How to achieve 6% body fat. Pennies in the jar: The importance of background energy expenditure!

Over a period of a few months, I was able to reduce my body-fat from 12% to 5.5% using a straight forward method. No food type was restricted.

Most people understand the importance of exercise, among other things it improves cardiovascular health, body composition and mood. Proper nutrition and sleep are to a lesser extent accepted to have a positive impact on overall health.

One area that is often overlooked is the impact of background energy expenditure on total energy expenditure (TEE). TEE is composed of basal metabolic rate (BMR), the amount of energy required to keep your body functioning (60–80% of TEE), the energy expended in the digestion and absorption of food (diet-induced thermogenesis, ~10%), and the energy expended during physical activities (activity energy expenditure, ~15–30%) (Westerterp, 2013).

It is often assumed that exercise is the major or only contributor to activity energy expenditure, however for many people they may only expend 200–300kcal from exercise. During the first UK Lockdown, March 2020, I decided to experiment on myself, monitoring my energy expenditure from exercise but also from the seemingly less important, energy expended from walking and regular day to day activity.

Energy Balance

Creating a calorie deficit is fundamental behind weight loss and any diet, contrary to some beliefs. I utilised MyFitnessPal to log my calorie intake and my Garmin Fenix 5 to monitor energy expendiutre (exercise and non-exercise). Other apps and devices are available, these were just what I was using at the time.

Simple method

The rules were simple, I didn’t count macros, I just made sure that I had an energy deficit of 300–500kcal per day. I didn’t have access to the gym so energy expenditure came in the form of running, cycling indoor (Peloton) and outdoor and online Bootcamps (https://dbfitnessandnutrition.co.uk.

My dietary intake was balanced, I did not restrict any macronutrients, follow a vegan, vegetarian or carnivore diet (insert any fad diet here!). Some days I would skip breakfast, this was purely because I would exercise in the morning and my first meal of the day would be lunch. I am not claiming any of the proposed hormonal/metabolic benefits of intermittent fasting. Quite simply, it allowed me to decrease my daily caloric intake by not consuming breakfast and allowed me to enjoy my food in the afternoon/evening.

Towards the end of the day if I found myself in energy surplus, I would partake in an activity to induce energy deficit, this could be going for a walk, doing some work around the house or garden etc…

Results

I measured my body composition by DXA — 12% March 9th 2020 and followed the simple method and reassessed my body composition on 6% 5th July 2020. Obviously, I didn’t have any results in between these dates due to the Government imposed COVID-19 rules, and don’t assume that it was a complete liner progression. I rescanned on 31st July 2020, my bodyfat was 5.5%.

Summary

There are numerous diets out there some promising spectacular results. The truth is that all successful diets work by creating an energy deficit. Simple!

The key is finding which diet and lifestyle works for you, one that is sustainable. Crash diets often result in rapid weight loss followed by rapid weight gain, often ending with a higher body mass than when starting the diet.

References

Westerterp KR. Physical activity and physical activity induced energy expenditure in humans: measurement, determinants, and effects. Front Physiol. 2013;4:90