What counts as non-exercise activity thermogenesis?
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis includes energy used for standing, household tasks, occupational movement, walking between locations, posture changes, and fidgeting, while excluding sleep, eating, and deliberate sport-like exercise; it connects everyday behavior with TDEE and can materially change the calorie deficit between otherwise similar days.
NEAT includes movement that is not sleeping, eating, or deliberate sport-like exercise: walking between rooms, standing tasks, household movement, occupational activity, and fidgeting. It can vary substantially between people and between days [1].
The calculator uses activity intensity values as approximations. The 2024 Adult Compendium standardizes MET values for research, while warning that individual calorie calculations remain estimates [2].
Why does the NEAT calculator report energy above rest?
The calculator reports energy above rest because every MET already includes the resting energy represented by one MET, so subtracting that baseline prevents BMR from being counted twice when movement is compared with TDEE, energy balance, or a calorie-to-pounds deficit estimate.
A MET includes energy you would have used at rest during the same time. To avoid counting BMR-related expenditure twice, this tool subtracts 1 MET and reports the incremental activity estimate. NEAT can influence TDEE and energy balance, but it does not directly measure metabolic rate, homeostasis, or lipolysis.