You might wonder, “How many calories burned doing nothing?” The answer is simple: you burn calories all the time, even when you’re sitting or sleeping. This constant calorie burn is your body’s way of keeping you alive and running. It includes things like breathing, keeping your heart beating, and making new cells. The main ways your body burns calories without planned exercise are your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), and through small movements you do every day called Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). All these together, plus a tiny bit from digesting food, make up your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), even on a Sedentary calorie burn day.
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Image Source: www.verywellfit.com
Your Body’s Basic Energy Needs: BMR and RMR
Think of your body like a car engine that’s always running, even when parked. That’s what your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is like. It’s the number of calories your body needs just to handle basic life functions. This is the energy used when you are completely at rest, like when you’re sleeping. It keeps your lungs breathing, your heart pumping blood, your brain working, and your body temperature stable.
Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is very close to BMR. Some people use the terms RMR and BMR the same way. RMR is the calories your body burns when you are at rest but awake. You might be sitting quietly or lying down after not eating for a few hours. It’s usually a little higher than BMR because you’re awake.
Most people burn the biggest part of their daily calories through BMR or RMR. This part of your Metabolism rate calories burned is fixed by things inside your body. You don’t have to think about burning these calories. Your body does it naturally, all the time, just to keep you alive. It’s your core engine running costs. Knowing your BMR or RMR gives you a good idea of your minimum daily calorie burn.
Deciphering BMR: The Core Burn
Let’s look closer at Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the energy your body uses when it is completely at rest. Imagine you haven’t eaten in 12 hours and you are lying still in a cool, quiet room. The calories your body burns just to stay alive in that state is your BMR.
What does BMR pay for?
- Keeping your lungs working (breathing).
- Keeping your heart beating (pumping blood).
- Keeping your brain active.
- Maintaining your body temperature.
- Repairing cells.
- Making new cells.
It’s the energy cost of simply existing. BMR is the lowest number of calories your body needs to live for 24 hours. It makes up a very large part of your Calories burned at rest and your overall daily burn. For most people, BMR is 60% to 70% of their Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). This shows how much energy your body uses even when you are doing nothing physical.
Interpreting RMR: Resting While Awake
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is very similar to BMR. It measures the calories burned when you are at rest but awake. You might be sitting on the couch or lying in bed, but you are conscious. You should not have eaten recently, usually for at least 4 hours.
RMR is almost always a little higher than BMR. Why? Because being awake and conscious uses a little more energy than being asleep or in a completely basal state. However, the difference is usually small, often less than 10%. Because they are so close and RMR is easier to measure, RMR is more often used in everyday life and by fitness trackers or calculators.
So, when people talk about “calories burned at rest,” they often mean RMR. It’s the energy your body uses while resting but not in a strict, lab-measured basal state. Both BMR and RMR are key parts of your Daily energy expenditure sedentary. They show how many calories you burn without any exercise.
The Role of Little Movements: NEAT
Besides the energy your body uses just to stay alive (BMR/RMR), you also burn calories through all your daily movements that are not planned exercise. This is called Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT).
Think about everything you do that isn’t lying still or doing a workout.
- Walking around your house.
- Standing up.
- Fidgeting in your chair.
- Cleaning your home.
- Cooking.
- Shopping.
- Taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Gardening.
- Walking the dog.
- Even things like tapping your foot.
All these little movements add up. NEAT is a big part of your Daily energy expenditure sedentary. For someone who doesn’t exercise, NEAT is the main way they burn extra calories beyond their BMR/RMR.
How much energy does NEAT use? It changes a lot from person to person.
- Someone with a desk job who sits almost all day will have very low NEAT. Their Sedentary calorie burn will be low.
- Someone with a job that involves standing and walking, or someone who fidgets a lot, will have higher NEAT.
NEAT can vary by as much as 200 to 2000 calories per day between people with very different activity levels! This shows how important everyday movement is, even if it’s not formal exercise. NEAT is a very important part of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) when you are not exercising. It’s a key part of your Metabolism rate calories burned that you have some control over, even without hitting the gym. It’s basically How many calories burned doing nothing active, just doing normal life things.
