Understanding Energy Balance: The Key to Changing Your Body

Let’s get one thing straight — if your goal is fat loss, muscle gain, or just feeling better in your clothes, you don’t need extreme diets or brutal workouts. You need to understand energy balance.

It’s not flashy, but it’s the foundation of every successful transformation — including the results our members see during our 6-Week Transform Challenge.

⚖️ What Is Energy Balance?

Energy balance is the relationship between the calories you eat and the calories you burn.

• Eat more than you burn = weight gain

• Eat less than you burn = weight loss

• Eat the same as you burn = maintenance

Simple in theory. Harder in practice. Why? Because most people only focus on one side of the equation — usually calories out (training) — and ignore the rest.

🔍 Calories Out: Not Just About Exercise

When we talk about burning calories, most people only think of workouts. But your body uses energy in four key ways. This is called your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).

1️⃣ BMR – Basal Metabolic Rate (~60–70%)

This is the number of calories your body burns at rest, just to keep you alive — think breathing, brain function, blood flow, and cell repair.

Why it matters:

Even if you didn’t move all day, your body still needs energy to survive. This makes up the bulk of your calorie burn.

How to support it:

• Build and maintain muscle through strength training

• Avoid crash dieting, which can lower BMR

• Eat enough protein to support lean mass

2️⃣ NEAT – Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (~15–30%)

This is all the movement you do outside of structured workouts — walking, fidgeting, cooking, cleaning, chasing the dog, etc.

Why it matters:

NEAT is the most underestimated and modifiable part of your metabolism. Increasing daily movement can burn hundreds of extra calories — without doing more workouts.

How to increase NEAT:

• Set a daily step target (e.g. 8,000–10,000 steps)

• Take regular movement breaks from sitting

• Walk or cycle short journeys

• Be intentionally active outside your sessions

3️⃣ EAT – Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (~5–10%)

This is the energy you burn during intentional exercise — like lifting weights, doing a HYROX class, or going for a run.

Why it matters:

While important, your gym sessions only account for a small part of your total burn. They’re not a license to eat “whatever you want” — especially if fat loss is your goal.

How to use it well:

• Strength train to build muscle (which helps BMR long-term)

• Include conditioning or aerobic work to improve heart health and support calorie burn

• Don’t rely solely on workouts for fat loss — use them to improve performance, not punish food choices

4️⃣ TEF – Thermic Effect of Food (~5–10%)

This is the energy your body uses to digest and process the food you eat. Protein requires more energy to digest than carbs or fats.

Why it matters:

A higher-protein diet burns more calories during digestion and helps keep you fuller — both useful during fat loss.

How to maximise TEF:

• Include a source of protein in every meal

• Avoid overly processed foods which digest quickly and easily

• Eat fibre-rich whole foods to support digestion and satiety

🧠 TDEE in Real Life

Many people think workouts are the key to fat loss — but they only make up about 5–10% of your daily burn. What you do the other 23 hours has a far greater impact.

By:

• Building muscle (supports BMR)

• Moving more outside workouts (boosts NEAT)

• Eating a high-protein, balanced diet (improves TEF)

• Training consistently and intentionally (EAT)

…you’ll have more control over your energy balance and your results.

🍽️ Calories In: Not Just About “Eating Clean”

Eating “healthy” doesn’t always mean eating in line with your goals. A smoothie, a handful of nuts, and a “clean” takeaway can still push you into a calorie surplus.

It’s not about restriction.

It’s about eating with purpose — meals that support your training, satisfy your hunger, and align with your energy needs.

This is why our personal trainers don’t just coach workouts — they educate you on how to fuel your body, move more, and recover smarter.

🧠 Why This Matters

If you’re:

• Training hard but not seeing results…

• Confused by conflicting nutrition advice…

• Stuck in a cycle of “good” and “bad” weeks…

...understanding energy balance gives you clarity. It takes the guesswork out of fat loss. And it helps you stop chasing fads and start focusing on what actually works.

💡 5 Things You Can Do Right Now

1. Track your food for a week – use an app like NutraCheck or MyFitnessPal

2. Check your step count – aim for 7,000–10,000 per day

3. Strength train 2–4 times per week – to build and maintain lean muscle

4. Prioritise protein – it keeps you fuller and burns more calories to digest

5. Stay consistent – it’s not about perfection, it’s about patterns over time

🗣️ Final Thoughts

You don’t need to train for hours or follow a rigid meal plan to get results. You just need to understand how your body uses energy — and how to shift the balance in your favour.

Want to learn how to apply this to your own goals with clarity and structure? Book a Discovery Call Today.