Even at rest, a body needs energy for all it does. This includes breathing, sending blood through the body, keeping hormone levels even, and growing and repairing cells.

The number of calories a body at rest uses to do these things is known as basal metabolic rate, also called basal metabolism. Besides the basal metabolic rate, two other things decide how many calories a body burns each day:. How much a body moves. Any movement, such as playing tennis, walking to a store or chasing the dog, makes up the rest of the calories a body burns each day.

This can be changed a lot, both by doing more exercise and just moving more during the day. Daily activity that isn't exercise is called nonexercise activity thermogenesis NEAT.

This includes walking around the house. It also includes activities such as gardening and housework, and even fidgeting. NEAT accounts for about to calories used daily. You might want to blame a medical condition for slow metabolism and weight gain.

But rarely does a medical condition slow metabolism enough to cause a lot of weight gain. Conditions that can cause weight gain include Cushing syndrome or having an underactive thyroid gland, also known as hypothyroidism.

These conditions are uncommon. Many things affect weight gain. These likely include genes, hormones, diet and lifestyle, including sleep, physical activity and stress. You gain weight when you eat more calories than you burn — or burn fewer calories than you eat.

Some people seem to lose weight more quickly and more easily than others. But everyone loses weight by burning more calories than are eaten.

The bottom line is calories count. To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories or burn more calories through physical activity. Or you can do both. You can't easily control the speed of your basal metabolic rate, but you can control how many calories you burn through physical activity.

The more active you are, the more calories you burn. In fact, some people who seem to have a fast metabolism are probably just more active — and maybe fidget more — than others. Aerobic activity. As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day.

If you want to lose weight, maintain weight loss or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more. Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn.

Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing. Don't look to dietary supplements for help in burning calories or losing weight. Products that claim to speed up metabolism usually don't live up to their claims.

Some may cause bad side effects. The U. Food and Drug Administration doesn't ask for proof that dietary supplements are safe or that they work. Question the claims that are made. Always let your health care providers know about supplements you take. There's no easy way to lose weight.

To take in fewer calories than you burn, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends cutting to calories a day to lose 1 to 1. Add more physical activity to get to your weight-loss goals faster and maintain your weight loss.

A health care provider, such as a doctor or registered dietitian, can help you explore ways to lose weight. There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health.

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Products and services. Metabolism and weight loss: How you burn calories Find out how metabolism affects weight, the truth behind slow metabolism and how to burn more calories. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for subscribing! Exercise: minutes of elevated heart rate activity. Intense exercise: minutes of elevated heart rate activity.

Related Body Fat Calculator Calorie Calculator. The basal metabolic rate BMR is the amount of energy needed while resting in a temperate environment when the digestive system is inactive.

It is the equivalent of figuring out how much gas an idle car consumes while parked. In such a state, energy will be used only to maintain vital organs, which include the heart, brain, kidneys, nervous system, intestines, liver, lungs, sex organs, muscles, and skin.

The BMR is measured under very restrictive circumstances while awake. An accurate BMR measurement requires that a person's sympathetic nervous system is inactive, which means the person must be completely rested. Basal metabolism is usually the largest component of a person's total caloric needs.

The daily caloric need is the BMR value multiplied by a factor with a value between 1. In most situations, the BMR is estimated with equations summarized from statistical data.

The Harris-Benedict Equation was one of the earliest equations introduced. It was revised in to be more accurate and was used up until , when the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation was introduced. The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation has been shown to be more accurate than the revised Harris-Benedict Equation.

The Katch-McArdle Formula is slightly different in that it calculates resting daily energy expenditure RDEE , which takes lean body mass into account, something that neither the Mifflin-St Jeor nor the Harris-Benedict Equation does.

Of these equations, the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation is considered the most accurate equation for calculating BMR with the exception that the Katch-McArdle Formula can be more accurate for people who are leaner and know their body fat percentage. You can pick the equation to be used in the calculation by expanding the settings.

where: W is body weight in kg H is body height in cm A is age F is body fat in percentage. Muscle Mass — Aerobic exercises, such as running or cycling, have no effect on BMR.

However, anaerobic exercises, such as weight-lifting, indirectly lead to a higher BMR because they build muscle mass, increasing resting energy consumption. The more muscle mass in the physical composition of an individual, the higher the BMR required to sustain their body at a certain level.

Age — The more elderly and limber an individual, the lower their BMR, or the lower the minimum caloric intake required to sustain the functioning of their organs at a certain level. Weather — Cold environments raise BMR because of the energy required to create a homeostatic body temperature.

Likewise, too much external heat can raise BMR as the body expends energy to cool off internal organs.

Diet — Small, routinely dispersed meals increase BMR. Pregnancy — Ensuring the livelihood of a separate fetus internally increases BMR. This is why pregnant women tend to eat more than usual. Also, menopause can increase or decrease BMR depending on hormonal changes.

Supplements — Certain supplements or drugs raise BMR, mostly to fuel weight loss.

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Find out how metabolism affects weight, the truth behind slow metabolism and how to burn more calories. Some people blame their weight on how their body breaks down food into energy, also known as metabolism. They think their metabolism is too slow.

But is that really the cause? If so, is it possible to speed up the process? It's true that the rate at which the body breaks down food is linked to weight.

