Efficiency is Key.
First off, welcome to the blog of Black Label Strength. I wanted a more long form medium I could connect to you with, and I was getting tired of writing Instagram stories that took up 17 slides. The approach here will be informal; very conversational. That lays the ground work that there will be grammatical and spelling errors. Deal with it.
Soooo, let’s have the dreaded “Budget Talk”. A conversation that strikes fear into every Target loving, Home Goods addict and Amazonaholic, but today we’re going over your caloric budget. Let’s take a look at how the calories you ingest are actually utilized. This may shed some light on where your energy should actually be placed if you have a goal of altering your weight.
PART 1: BREAKING DOWN THE CHART
Let’s break this down with a pie chart—yes, I picked a pie chart on purpose (who doesn’t love pie?). This visual gives us a snapshot of something called Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE for short. Basically, it shows how your body uses energy (calories) throughout the day—assuming you're eating enough to maintain your current weight and all those calories are being put to use.
Here’s how the “energy pie” is sliced:
BMR: Basal Metabolic Rate
This is the energy your body uses for what I call “involuntary essentials.” We're talking about your heart beating, lungs breathing, blood circulating, digestion doing its thing—all the behind-the-scenes work your body does just to keep you alive.
It’s no surprise this chunk is the biggest. You’ve probably heard it takes a lot of energy just to exist—and now you can see how much a lot really is in comparison to everything else.
TEF: Thermogenic Effect of Food
The energy it takes to digest what you eat. Some foods take more energy to break down than others. Protein? King of the hill here—it requires the most energy to process. Carbs come in at about half the thermic effect of protein. Fats? They barely budge the needle. But don’t write fats off! They’re absolutely essential to health—we’ll get into that on another day.
NEAT: Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis
This one’s a mouthful, but just think of it as “all the moving you do that isn’t a workout.” Walking the dog, grocery shopping, taking the stairs, fidgeting—yep, it all counts.
NEAT is the sleeper hit of energy burn. It often gets overlooked, but it’s a massive part of your daily output, second only to BMR. The more active your lifestyle, the bigger this slice gets—and that’s a good thing.
If you’re someone who hits 10-12k steps a day, enjoys a casual bike ride or hike, or explores cities on foot during vacations, chances are your health markers are better than someone who’s mostly sedentary. NEAT might just be the most underrated tool in your health toolbox.
TEA: Thermogenic effect of activity
Finally, we’ve got your dedicated workouts. This is the energy burned from structured exercise—stuff that requires recovery: lifting weights, running, group classes, etc.
Surprisingly, this is the smallest piece of the pie. Most people overestimate how many calories they burn during workouts, but in the grand scheme, it’s a much smaller contributor than the other components.
PART 2: MAKING SENSE OF THE DAY AS A WHOLE
Is the chart perfect? Of course not. There’ll always be individual variation. But across the board, the breakdown holds true.
Here’s the real takeaway:
If you focus on supporting your BMR, optimizing TEF (hint: eat more protein), and expanding NEAT, you’re covering about 90% of your daily energy use. And if managing your weight or changing your body composition is your goal, those are the big levers to pull.
Your time in the gym? That’s where you go to create positive stress for muscle growth, cardiovascular gains, and overall health. Even at a modest level, these sessions will round out the remaining 6-10% of energy expenditure—but more importantly, they’re where you invest in the kind of long-term health and fitness you just can’t get anywhere else in your day.
PART 3: THE TAKEAWAY
If you want to be efficient with your time and effort, here’s the winning combo:
Train to build strength and muscle
Do cardio to build endurance and support heart health
Dial in your nutrition and lifestyle for body composition and weight management
Trying to flip these around—like lifting light weights endlessly to “get cardio,” or relying solely on the treadmill for fat loss—isn’t the best use of your time. And since most of us are already stretched thin, it only makes sense to invest your energy where the payoff is greatest.