Adjusting to Life and (lack of) Activity During a Pandemic: Energy Expenditure Basics
Adjusting to COVID-19 Reality
As individuals, we tend to stick to what we are most familiar with, which is why change can be scary and intimidating.
We hesitate to change our external environment so we can feel secure in our internal lives.
However, sometimes change comes unsolicited, and in the form of a global pandemic; throwing our internal and locus of control in retrograde.
Is that the proper Millennial term?
However, day and night pass, and we’re still showing up; for ourselves, those we serve, and for our loved ones (even if we’re in PJs all day).
Although the news has been a bit of a damper (shortage on PPE for healthcare workers, countries facing huge economic slaughter, and the alarmingly growing death toll), I have found comfort in finding the small and safe places on the internet where my faith in humanity is stuck on F5.
For example, did you know Arnold Schwarzenegger just personally donated a cargo of 50,000 masks to doctors?! Imagine charting at the end of your long shift to find Arnold on your unit with a fresh n95. So dope.
Or, how about the swarm of people attempting to make homemade bread for the first time? Yes, #isolationloaves is a thing and “homemade bread” recipe ranked high on Google trends just last week.
Amateur and professional musicians are also coming together to host virtual concerts online, and it even looks like people are finding ways to cope and come together with some of their hardest struggles, such as substance addiction.
I’ll have to round off this topic with the most wholesome content I have seen yet. This couple who just witnessed their son’s first steps because of quarantine.
Although some of us have been lucky enough to find the silver linings during this time, many of us are facing increased emotional stress.
Please seek professional advice if you need additional support. Many mental health professionals are providing telehealth counseling services. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) also created a free guide to help support you at this time. You can also click here for a list of 10 virtual apps to help you cope with stress.
It has been profound to reflect on how adaptable we humans have become in just a matter of weeks. It’s a no brainer— we, as humans are putting up the best fight we can, together.
So besides trying to adjust the best we can, mentally; what does that adaptation look like in regards to our physical health? How do our bodies respond to changes to our external environment?
Before we dive head in, I want to make it clear that my intention in discussing the following information below is to inform, and educate, and not to scare or intimidate. There are already way TOO many articles, memes (and wow, even recruiting companies) talking about fear of weight gain from COVID-19; which in my honest opionion, is uncompassionate and reckless.
Let’s bring out the whiteboard and grip our expo markers because today, we’re talking about the basics of energy expenditure.
What is Energy Expenditure?
Energy is often referred to as ‘calories’ in the nutrition world. Expenditure is the act of making use of something for a specific purpose.
If we combine those two terms together and think about it in terms of human physiology, we can agree that the fancy term of ‘energy expenditure’ is in reference to the amount of calories we need.
What this looks like is a quantifiable number that is often represented on a daily basis. We call this ‘total daily energy expenditure’, or simply, TDEE.
To be able to conceptualize what makes up our total daily energy expenditure, I want you to first repeat after me:
BASAL METABOLIC RATE (BMR)
Our bodies burn calories, even if we’re laying in bed, doing absolutely nothing.
Basal Metabolism, also known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR) represents the absolute minimum amount of calories burned in a fasting rate (12 hours+) to keep a resting, awake, body alive in a warm and quiet environment… (very much like what you all have been doing in quarantine for the past few weeks).
For a sedentary person, this percentage makes up about 60 - 70% of total energy expenditure! A lot more than you thought, huh? You’re probably wondering, what even is our body doing at this point if we’re not moving much? Well, a lot of things actually— calories are needed in order to keep our heart beating, our lungs breathing and our kidneys filtering!
If you are not fasting, or completely rested, you can refer to your Resting Basal Metabolism, which is also known as RMR. Your RMR is typically 6% higher than BMR. Differences are small between the two; which is why RMR and BMR are often used interchangeably with one another.
So since BMR accounts for 60 - 70% of our TDEE, how do we go about getting this number to be as accurate as possible?
Unfortunuately, determining one’s true basal metabolic rate is actually quite a difficult process. BMR is measured utilizing direct or indirect calorimetry, which is a meticulous process that requires an individual to be completely at rest, with very little movement before testing.
