What is TDEE?
TDEE is your estimated total daily energy expenditure: the calories you burn in a day.
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure. It is an estimate of how many calories your body uses in a day. If you consistently eat around your TDEE, body weight tends to stay roughly stable. Eat below it and weight tends to go down. Eat above it and weight tends to go up.
TDEE starts with BMR, or basal metabolic rate. BMR is the energy your body uses to keep basic systems running at rest. One common evidence-based estimate is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which uses sex, age, height, and weight to estimate BMR.
What gets added on top
- Daily movement like walking, standing, chores, and work.
- Structured exercise like lifting, running, cycling, or sports.
- Digesting and processing food.
- Normal day-to-day variation from sleep, stress, and routine.
No calculator knows your true TDEE perfectly. Activity multipliers are guesses. Fitness trackers are guesses. Food labels are not perfect either. That does not make TDEE useless. It means the first number is a starting estimate that should be adjusted with real-world trend data.
A practical approach is to choose a starting calorie target, follow it for two to four weeks, and watch your average body weight trend. If weight is stable, you are near maintenance. If it is dropping faster or slower than intended, adjust the target.
TDEE also changes. If you lose weight, your body usually uses fewer calories. If you gain muscle, train more, walk more, or change jobs, your expenditure can rise. The best target is the one that matches what your body is doing now.
FAQ
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