What is TDEE and Why is it Important

TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and refers to the total number of calories your body burns in a day. Understanding your TDEE promotes sustainable fitness and helps individuals make informed decisions about diet, weight management, and overall health. For athletes, understanding TDEE supports optimal training and performance, recovery, and energy balance. The three measurements used to calculate TDEE are your basal metabolic rate (calories burned at rest), activity, and the thermic effect of food (energy burned during food consumption). Your TDEE score is broken down like this:

• Basal metabolic rate (BMR) = 70%

• Activity = 20%

• Thermic effect of food = 10%

Calculating TDEE starts with estimating BMR, the energy consumed by your body’s passive activity. This is energy burned to support breathing, blood circulation, body temperature control, and the basic function of organs, nervous system, and the brain. Your body is a machine and like many machines, it’s always working behind the scenes to ensure it stays in peak working condition. These basic functions take a lot of energy, in some cases, BMR could be more than 70% of total daily energy expenditure. Your BMR is a metric calculation based on physical characteristics such as age, gender, height, and weight. Here is the metric calculation to get your weight and height:

• Weight in kilograms (kgs) - to get kilograms take your weight in pounds and divide by 2.2

  • 200 pounds divided by 2.2 = 90 kgs

• Height in centimeters (cm) - to get centimeters multiply your height in inches by 2.54

  • 72 inches tall (six feet) multiplied by 2.54 = 183 cm

Now that you have your metric numbers here is the Mifflin-St Jeor formula to calculate BMR:

Men:

• Weight (in kgs) multiplied by 10

• Plus

• Height (in cm) multiplied by 6.25

• Minus

• Age multiplied by 5

• Plus 5

(10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × your age in years) + 5 In this example, a 50-year-old male, six feet tall, weighing two hundred pounds would have a BMR of 1,798.75 calories.

Women:

• Weight (in kgs) multiplied by 10

• Plus

• height (in cm) multiplied by 6.25

• Minus

• Age multiplied by 5

• Minus 161

(10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × your age in years) - 161 In this example, a 20-year-old female, five feet tall, weighing one-hundred twenty pounds would have a BMR of 1,236.90 calories Now that you have your BMR, the hard part is over. To add the final two variables you will apply multipliers to your BMR number. The final two TDEE variables are activity and thermic effect of eating. Activity level reflects the calories burned through physical activity. Use the following multipliers to estimate your activity level:

• Sedentary (little to no exercise) - multiply your BMR by 1.2

• Lightly active (light exercise or sports 1-3 days per week) - multiply your BMR by 1.375

• Moderately active (moderate exercise or sports 3-5 days per week) - multiply your BMR by 1.55

• Very active (hard exercise or sports 6-7 days per week) - multiply your BMR by 1.725

• Super active (very hard exercise, physical job, or training twice a day) - multiply your BMR by 1.9

The thermic effect of eating refers to the energy expenditure required for digesting, absorbing, and processing the nutrients from the food you consume. This multiplier is 0.10 (10%) and is the same for everyone. The full TDEE formula is as follows:

• BMR

• Plus - your activity multiplier

• Plus - thermic effect of eating multiplier

Here is an example using the male BMR calculation above:

• BMR = 1,798.75 calories

• Calculate BMR with activity multiplier

• Lightly active multiplier - 1,798.75 x 1.375 = 2,473 calories

• Use the new BMR to calculate thermic effect of eating ( 0.10 multiplier)

• 2,473 x 0.10 = 247

• Add thermic effect of eating to new BMR

• 2,473, + 247 = 2,720.61 calories

In this example, your total daily energy expenditure is 2,720.61 calories. Knowing your TDEE helps you understand how many calories you need to consume to maintain, lose, or gain weight. If your goal is to lose weight, you need to know your TDEE so you can safely design a calorie-deficit diet to guide your weight loss. If you need to gain weight, calculating your TDEE will help you set calorie targets. Whether it's weight loss, muscle gain, or weight maintenance, understanding your TDEE can help you design the right diet to achieve your desired outcomes. If you’re an athlete, knowing your TDEE can help you determine the appropriate calorie intake to fuel training and promote peak performance. Additionally, understanding TDEE helps athletes allocate macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) effectively. Different sports and training goals may have varying macronutrient requirements. For instance, endurance athletes may benefit from higher carbohydrate intake, while strength-focused athletes might prioritize protein consumption. Knowing TDEE assists in determining the right distribution of macronutrients to support specific athletic needs.