TempoLife › Nutrition & fitness glossary › NEAT
NEAT
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis — the calories you burn moving outside of workouts.
NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis: the calories you burn through everything that is not sleeping, eating or deliberate exercise. Walking to the shop, fidgeting, standing, cooking, cleaning, carrying bags — all of it adds up.
It is the most variable part of daily energy use, and it can differ by hundreds of calories a day between two similar people. This is why one person seems to "get away with" eating more: they simply move more without ever calling it exercise. NEAT also tends to quietly fall when you diet, which is one reason weight loss slows.
You cannot log NEAT precisely, but you can raise it: take the stairs, walk while on calls, park further away, stand more. Nudging these habits up is often easier and more sustainable than adding another gym session, and it feeds straight into your TDEE.
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Frequently asked questions
NEAT?
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis — the calories you burn moving outside of workouts. NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis: the calories you burn through everything that is not sleeping, eating or deliberate exercise. Walking to the shop, fidgeting, standing, cooking, cleaning, carrying bags — all of it adds up.
