Do we burn more calories since exertion is more work for us?

[Wendy B.]

I read some of a thread on a nearly similar topic from six years ago, but it focused more on weight gain or loss that some of us tend toward....with some explanations for gain or loss being lack of exercise, the state of our digestive systems, our inability to burn/utilize fats or carbs, or other reasons. But I'm not looking at weight loss or gain specifically. I'm just wondering if what would normally be considered extremely light activity - such as sitting upright, typing at the computer, or even heavier stuff like doing dishes - burns more calories because for many of us the effort it takes is so much more. If it's true that we do burn more, it might still be that some folks still gain weight in part because of multiple other factor options - like our digestive and detox health, etc.

My weight is pretty steady, though my composition has changed a lot as I'm nearing 50 (less muscle, more fat), but again that's not the focus of my curiosity. I've been logging my nutrition on cronometer.com to see if im meeting my mineral and vitamin requirements, and incidentally noticing my calorie and activity level, and it just keeps occurring to me how much energy it takes to sit upright and i began to wonder if we burn more when we push past our fatigue telling us to lay down as it becomes increasingly strenuous. I don't know that this has ever been studied, but im just curious about any info or input on this.

 

[Richard7]

I cannot remember the source at the moment, but I remember reading that some research team or other had found that at rest our red blood cells at least were only producing about half as much energy as a normal person's red blood cells did at rest. And that the relationship held when comparing red blood cells at maximum output.

But I do not think that anyone has done any work at larger scales and can well imagine that sitting up in a body with autonomic problems might take more energy than sitting up in one that works.

 

[Wishful]

I don't think that we burn more fuel. It may feel like it takes more effort, but that's psychological, not physical. Lifting an arm should consume the same calories regardless of how it feels. Some of us may be producing ATP at a lower rate than healthy people, but I haven't come across any claims that we are less efficient in energy conversion (food converted into waste heat rather than physical use).

Those of us who gain weight likely do so because we don't feel like being active and try to avoid activities that trigger PEM. Some who lose weight might just lose interest in eating. If our immune systems are overly active, that could consume extra calories too.

 

[Wendy B.]

Hmm.

 

[Sundancer]

for me, in the time that my muscle tension was still so painfully high, i needed decidedly more calories then I do now.
High muscle-tension does cost energy