Adding It Up: Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)
Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the total number of calories your body burns in a 24-hour period. It’s the sum of all the ways your body uses energy.
TDEE has three main parts:
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): Energy for basic life functions at rest. This is the biggest part.
- Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): Energy used to digest, absorb, and store the food you eat. This is a small part, usually about 10% of your total daily calories.
- Activity Energy Expenditure: Energy used for physical movement. This includes planned exercise and Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT).
When we talk about calories burned without exercise, we are mainly looking at:
- BMR/RMR
- NEAT
- TEF (Thermic Effect of Food)
For someone who is sedentary, the activity part of TDEE is mostly just NEAT. There is no planned exercise. So, for a Sedentary calorie burn, your TDEE is mainly your BMR/RMR plus your low NEAT and TEF.
Knowing your TDEE is very helpful if you want to manage your weight. If you eat more calories than your TDEE, you gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than your TDEE, you lose weight. If you eat about the same number of calories as your TDEE, your weight stays the same. Your Daily energy expenditure sedentary is the baseline for figuring this out when you are not adding exercise calories into the mix.
Factors Affecting Metabolism
Many things change how many calories your body burns, even at rest. These are the main Factors affecting metabolism and influence your Metabolism rate calories burned.
- Age: As you get older, your BMR usually goes down. You tend to lose muscle and may become less active.
- Sex: Men usually have a higher BMR than women. This is often because men tend to have more muscle mass and weigh more on average.
- Weight: People who weigh more usually have a higher BMR. It takes more energy to keep a bigger body working.
- Height: Taller people often have a slightly higher BMR than shorter people of the same weight.
- Body Composition: This is very important. Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat does. Someone with more muscle mass will have a higher BMR than someone of the same weight with more fat. Building muscle can boost your Metabolism rate calories burned even when you are not exercising.
- Genetics: Your genes play a role in your natural metabolism speed. Some people are just naturally higher or lower.
- Hormones: Problems with your thyroid gland can affect your metabolism. A low thyroid (hypothyroidism) can slow down your metabolism.
- Fever or Illness: When you are sick or have a fever, your body burns more calories to fight the illness.
- Environment: Being in very cold or very hot temperatures can make your body work harder to keep its temperature normal, burning more calories.
These Factors affecting metabolism explain why two people of the same age and sex can have different calorie burns even when doing the same things.
Estimating Your Daily Burn Without Exercise
How can you find out roughly how many calories you burn each day without doing exercise? You need to estimate your BMR or RMR and then add an estimate for your NEAT and TEF based on your activity level.
There are formulas and online calculators that can help estimate your BMR or RMR. The most common ones are the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and the Harris-Benedict equation. These formulas use your:
- Weight
- Height
- Age
- Sex
Let’s look at a simple idea of how they work (you don’t need to do the math yourself, online tools are easy).
Mifflin-St Jeor Equation (Commonly Used):
- For Men: (10 * weight in kg) + (6.25 * height in cm) – (5 * age in years) + 5
- For Women: (10 * weight in kg) + (6.25 * height in cm) – (5 * age in years) – 161
Example: A 30-year-old woman, 165 cm tall, weighing 60 kg.
BMR = (10 * 60) + (6.25 * 165) – (5 * 30) – 161
BMR = 600 + 1031.25 – 150 – 161
BMR = 1320.25 calories (approx)
This is her estimated Basal Metabolic Rate. It’s her minimum energy need at complete rest. This is a big part of her Calories burned at rest.
Once you have an estimate for your BMR (or RMR), you need to account for your activity level (mostly NEAT if no exercise) to estimate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) or Daily energy expenditure sedentary.
Calculators do this by using an “activity factor.” You multiply your BMR/RMR by this factor.
