you do nothing but lay in bed all day. While it’s the toughest nut to crack, it will have the biggest affect on up or down-regulating the metabolism. So keep that low hanging fruit top of mind - sleep, water, hormones, getting in and OUT of a deficit - before you worry about things like supplements and your exact macro split. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ 2️⃣ Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) - any movement you get outside of planned exercise, coming from steps, fidgeting, tapping, laughing and everything else non-exercise related, that requires movement throughout the day.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ 3️⃣ Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) - did you know it actually takes energy to absorb your macros and digest food?! Without getting too into the science here, it’s worth understanding that protein has the highest TEF and therefore ‘costs’ the most to metabolize. One more reason to hit that number!⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ 4️⃣ Exercise - unless you are an athlete or doing hours of cardio a day, any time spent in the gym is going to translate to minimal calorie burn, relative to the combined output from the above. Don’t let that inflated estimate on your fancy fitness tracker fool you. One serving of peanut butter and youre probably back to neutral.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ This is not meant to discourage exercise, which is foundational! But to shed light on the fact that it is SO much easier to manage calories in vs. the unpredictability of calories out.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ So...⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⚡️Think of training as a lever to increase BMR as you ⬆️ muscle and ⬇️ fat⠀⠀ ⚡️Aim to increase your NEAT though unscheduled activity⠀⠀ ⚡️Adhere to a sustainable calorie intake for whatever phase you’re in⠀⠀ ⚡️Right-set the antiquated message that missing a workout will hold you back⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Who else was shocked to learn exercise ranks at the bottom? And doesn’t TEF seem like a bonus


September 30, 2019

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