MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task or simply Metabolic Equivalents. METs allow us to more accurately determine calorie burn for specific activities.

According to the Compendium of Physical Activities, an activity with a MET of 1 burns 1 kilocalorie per kilogram per hour. An example of this would be when you’re lying in bed, not talking, and just mindlessly watching television.

Examples of MET Values

• Sleeping has a MET of 0.95 and burns even fewer calories while sitting and doing light office tasks or simply eating a meal has a MET of 1.5.
• Most construction and general carpentry work have a MET of 4 while carrying heavy loads and digging ditches has a higher MET of 8.
• Some light jogging combined with walking has a MET of 6 while running at a very quick pace or a five-minute mile can have a MET value as high as 19.

From these examples, we can immediately see how calculating calorie burn and energy expenditure using METs is significantly more accurate compared to just using a TDEE multiplier which just classifies different activities in a very broad manner.

For more information on METS and an in depth look at how to use them to aid in weight loss, muscle gain and health, head to our article here.

To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you expend over time. Thus, learning how many calories you “burn” every day is one of the most important steps you can take to lose weight. Use this calculator to estimate how many calories you burn and how many you should eat every day to lose weight.

If you are not losing weight, there are several potential culprits for a lack of weight loss, with the most common ones being:

1. You’re gaining muscle while losing fat. This is called re-compositioning. In this case, don’t worry about your lack of weight loss—things are still moving in the right direction.
2. You’re eating more than you think you are. In this case, you need to be more strict about tracking your calorie intake and/or reduce your calorie intake by 100 calories or so per day.
3. You’re not burning as much energy as you think you are and are no longer in a large enough deficit to cause meaningful weight loss.

So, what should your body fat percentage be? It depends on your sex and age:

Women have a higher body fat to lean tissue ratio than men. People also have more body fat as they age.