- Sedentary: Little to no exercise, mostly sitting. Activity factor: 1.2
- Lightly Active: Light exercise 1-3 days a week, or a job with lots of standing/walking. Activity factor: 1.375
- Moderately Active: Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week. Activity factor: 1.55
- Very Active: Hard exercise 6-7 days a week. Activity factor: 1.725
- Extra Active: Very hard exercise, physical job. Activity factor: 1.9
If you want to know your calories burned without exercise, you would use the “Sedentary” activity factor (1.2) or maybe “Lightly Active” if your job or daily life involves a fair bit of standing or walking around, even without formal workouts.
Using the example BMR of 1320 calories:
- Estimated TDEE (Sedentary): 1320 * 1.2 = 1584 calories
This 1584 calories is a rough estimate of her Daily energy expenditure sedentary. It includes her BMR, her low NEAT from daily living (moving around the house, etc.), and the energy to digest food (TEF). This is an estimate of her How many calories burned doing nothing structured like exercise. It’s her Sedentary calorie burn.
It’s important to remember these are just estimates. Actual metabolism can vary.
Typical Sedentary Calorie Burn Ranges
What is a typical range for calories burned each day without exercise? This depends a lot on the Factors affecting metabolism we talked about, like age, sex, weight, and height.
Here are some very general ranges for Sedentary calorie burn (using the 1.2 activity factor):
-
Adult Women (Sedentary):
- Smaller/Older: Around 1400-1600 calories per day.
- Average: Around 1600-1800 calories per day.
- Larger/Younger: Around 1800-2000+ calories per day.
-
Adult Men (Sedentary):
- Smaller/Older: Around 1800-2000 calories per day.
- Average: Around 2000-2200 calories per day.
- Larger/Younger: Around 2200-2500+ calories per day.
These numbers represent the Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) for someone who is mostly sitting or lying down, with only light daily activities like moving around the house or office. It includes their Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), their low level of Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), and the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). This is their rough Calories burned at rest plus basic daily movement.
Here is a simple table showing estimated TDEE for sedentary people based on weight and sex, using average height/age for simplicity (these are general examples, use a calculator for a personal estimate):
| Weight (lbs / kg) | Female (Sedentary TDEE) | Male (Sedentary TDEE) |
|---|---|---|
| 120 lbs / 54 kg | ~1450 calories | ~1750 calories |
| 140 lbs / 64 kg | ~1580 calories | ~1920 calories |
| 160 lbs / 73 kg | ~1710 calories | ~2080 calories |
| 180 lbs / 82 kg | ~1840 calories | ~2240 calories |
| 200 lbs / 91 kg | ~1970 calories | ~2400 calories |
Note: These are rough estimates for illustrative purposes. Actual numbers vary based on age, height, and body composition.
These numbers show your Daily energy expenditure sedentary. They tell you How many calories burned doing nothing planned, just living your day with minimal activity. This is your baseline Metabolism rate calories burned.
The Impact of a Sedentary Lifestyle
Living a sedentary life means you spend most of your day sitting or lying down. This greatly affects your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
When you are sedentary, your activity energy expenditure is very low. There is no planned exercise. Your Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) is also low because you aren’t moving around much.
This means your TDEE is close to your BMR or RMR, plus a small amount for TEF and NEAT. Compared to someone who is active, a sedentary person burns much fewer calories per day overall.
For example:
* A sedentary person with a BMR of 1500 calories might have a TDEE of about 1800 calories.
* An active person with the same BMR of 1500 calories, but who exercises regularly and moves a lot during the day, might have a TDEE of 2500 calories or more.
That’s a difference of 700 calories or more burned per day! Over a week, that’s 4900 calories. A pound of fat is about 3500 calories. This difference explains why being active makes it much easier to manage weight compared to a Sedentary calorie burn lifestyle.
Even small increases in NEAT can make a difference. Standing up more, walking during phone calls, or taking the stairs adds movement throughout the day. This increases your Daily energy expenditure sedentary beyond the basic BMR/RMR. It’s a way to increase your Calories burned at rest slightly, without doing a full workout.
A high Sedentary calorie burn number doesn’t exist. Sedentary means low calorie burn beyond the minimum.