However, good ‘ole Harris and Benedit did the dirty work for us back in 1919 and came out with a standard equation. They also happened to publish 280 pages filled with metabolic excitement in the mean time, in which you can actually read entirely for free right here if you run out of books to read during quarantine.
What does this equation look like?
Let’s use me as an example.
I am a 126 lbs/57.3 kg female.
We’ll take my weight in kilograms and multiply it by 0.9.
57.3 x 0.9 = 51.57 kcal/hour.
With 24 hours in the day:
51.57 x 24 = 1,237 calories/day.
I require 1,237 calories to keep my body functioning properly to sustain life.
Wait… but 1,237 calories seem very low.
You are right! That’s because this number can vary up to 25 - 30%! It also DOES NOT consider any other factors that make up my TDEE (which we’ll get to in a bit).
I’ve heard there are ways to boost your metabolism. Is this true?
If you heard this information from a stay-at-home mom who sells Arbonne on Facebook or just from anybody who is trying to sell you a product— then no. However, if you’re referencing published scientific articles that examine metabolism, then ding-ding, there is truth in this.
Here are a few factors that increase your basal metabolic rate:
Increased muscle mass
Larger body surface area
Male gender (due to higher body surface area + lean body mass)
Increased body temperature (internal fevers or exposure to cold environments)
Unregulated and high thyroid hormones
Central nervous system activity (i.e. release of stress hormones)
Current growth stage in the lifecycle
Caffeine and tobacco use (P.S. using tobacco to increase basal metabolism is not recommended)
Recent exercise
So, if we were pretty active before COVID-19, and we’re somewhat still training now, what does this mean for our bodies?
What we know for sure: The amount of muscle mass we have is the biggest driver for increasing our basal metabolic rate.
So, if you were consistently active in the past, and have not become fully sedentary as a result of quarantine, then you are most likely fine. Here is a well-written article by Adam Tzur, looking at the science of detraining.
Some high level points from the post:
To maintain hypertrophy during 4 + weeks of detraining, train at least once per week (if you are a beginner). Note: There are not many well published studies on trained lifters (3+ years or more).
Your muscles may look atrophied during the first couple weeks mainly due to losses in muscle glycogen (thus, less water in your muscles).
Studies say decreases in lean body mass occur at a higher rate if you have become completely sedentary (decrease in movement almost entirely).
The take-away? Don’t neglect daily movement if possible. Go out for some fresh air, clean your laundry, and please for everybodys sake— clean your cat’s litter.
Can our basal metabolic rate decrease?
Short answer: Yes.
You may have heard your mom or dad complain about their struggles to lose weight because their metabolism just isn’t like it used to be.
Ultimately, there is truth in this since our metabolisms do slow down after 30 years (typically due to a loss of lean body mass that occurs with older age).
Some other factors that decrease our metabolism include:
Lower than normal secretions of thyroid hormones (hypothyroidism)
Restricted caloric intake (10 - 20%) due to being in conservation mode
Less body surface area and muscle mass
So… what should I tell my mom who keeps complaining about having a hard time losing weight?
Well, first, show her some love and empathy with an old-fashioned hug. Secondly, throw on Pumping Iron, splurge on a set of dumbbells and tell her she better be ready to get to work, because y’all are going downtown to Gains-ville.
Ok, but in all seriousness, being physically active, and particularly exercising with weights helps us preserve our lean body mass, thus increasing our BMR well into our adulthood.
TLDR;
BMR is the most influential factor in determining our total daily energy expenditure, accounting for 60 - 70% of total needs.
The amount of muscle mass we have has the greatest influence on our BMR.
Aging has an impact on our BMRs, but participating in physical activity is important to sustain as much muscle mass as possible.
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
Our bodies burn calories just to simply process the calories you’re currently eating.
The thermic effect of food (TEF) is the energy our body uses to digest, absorb, transport, store and metabolize the nutrients we consume. TEF may also be referred to as: diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) or specific dynamic action (SDA). TEF plays a small role in energy expenditure, only contributing to about ~10%.
Gauging the exact TEF value for all of our meals seems to be a trivial process, but instead of being hung up on the little details, focus on the influence that food composition has.
For example, the breakdown of protein in the body requires much more energy than the breakdown of fat.
