In this video, Eric Roberts explains why many people struggle with stubborn belly fat by revealing how daily calorie expenditure is divided among basal metabolic rate (BMR, ~70%), non‑exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT, ~15%), the thermic effect of food (TEF, ~10%) and exercise (~5%). He then provides a concrete, science‑based strategy for each component to boost total daily energy expenditure without drastic calorie restriction. The plan includes: (1) building muscle through regular strength training to raise BMR, (2) increasing everyday movement and step count to amplify NEAT, (3) consuming more high‑quality protein to maximize TEF and support muscle growth, and (4) adding short, low‑intensity cardio sessions to capture the modest exercise portion efficiently. Throughout, Roberts shares client anecdotes (Natalie, Nick) and concrete numbers (e.g., 1 lb of muscle ≈ 5‑7 cal/day, 100 g protein can burn 30 cal via TEF, 15‑30 min cardio burns 80‑300 cal). He concludes with calls to action: a free calorie‑deficit calculator and an invitation to his coaching program, plus a promotion for his own protein powder. The overall message is that by optimizing each metabolic component, weight loss can become “effortless” and sustainable.
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Do you feel like your body is holding on to stubborn belly fat no matter how little you eat or how much you exercise? Well, don't worry, because in this video I'm going to show you why your metabolism isn't working right and strategies I've used with thousands of clients to speed it up so you can make losing weight easier than ever before. The first thing you have to understand is how your metabolism actually works. This is a visual representation of your metabolism and how many calories your body burns in a day. 70% is made up of something called your BMR, your basal metabolic rate. And this is just how many calories your body burns at rest. If you laid in bed all day and did nothing, yes, your body burns the majority of calories at rest, just keeping you alive. Then 15% is made up of something called your NEAT, your non-exercise activity thermogenesis. And this just means all the calories your body burns through the day moving that is not a dedicated exercise. So whatever I'm doing with my hands right now, or if you're walking into the grocery store or taking up the stairs at work, then 10% comes from something called your TEF, your thermic effect of food. This is how many calories your body burns digesting the food you eat, and then the remaining 5 to 10% comes from your exercise for that day. Yes, just 5 little itty-bitty percent, and I know that might seem crazy, but if you stick around to the end of the video, I will explain exactly why. So now that you know the 4 main ways your body burns calories, I'm gonna give you one strategy for each to maximize your metabolism and calorie burn without having to eat less food. So losing weight would almost feel effortless. Let's start with your BMR since this is the biggest component of how your body burns calories in a day. And by the way, if you need to know how many calories you should be eating to be in a calorie deficit and lose weight, just click the link below. There'll be a free calorie calculator in the description of this video. For our BMR, we are trying to burn more calories At rest. So while you're laying on the couch watching Netflix, your body is working to burn more fat. But how can we do that? Most people think if they need to burn more calories, they need to do more cardio. And so they grind it out on the treadmill day after day, sweating buckets and expecting your belly fat to melt off. But it never does. One of our clients, Natalie, thought that cardio was the best way to burn more calories and lose belly fat until she was doing 5 or 6 days a week and not making any progress. It wasn't until we cut her cardio in half, we added in 3 strength training sessions per week, and within 2 months, not only did she feel stronger, she was losing belly fat and building muscle at the same time. Here's what most people miss: muscle tissue is more metabolically active. This means your body has to use more energy to maintain it, aka burn more calories, even when you're sleeping or laying on the couch doing nothing. Now, on average, 1 pound of muscle can burn anywhere from 5 to 7 calories per day, which might not initially seem like a lot. But if you're strength training 2 to 4 times a week and you're adding 1 to 2 pounds of muscle per month, which especially for a beginner is more than doable, in a year you could add 12+ pounds of muscle burning up to an extra 70 to 90 calories per day from doing nothing. And that's just in 1 year. This compound over time if you continue to strength train. This is how people are able to eat more food but still lose weight or not gain weight. It's like giving your metabolism a permanent upgrade. And especially if you pair it with point number 3 in the video, you're really going to boost your metabolism. All right, so now you've got your metabolism working at rest, but what about the rest of the day? That is your NEAT, and it can help you burn extra hundreds of calories per day if you use it right. As mentioned before, one of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking they only burn calories during a workout. But here's the truth: what you do outside of the gym has way more impact on your fat loss than what you do in the gym. We have a client, Nick, who was doing a ton of intense high-intensity workouts 5, 6, 7 days a week but was only getting 3,000 daily steps. So for him, we didn't change his diet a ton, and we certainly didn't add more workouts. All we did was bump his steps to 8,000 to 10,000 per day, and within the first month, he finally started to lose fat. Why? Because he was burning extra hundreds of calories