NEAT Freak
For as long as I’ve been on this journey, I’ve heard the same terrifying warning: "Be careful. Dieting will crash your metabolism."
We all know the story. Someone goes on an extreme "eat less, move more" diet. They starve themselves with 1,200 calories a day and spend hours on a treadmill. They lose weight, of course, but the moment they try to eat like a normal person again, the weight comes roaring back, plus interest.
Their body, in a desperate attempt to survive a perceived famine, "downsizes" its entire operation. It sheds energy-expensive muscle, slows its "engine," and becomes ruthlessly efficient at storing fat.
This is a real and valid fear. It's called "adaptive thermogenesis," and it's the inevitable result of a poorly-designed, old-school starvation diet. More than a fear: this matches my previous approaches to weight loss: I lost 212 pounds, but along with the fat, I lost a great deal of muscle mass.
My new, clean ketogenic lifestyle is not a starvation diet. It is a fundamental re-engineering of my body's entire metabolic engine. I am not trying to shrink my metabolism; I am actively trying to build it into something more powerful and efficient.
Here is the scientific method I'm using to do it, focusing on two key components: BMR (your engine's "idle speed") and NEAT (your "unconscious" energy burn).
Part 1: BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) — Building a Bigger Engine
Your BMR is your "engine's idle." It's the number of calories your body burns every day just to stay alive—to keep your heart beating, your brain firing, and your organs functioning. It's the single biggest part of your daily calorie burn.
When you go on a traditional "starvation" diet (low calorie, low protein, chronic cardio), your body's survival response is to downsize the engine. It sheds metabolically "expensive" muscle tissue to conserve fuel. Your BMR plummets.
My protocol is designed to do the exact opposite. I am actively signaling to my body that it must build and maintain a bigger, more powerful engine.
This is a two-part strategy.
1. The "Signal": Calisthenics (Resistance Training)
This is the #1 most important lever. The single biggest factor in your BMR is your lean muscle mass. Muscle is "active" tissue; it burns calories 24/7, even when you are asleep.
My daily calisthenics routine (body weight exercises) is not just "burning calories." That's the old way of thinking. This routine is a direct, non-negotiable signal to my body that says:
"We are under load. We need to be strong. Do not, under any circumstances, shed this muscle. In fact, you must build more."
By doing this daily, I am forcing my body to maintain—and consistently grow—the very tissue that keeps my metabolic "engine" running hot.
2. The "Fuel": High-Protein OMAD
This is the other half of the equation. You cannot build a bigger engine without raw materials. This is why my clean keto is a high-protein protocol.
My 150-200g protein target in my one meal a day (OMAD) serves two critical, protective functions:
It Feeds the Muscle: It provides the raw amino acids my body needs to repair and build muscle in response to the "signal" from my calisthenics.
It Protects the Engine: As I discussed in my
Gluconeogenesis post
This combination—resistance training (the signal) + high protein (the fuel)—is the scientifically-backed method for protecting your BMR during weight loss.
Part 2: NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) — Moving Smarter
If BMR is your "engine's idle," NEAT is all the other energy you burn without "working out."
It’s the "fidget factor." It’s all the unconscious movement: pacing, tapping your feet, standing up and sitting down, gesturing. This is the "secret weapon" of many perpetually thin people. Their brains unconsciously "burn off" extra calories by ramping up NEAT.
This is hard to "hack" because it's unconscious. But I can build conscious, intentional habits that create the same benefit.
1. The "Anti-Sedentary" Habit: Daily Walks
My daily 2 km walk to and from work is not my "workout." It is my baseline of activity. It is the anti-sedentary armor that breaks up the long hours of sitting that my job (and my TTRPG hobby, and my writing) requires.
The other adaptation I have is a standing desk at work, so I can move from a standing to sitting position, in addition to simply getting up and moving around. It doesn't hurt that I am lucky to have a great view of Halifax from the office windows.
This is a completely different mindset from the "chronic cardio" person who runs on a treadmill for an hour and then is completely sedentary for the other 23 hours of the day.
2. The "Fat-Adapted" Advantage
This is where it all ties together. Why do we become sedentary? Often, it's because we're tired. On a high-carb diet, the blood sugar crashes are what cause that afternoon "fog" and lethargy, driving us to the couch.
By being fat-adapted and running on clean-burning ketones, my energy is stable all day. I don't have those crashes. This stable energy makes it easier to want to be active, to stand up, to pace while I'm on a call, or to take the stairs. My fuel source supports a higher NEAT.
The Takeaway
The old, "crashed metabolism" diet fails because it attacks the body. It forces a state of famine.
My clean keto lifestyle is an engineering project. I'm not restricting; I'm rebuilding.
By strategically combining resistance training (to signal for a bigger engine), high-protein (to build and protect that engine), and consistent, low-level movement (to keep the engine running all day), I am not just losing weight. I am actively working to increase my metabolism, ensuring that the body I'm building is not just smaller, but stronger, more efficient, and more resilient.
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