Energy balance
In healthy adults, total energy expenditure (TEE) is a repeatable, durable trait that is not associated with short-term changes in body weight or body composition, meaning low TEE is not a risk factor for weight gain and high TEE is not protective against fat gain.
Stop blaming your weight on a 'slow metabolism.' This study shows that in healthy adults, metabolic rate is a stable trait and does not predict who gains weight or fat. Whether you burn calories fast or slow, it doesn't inherently protect you from or cause you to gain fat. Focus on the net energy balance (what you eat vs. what you move) rather than trying to 'boost' your metabolism, as your baseline expenditure is likely fixed and repeatable.
This suggests low TEE is not a risk factor for, and high TEE is not protective against, weight or body fat gain over the time intervals tested.
Why this rating
Large sample size (N=348 adults), use of gold-standard DLW measurement, and rigorous statistical modeling, though observational in nature.
Source
Total energy expenditure is repeatable in adults but not associated with short-term changes in body composition
Rebecca Rimbach et al. · Nature Communications · 2022
DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-27246-z
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