How a waterfall reads energy expenditure
A waterfall chart starts from the full daily calorie total and subtracts each component in turn, with each falling bar showing how much that piece accounts for until the running total reaches zero. Applied to energy expenditure, it begins at total daily calories and steps down through basal metabolic rate, non-exercise activity, exercise, and the thermic effect of food.
The format makes the contribution of each component visually concrete, since the height of each step is the size of that part of the burn.
Why this view suits expenditure
Unlike a pie, which shows shares of a whole, a waterfall emphasizes sequential accounting: how the total is consumed piece by piece. That makes it well suited to showing that the components are additive and that resting metabolism usually claims the biggest single step, with the activity-related steps varying most between people.
Any specific values shown are illustrative averages and differ by individual. This is general educational information about energy balance, not personalized nutrition or medical advice.