Beyond BMR/RMR: The Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
There is one more small part of your daily calorie burn that happens even when you aren’t exercising: the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF).
TEF is the energy your body uses to digest, absorb, move, and store the nutrients from the food you eat. Think of it as the energy cost of processing your food.
TEF is usually the smallest part of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). It makes up about 10% of the total calories you eat.
For example, if you eat 2000 calories in a day, your body might use about 200 calories just to process that food.
This calorie burn happens automatically after you eat. It’s part of your Metabolism rate calories burned and happens regardless of whether you exercise or not. It’s included in estimates of your Daily energy expenditure sedentary.
Different types of food use slightly different amounts of energy to process:
- Protein has the highest TEF (20-30% of calories).
- Carbohydrates have a moderate TEF (5-10% of calories).
- Fats have the lowest TEF (0-3% of calories).
Because TEF depends on the food you eat, it’s not part of your BMR or RMR (which are measured when you haven’t eaten). But it is part of your overall daily calorie burn, including your Sedentary calorie burn.
Comprehending Your Daily Non-Exercise Burn for Weight Management
Knowing how many calories you burn each day without exercise is key to managing your weight. This number is your baseline – the minimum energy your body needs.
Let’s say you estimate your Daily energy expenditure sedentary (TDEE using a sedentary factor) is 1800 calories. This means your body uses about 1800 calories per day when you are not exercising and have a typical low-activity day. This includes your BMR, your low NEAT, and the TEF from the food you eat. This is your How many calories burned doing nothing active.
- If you eat 1800 calories per day: Your weight should stay about the same, assuming your activity level stays sedentary.
- If you eat more than 1800 calories per day: You will likely gain weight. The extra calories are stored as fat.
- If you eat less than 1800 calories per day: You will likely lose weight. Your body has to use stored energy (like fat) to make up the difference.
If you add exercise, your TDEE goes up. If you burn 300 calories through exercise, your new TDEE might be 1800 + 300 = 2100 calories for that day.
Your Calories burned at rest (BMR/RMR) and Sedentary calorie burn (TDEE with sedentary factor) are the foundation for planning your calorie intake. If you want to lose weight without exercising, you must eat fewer calories than your Daily energy expenditure sedentary. However, losing weight just by eating less can be hard and might cause muscle loss. Combining calorie reduction with exercise or increasing NEAT is usually more effective and healthier.
Understanding your Metabolism rate calories burned at rest and through daily tasks helps you see where your energy goes. It shows that even small changes in daily movement (increasing NEAT) can add up and make a difference in your overall calorie burn, even without formal exercise.
Boosting Your Sedentary Burn? (Focus on NEAT)
While you can’t easily change your BMR or RMR (except slightly by building muscle over time), you can change your Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). Increasing NEAT is a way to burn more calories each day without doing formal exercise. It increases your Sedentary calorie burn above the minimum.
Here are simple ways to increase your NEAT:
- Stand more: Use a standing desk or stand up while talking on the phone. Standing burns more calories than sitting.
- Move during breaks: Instead of sitting during your break, walk around for a few minutes.
- Take the stairs: Skip the elevator or escalator.
- Walk shorter distances: Walk to a nearby store instead of driving.
- Fidget: Tap your feet, shift your weight. These small movements add up.
- Clean or tidy up: Doing housework burns calories.
- Park farther away: Add a few extra steps to your walk.
- Walk while thinking: Pacing while on the phone or thinking can increase NEAT.
These small activities increase your Daily energy expenditure sedentary. They add to your Calories burned at rest by adding small bursts of movement throughout the day. While each action alone doesn’t burn many calories, doing them consistently throughout the day can make a real difference in your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) without relying on planned workouts. It’s about making your everyday life a little more active. This boosts your Metabolism rate calories burned slightly above the basic resting level. It changes your How many calories burned doing nothing active to How many calories burned doing slightly more nothing-active tasks.
In Summary: Your Daily Calorie Baseline
Every single day, your body burns a significant number of calories just to keep you alive and moving through your normal, non-exercise activities. This is your calorie burn “without exercise.”