per day. NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis, and that's just a fancy term for the energy that you burn That is not sleeping, eating, or working out. Things like walking through the grocery store, cleaning your kitchen, using a standing desk, pacing around your office while you're on the phone— it all counts. And here's the part you should really listen to: increasing your steps from 3,000 to 4,000 per day to, let's say, 10,000 per day can burn anywhere between an extra 200 to 400 calories That's easily over an extra 1,000 calories burned throughout the week. So now, combined with you burning extra calories during your day from building muscle, you could be burning an extra 400, 500 calories per day. But it doesn't stop there. Let's talk about how to optimize your diet for a higher calorie burn by increasing your TDEE. Most people think eating less is the key to fat loss, but what you eat matters just as much as how much you eat. And one of the biggest mistakes people make is not eating enough protein, because when you skimp on protein, you're not just missing out on nutrients, you're missing out on burning more calories without lifting a finger. Think of protein like your body's internal workout. Just digesting it takes more effort. For every 100 calories of protein that you eat, your body could burn up to 30 of those calories. Compare that to carbs or fats where you might only burn 5 to 10 calories if you're lucky. So let's say you're currently eating 60 grams of protein per day. That gives you some TEF benefits. But if you increase that to 120 grams per day, your body could be burning 80 to 150 The extra calories per day from just the food that you're eating. That's like getting a 20-minute walk just by eating more protein. And by the way, if you can't see, this is actually my own protein powder and the flavor is incredible. Caramel coconut fudge cookie. It tastes just like those Girl Scout Samoa cookies. If you want to try this out, there'll be a link in the description of this video and you can use my code Eric at checkout to get some special discounts as well. This is 110 calories. for 22 grams of protein and only 1 gram of sugar. So it's very lean and very good if you're looking to lose fat. Now combine eating more protein with getting more daily steps with building more muscle. And oh, by the way, protein is also going to help you build more muscle. You could be burning an extra 600, 700 calories per day. Your bathing suit will love you and your belly fat We'll hate you, but that's okay. But there's one final piece of this puzzle we have not yet covered, and it can still add hundreds of calories burned to your day. We've already seen that a dedicated workout only takes up 5% of your daily calorie burn, and that's why just doing more workouts and more cardio doesn't always lead to the best fat loss progress. But here's the thing, that doesn't mean exercise doesn't matter. It just means you need to use it strategically. One of the simplest ways to burn more calories without wrecking your body or fully exhausting yourself is to add short cardio sessions after you lift weights or on rest days. I've had clients add in 15 to 30 minutes of low-intensity cardio, whether it's walking or biking or the incline treadmill, just 2 to 4 times a week, and I think the results speak for themselves. Here's the math. A 15-minute cardio session can burn anywhere from 80 to 120 calories depending on your intensity and depending on your fitness level. And a 30-minute session could burn 150 to 300 calories. Now, if you do that 2 to 4 times a week, you could be burning extra hundreds of calories throughout the course of the week without changing your diet or exhausting yourself. And that could be 1 to 3 pounds of fat burned in calories per month just from adding some short cardio sessions. Now let me be very clear on something because I know you might be thinking, Eric, that is so many calories burned. How does that only take up 5% of your daily calories? Well, you only work out for a small portion of the day and you probably don't do it every single day. So remember, your total daily calorie burn is spanned across the 24 hours 7 days a week, not the 3 to 5 times a week you work out for 30 to 90 minutes. So even if your cardio burns 300 calories, it's just one small piece of the daily puzzle. Because remember, 70% of your daily calorie burn comes from your BMR, 15% comes from your daily steps and other movement that's not a workout, 10% comes from your thermic effect of food, and then The 5% comes from your exercise. And for most people, this is 3 to 6 hours a week, let alone 24 hours in a day. So even though it's intense in the moment— that's what she said, I guess that's a good thing— it's the shortest in duration. I guess that's maybe not a good thing. And that's why it ends up being the smallest piece over time. So if your body burns 2,400 calories in a day, roughly 1,680 comes from your BMR, 360 comes from your NEAT, 240 comes from your TEF, and then 100 to 150 might come from your exercise. And it only affects that one day. But paired with everything else we talked about, that's how you're going to get the best fat burning results. All right. Now that you understand how your body really burns calories and the best science-based strategies you can use to increase it, if you want to take the guesswork out of your fat loss, I have 2 things for you. Number 1, use my free calorie calculator, link in the description below. Or number 2, if you're interested in becoming a client and having us take out all of the guesswork for you to tell you exactly what to do and hold you accountable, there'll be a link for our coaching in the description below. And hey, if you want an exact diet plan to follow to really lose your stubborn belly fat, watch this video here where I break down exactly what you need to eat.
