Glossary and references

Plain definitions of the terms used across these articles. Where a term has a fuller treatment, there's a link to the article that covers it.

Terms

Adaptive thermogenesis: The drop in energy expenditure that tends to happen as you lose weight — a bit larger than the loss in body size alone would predict, partly from reduced everyday movement. It's real and individual, and it's one reason weight loss slows over time.See: Metabolic adaptation: what changes as you lose
Basal metabolic rate (BMR): The energy your body spends at complete rest just to keep running — breathing, circulation, organ function. For most people it's the largest single part of what they spend in a day. Often used interchangeably with resting metabolic rate (RMR), though they're measured slightly differently.See: What you actually spend: TDEE explained
Calorie: A unit of energy. On food labels a 'calorie' is really a kilocalorie (kcal) — the energy in food. Label values are estimates derived from standard factors, so they carry real error bars.See: Calories and how to read a food label
Deficit: Eating less energy than you expend, on average, over time — the condition under which the body draws on stored energy and weight trends down. Kinra keeps deficits moderate, with safety floors.See: Losing fat gently: deficits, floors, and pace, Energy balance, plainly
Diet break: A planned return to maintenance-level eating during a longer fat-loss phase. The evidence on whether it speeds fat loss is mixed, but many people find it helps with adherence and a mental reset.See: Maintenance and diet breaks
Energy balance: The relationship between energy taken in (food and drink) and energy expended. What you store is what's left over — a rule that always holds, even though both sides shift and adapt in ways that make simple math drift.See: Energy balance, plainly
Energy density: The calories packed into a given weight of food. Foods high in water and fiber (vegetables, fruit, broth-based dishes) are low in energy density, so you can eat a satisfying amount for fewer calories.See: Feeling full: what actually satisfies
Exponential smoothing / trend weight: A way of averaging your daily weigh-ins so recent readings count a little more, smoothing out day-to-day noise into a trend. Kinra uses a time-aware version with roughly a 10-day constant, so a gap between weigh-ins doesn't distort it.See: Trend weight vs the scale
Fat-free mass (lean mass): Everything in your body that isn't fat — muscle, bone, organs, water. Preserving it during a deficit (with enough protein and resistance training) is why more of the weight you lose comes from fat.See: Protein: how much, and why it matters, Losing fat gently: deficits, floors, and pace
Glycogen: The body's stored form of carbohydrate, held in muscle and liver. Each gram binds roughly three grams of water, which is why carb and hydration changes can move the scale by a kilogram or two overnight without any change in fat.See: Why the scale jumps: water weight explained, Carbs and fiber, sorted out
Macronutrient: The three nutrients that provide energy: protein, fat, and carbohydrate. 'Macros' refers to how your daily calories are split among them.See: Protein: how much, and why it matters, Dietary fat, without the fear, Carbs and fiber, sorted out
Maintenance: Eating roughly the amount of energy you expend, so weight holds steady. It's a skill in its own right, not a failure to keep losing — and it's how a loss becomes lasting.See: Maintenance and diet breaks
Metabolic adaptation: The broader term for how your metabolism responds to sustained changes in eating and weight — including adaptive thermogenesis. It doesn't mean a 'damaged' metabolism; it means the body isn't a fixed calculator.See: Metabolic adaptation: what changes as you lose
Mifflin–St Jeor equation: A well-validated formula that estimates resting energy from height, weight, age, and sex. Kinra uses it as a starting prior, then learns your real expenditure from your data.See: How Kinra learns your metabolism, What you actually spend: TDEE explained
NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis): The energy you spend on everything that isn't deliberate exercise — fidgeting, posture, walking around, daily tasks. It's the most variable part of expenditure between people, and it tends to quietly drop when you eat less.See: What you actually spend: TDEE explained, Plateaus: what they mean and what to do
Plateau: A genuine stall in your weight trend over two to three weeks or more — not a single flat or heavy morning. Usually a mix of adaptation, intake drifting up, and water masking fat loss, and usually solvable without panic.See: Plateaus: what they mean and what to do
Protein (g/kg): Protein targets are usually given per kilogram of bodyweight. Roughly 1.6 g/kg suits general health and muscle maintenance, ~1.8 for building muscle, and ~2.2 during fat loss to help with fullness and holding onto lean mass.See: Protein: how much, and why it matters
Recomposition: Gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time. Most achievable for beginners, people returning to training, or those with more body fat to start; slower for well-trained people.See: Muscle gain and body recomposition
Resting metabolic rate (RMR): The energy your body spends at rest over a day — very close to BMR and often used interchangeably. It's the baseline that everything else (food processing, movement, exercise) stacks on top of.See: What you actually spend: TDEE explained
Satiety: How full and satisfied a food or meal leaves you. Protein, fiber, water, and food volume tend to raise it — which makes a deficit feel easier without hunger being the enemy.See: Feeling full: what actually satisfies
Surplus: Eating more energy than you expend, on average — the condition for gaining weight. A modest surplus supports lean muscle gain; a large one mostly adds fat.See: Muscle gain and body recomposition, Energy balance, plainly
TDEE (total daily energy expenditure): Everything you spend in a day: resting metabolism, the cost of digesting food, deliberate exercise, and non-exercise movement (NEAT). Formulas only estimate it; the reliable way to know yours is to learn it from your intake and weight trend over weeks.See: What you actually spend: TDEE explained, How Kinra learns your metabolism
Thermic effect of food (TEF): The energy your body spends digesting and processing what you eat — roughly a tenth of intake, and higher for protein than for carbs or fat. A minor but real part of expenditure.See: Energy balance, plainly, What you actually spend: TDEE explained
Trend velocity: How fast your smoothed weight trend is moving, usually expressed in kg or lb per week. Kinra compares this to your planned pace to decide whether — and how gently — to adjust your target.See: Trend weight vs the scale, How your plan adapts each week

The research behind it

Every source cited across the knowledge base, in one place — peer-reviewed studies, meta-analyses, position stands, and public-health references.

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