More specifically:
Protein-rich meals (20 - 30%)
Carbohydrate-rich meals (5 - 10%)
Fat-rich meals (0 - 3%)
Does this mean I should be eating more protein at this time?
I don’t think everybody should be overly concerned about increasing their protein intake, but instead, ensuring adequate protein intake during this time wouldn’t hurt. We know adequate protein intake will conserve our lean body mass, which again, translates to a higher basal metabolic rate.
TLDR;
TEF refers to the amount of energy required to break down, digest, absorb and transport the foods we eat.
Protein-rich meals have a higher TEF value, with fat being the lowest.
Adaptive Thermogenesis, or Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
NEAT is the one factor we are all talking about during this time unknowingly.
NEAT refers to the amount of heat our bodies produce in response to everyday activities that don’t fall under the “intentional exercise” category. This component of TDEE makes up about 15%, but can vary greatly from person to person.
A couple of examples include: being outside and shivering from the cold or fidgeting our bodies around during a phone conference call (because it has gone way past its expiration).
However, quantifying NEAT is the trickiest part; mainly due to the many factors that can contribute to it.
Since I’m moving less, then, ultimately, I have to make adjustments, right?
Not so fast there speedracer. Although we may be moving less due to majority of us being quarantined, this doesn’t necessarily mean adjustments are warranted. Several studies show that decreasing our overall daily intake can actually decrease NEAT (making this all way too complicated).
My advice would be to make sure you break up your day with joyful and intentional movement before you start slashing calories left and right. If you considered yourself to be a hyper-active individual before quarantine, then I would encourage you to self-monitor what your physical activity has been like and go from there.
Monitor, evaluate, and then make changes if desired.
Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT)
You’re probably getting less of this, but science tells you that you have a good reason not to worry.
Exercise activity-thermogenesis is just a fancy term to describe intentional physical activity. This includes lifting weights, going for a run, or playing a team sport.
If you have gotten this far into the post, you’re probably wondering how much more you’re going to learn at this point. Thus, I saved the best topic for last, because well— EAT only expends 5% of our energy needs.
Shocker, I know! Relying heavily on exercise to burn calories isn’t entirely all that significant after all, huh?
Don’t get me wrong, this number certainly has variance from person to person, and the more physically active we are, the higher it is, but generally speaking, it’s not the end-for-all we all thought it was.
You’re telling me my push-up and kettlebell challeng es aren’t all that beneficial? That’s news to me.
If you move your limb an inch or two during this quarantine, you’re already doing enough.
Ok, just kidding, but actually not. All movement is beneficial, and for so many other reasons other than just simply trying to burn calories. What I’m saying is that the calories we burn from exercise itself really isn’t as significant as we thought it once was, so, missing out on your normal gym routine won’t have that much of an impact on the amount of calories you burn on a daily basis.
What can I do with this Information?
Our bodies need calories to function, and the amount of muscle mass we currently have plays the biggest factor in this. Yes, we may not be as active as we want to be, but if we consistently trained in the past, then we can look at this rationally and understand the amount of muscle mass we accumulated in the past is still playing an active role in our total daily energy expenditure.
We also know that the amount of food we eat plays just a small role in determining our TDEE, but it still plays a role nonetheless. We understand protein-rich meals have the highest TEF value, meaning, it probably wouldn’t hurt to ensure you are consuming adequate amounts of protein at this time. On another note, we know that adequate protein intake contributes to higher lean body mass. It’s a win-win.
We have determined that its time to stop freaking out about being out of a gym routine because, well, our energy expenditure during exercise is not all that significant after all. What may play a bigger role would be all other miniscule movements that we might be missing out on because we are now working from home. However, if we have the means and headspace to do so, a walk every now and then outside to get fresh air (and to empty the cat’s litter) would be beneficial in more ways than just one.
Did you enjoy this read? Did you learn a thing or two? I would love to hear what your thoughts are. Stay healthy, stay safe, and please, stay home.
Level up your nutrition with a Registered Dietitian and apply to work with me.
Note: Due to an overwhelming amount of individuals facing current financial hardship at this time, I am more than happy to discuss pricing strategies that will work for you. Please do not hesitate to inquire.