NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis)

NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) is the energy you burn through everything you do that isn't sleeping, eating, or deliberate exercise: walking to the car, standing at a counter, doing chores, pacing on a phone call, fidgeting. It sounds trivial, but it's one of the most variable parts of daily energy expenditure — two people of the same size can differ by hundreds of calories a day in NEAT alone.

It's worth knowing on a GLP-1 because NEAT tends to fall quietly when you're eating less and feeling low-energy, especially during titration — you sit more without noticing, and your total daily burn drops with it. Keeping everyday movement up (steps, standing, short walks) is a low-effort way to hold the line. See calories in, calories out on a GLP-1 for how NEAT fits into the bigger energy picture.

Related terms

TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) — The total number of calories your body burns in a day, combining resting metabolism, digestion, everyday movement, and exercise.

Resting metabolic rate (RMR / BMR) — The calories your body burns at complete rest just to keep basic functions running; usually the largest share of daily energy expenditure.

Related guides

Do TDEE calculators still work after big weight loss on a GLP-1? — TDEE and BMR calculators give a useful starting estimate, but they get less reliable for people with obesity — and less reliable again after large weight loss, because of prediction-equation limits and metabolic adaptation. Here's why the number drifts, and how to correct it against what your body is actually doing.

Calories in, calories out: the energy balance behind a calorie deficit on a GLP-1 — A calorie deficit runs on one mechanism: the energy you take in versus the energy you burn. GLP-1 medications lean hard on the "calories in" side and leave "calories out" — four moving parts that all fall as you lose weight — up to you. Here's how the balance actually works and how to protect the side the medication ignores.

Myth: you must avoid certain foods on a GLP-1 — There's a widely shared "banned foods" list for GLP-1 users — no fried food, no sugar, no alcohol, ever. The kernel of truth: high-fat, greasy, very sugary meals and alcohol commonly worsen the medication's GI side effects, so limiting them often helps. But that's about tolerance and comfort, not prohibition — no food is medically off-limits, GLP-1s have no dangerous food interactions, and the triggers are individual and usually worst only during titration.

Electrolytes on a GLP-1: when plain water isn't enough — Most people on a GLP-1 don't need an electrolyte habit — but during vomiting, diarrhea, or very low intake, replacing sodium and potassium (not just drinking more water) becomes the thing that actually protects you. Here's when electrolytes matter, when they don't, and how to get the balance right.