47 A Christian Guide to Body Stewardship, Diet and Exercise Determining Daily Energy Requirements Figure 3.3 depicts the percentages of caloric expenditure associated with the four major bodily processes: basal metabolic rate (i.e., rate at which the body uses energy at rest), non-exercise activity thermogenesis (i.e., amount of energy expended performing daily tasks), thermal effect of food (i.e., amount of energy expended processing food for use and storage), and exercise activity thermogenesis (i.e., amount of energy expended while exercising). As you can see from the pie chart, basal metabolic rate requires the most caloric expenditure and exercise requires the least, which may be a surprise to some. However, the percentage associated with exercise can increase significantly (e.g., up to 20-25%) for those individuals training at extremely high levels of intensity and/or volume (e.g., > 6 hours of training per day). Figure 3.3. Components of and Their Contribution to Caloric Expenditure Understanding these four components of caloric expenditure can help individuals make informed decisions regarding their lifestyle that, if implemented, can have a profound impact on weight management. For example, if the primary goal is to lose weight, individuals should strive to increase the number of calories expended per day from each of the four components. Participating in regular resistance training can help to increase basal metabolic rate (BMR); intentionally choosing manual instead of automated physical activity options can help to increase non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT); eating more nutrient dense instead of more processed foods can help to increase the thermal effect of food (TEF); and regularly participating in planned and structured physical activity can help to increase exercise activity thermogenesis (EAT). An individual can determine the recommended number of calories by multiplying their target bodyweight (in lbs.) by the appropriate physical activity level (PAL) factor. Table 3.1 assigns the associated factor with each of the different physical activity levels.
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