The main parts of this burn are:
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): The energy your body uses for basic life functions (breathing, heartbeat, brain function) when you are at rest. This is the largest part of your daily burn. It’s your core Calories burned at rest.
- Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): The energy used for all your daily movements that are not planned exercise (standing, walking around, fidgeting, cleaning). This part varies a lot depending on your lifestyle. It is a key part of your Sedentary calorie burn and Daily energy expenditure sedentary.
- Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): The energy used to digest the food you eat. This is a smaller part.
Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) on a day without exercise is the sum of your BMR/RMR + NEAT + TEF. For someone sedentary, this TDEE is lower than for an active person but still accounts for a large number of calories burned.
Factors like your age, sex, weight, height, and body composition (muscle vs. fat) all influence your BMR/RMR and overall Metabolism rate calories burned.
You can estimate your daily non-exercise burn using online calculators that start with a BMR formula and then apply an activity factor (like 1.2 for sedentary).
Knowing this baseline number is very helpful for managing your weight. If you want to lose weight without adding exercise, you must create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than your estimated Sedentary calorie burn (TDEE with a sedentary factor).
Remember, even if you aren’t exercising, increasing your daily movement through NEAT can help boost your calorie burn slightly and is good for your health. Your body is always working, burning calories to keep you going, even when it seems like you are just doing nothing. It’s never truly “doing nothing” in terms of energy use!
Frequently Asked Questions
h4 What is BMR?
BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. It is the minimum number of calories your body needs to stay alive and keep basic functions working (like breathing, heart pumping, brain activity) when you are in a complete state of rest, usually measured after not eating for a long time and in a controlled environment.
h4 What is RMR?
RMR stands for Resting Metabolic Rate. It is similar to BMR and measures the calories your body burns when you are at rest but awake. It’s easier to measure than BMR and is often used in place of BMR for practical purposes.
h4 Is BMR the same as RMR?
No, they are slightly different. BMR is the lowest rate at complete rest (like deep sleep state). RMR is measured at rest but awake. RMR is usually slightly higher than BMR, but the terms are often used as if they mean the same thing because they are very close.
h4 How many calories do I burn just by lying in bed all day?
If you did nothing but lie in bed all day, the calories burned would be very close to your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). This number varies a lot based on your age, sex, weight, height, and muscle mass. For an average adult, it might be anywhere from 1200 to 2200 calories or more.
h4 Does a sedentary person burn any calories from activity?
Yes. A sedentary person still burns calories from Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). This includes moving around the house, standing up, walking to the bathroom, getting food, fidgeting, etc. While low compared to an active person, NEAT is still part of a sedentary person’s Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
h4 How much does NEAT contribute to daily calorie burn?
NEAT varies greatly. For a very sedentary person, it might only add a couple hundred calories above their BMR/RMR. For someone with an active job or someone who is naturally restless, it can add 1000 calories or much more.
h4 How does muscle affect calories burned at rest?
Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue. This means someone with more muscle mass typically has a higher BMR and RMR than someone of the same weight with less muscle.
h4 Can I increase my metabolism rate without exercise?
While major changes are hard without building muscle (which is exercise!), you can increase your daily calorie burn without formal exercise mainly by increasing your NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). Moving more throughout the day through standing, walking, and daily tasks increases your total daily energy expenditure. Eating protein can also slightly boost your calorie burn due to the Thermic Effect of Food.
h4 How is the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) calculated?
TEF is usually estimated as a percentage of the total calories you eat. On average, it’s about 10% of your daily calorie intake. It varies based on the mix of protein, carbs, and fat in your diet.
h4 How do I find my estimated daily calorie burn without exercise (Sedentary TDEE)?
You can use online calculators. You enter your age, sex, weight, and height to estimate your BMR or RMR. Then, you select a low activity level (like “sedentary” which uses an activity factor of 1.2) to estimate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) for a day without exercise. This gives you your Sedentary calorie burn.