But a slow metabolism isn't usually the cause of weight gain. Metabolism does help decide how much energy a body needs. But weight depends on how much a person eats and drinks combined with physical activity.

Metabolism is the process by which the body changes food and drink into energy. During this process, calories in food and drinks mix with oxygen to make the energy the body needs. Even at rest, a body needs energy for all it does. This includes breathing, sending blood through the body, keeping hormone levels even, and growing and repairing cells.

The number of calories a body at rest uses to do these things is known as basal metabolic rate, also called basal metabolism. Besides the basal metabolic rate, two other things decide how many calories a body burns each day:. How much a body moves.

Any movement, such as playing tennis, walking to a store or chasing the dog, makes up the rest of the calories a body burns each day. This can be changed a lot, both by doing more exercise and just moving more during the day.

Daily activity that isn't exercise is called nonexercise activity thermogenesis NEAT. This includes walking around the house. It also includes activities such as gardening and housework, and even fidgeting.

NEAT accounts for about to calories used daily. You might want to blame a medical condition for slow metabolism and weight gain.

But rarely does a medical condition slow metabolism enough to cause a lot of weight gain. Conditions that can cause weight gain include Cushing syndrome or having an underactive thyroid gland, also known as hypothyroidism. These conditions are uncommon.

Many things affect weight gain. These likely include genes, hormones, diet and lifestyle, including sleep, physical activity and stress. You gain weight when you eat more calories than you burn — or burn fewer calories than you eat. Some people seem to lose weight more quickly and more easily than others.

But everyone loses weight by burning more calories than are eaten. The bottom line is calories count. To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories or burn more calories through physical activity.

Or you can do both. You can't easily control the speed of your basal metabolic rate, but you can control how many calories you burn through physical activity. The more active you are, the more calories you burn. In fact, some people who seem to have a fast metabolism are probably just more active — and maybe fidget more — than others.

Aerobic activity. As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day. If you want to lose weight, maintain weight loss or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.

Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as brisk walking, biking, swimming and mowing the lawn.

Vigorous aerobic exercise includes activities such as running, heavy yardwork and aerobic dancing. Don't look to dietary supplements for help in burning calories or losing weight. Products that claim to speed up metabolism usually don't live up to their claims.

Some may cause bad side effects. The U. Food and Drug Administration doesn't ask for proof that dietary supplements are safe or that they work. Question the claims that are made.

Always let your health care providers know about supplements you take. There's no easy way to lose weight. To take in fewer calories than you burn, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends cutting to calories a day to lose 1 to 1.

Add more physical activity to get to your weight-loss goals faster and maintain your weight loss. A health care provider, such as a doctor or registered dietitian, can help you explore ways to lose weight. There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health.

Click here for an email preview. Error Email field is required. Error Include a valid email address. To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you.

If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices.

You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail. You'll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox.

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. The commonly used metabolic equation, called the Harris and Benedict equation, was first designed in and updated in While it was intended to estimate BMR, it actually estimates RMR, according to the NASM.

It uses height, weight, biological sex, and age to determine RMR and is based on average lean mass levels. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is another equation that uses the same variables but may be more accurate, Church says.

Other metabolic equations, such the Cunningham equation, use your total levels of lean body mass, which is a primary determiner of BMR and therefore RMR.

Calipers and smart scales are two popular at-home options, while the most accurate measures are performed in professional and laboratory settings. RELATED: 9 Hard Truths About Weight Loss That Can Help You Slim Down. Men: For example, if a man is pounds, 5'11", and 43, his RMR is 1, calories.

For example, if a female is pounds, 5'3", and 36, her RMR is 1, calories. For example, if a male is pounds, 5'11", and 43, his RMR is 1, calories. Women: 9. For example, if a man is pounds, 5'11", 43, and his body-fat percentage is 20 percent, his RMR is 1, calories.

For example, if a female pounds, 5'3", 36, and her body-fat percentage is 25 percent, her RMR is 1, calories. BMR or RMR can be used to estimate total daily caloric expenditure.

According to the American Council on Exercise , after you determine your RMR, based on one of the above equations or an online calculator, you can multiply it by one of the numbers below, called activity factors:.

If the man in the above example exercises two days per week, his daily caloric expenditure is roughly 2, to 2, calories. If the woman in the above example exercises six days per week, her daily caloric energy expenditure is roughly 2, to 2, calories.

This calculation gives you the estimated number of calories you burn in one day at your current level of activity; this is how many calories you need to consume per day to stay at your current weight. To lose weight, you need a caloric deficit, meaning that you either must reduce your caloric intake below your total daily energy expenditure or increase your total daily energy expenditure, says Greaves.

For example, you can try multiplying your RMR by various activity factors to see how your daily caloric burn would fluctuate with increased exercise. Another benefit of increased exercise is that it can have a small effect on both RMR and BMR.

Research shows that intense exercise provides a temporary boost to your RMR, an effect sometimes referred to as afterburn, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption EPOC.

This represents the calories that the body expends to return the body to homeostasis following exercise. As previously stated, a pound of fat burns roughly two calories per day while a pound of muscle burns six at rest, Church says.

To put that into perspective, gaining two pounds of muscle will increase RMR by about 12 calories. Additional reporting by Dennis Thompson Jr. Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy.

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