TDEE Calculator

TDEE Calculator

About TDEE Calculator

Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including all activities and exercise. This is essential for understanding your daily calorie needs.

How TDEE is Calculated

  • BMR: First, we calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation
  • Activity Multiplier: We apply an activity multiplier to your BMR based on your activity level
  • TDEE: BMR × Activity Multiplier = Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure

Activity Level Guidelines

  • Sedentary: Little or no exercise, desk job (×1.2)
  • Lightly Active: Light exercise 1-3 days/week (×1.375)
  • Moderately Active: Moderate exercise 3-5 days/week (×1.55)
  • Very Active: Hard exercise 6-7 days/week (×1.725)
  • Super Active: Very hard exercise, physical job (×1.9)

Using Your TDEE

  • Maintain Weight: Eat at your TDEE level
  • Weight Loss: Eat below your TDEE (create a calorie deficit)
  • Weight Gain: Eat above your TDEE (create a calorie surplus)

Tips for Accuracy

  • Be honest about your activity level - overestimating can lead to weight gain
  • Your TDEE may change as you lose or gain weight
  • Monitor your progress and adjust your calorie intake as needed
  • Consider using a food diary to track your actual calorie intake
  • Consult with a healthcare professional for personalized advice

TDEE Calculator

You are not alone in wondering why I am unable to achieve my weight loss goal. How many calories are needed for your body? how many calories are you burning in a day? When eating little, you feel dizzy, frustrated, and your energy feels low, while when eating more, you are gaining weight without even understanding what is the reason for the weight gain. 

Even when following every diet tip, you are still not able to identify how many calories are needed for your body. What if I tell you that you can know what your body needs during the day to manage your body’s needs? The Solution to this is our TDEE Calculator. TDEE stands for “Total Daily Energy Expenditure”. TDEE describes the amount of energy/calories you burn during the day. Our Calculator only asks for your weight, height, age, gender and your activity level throughout the day. 

By providing these details, you get an estimated result for the amount of calories you burn throughout the whole day. After giving your details, our calculator explains in simple words how many calories you are burning throughout the day, how many calories are needed for you, and how you can maintain your weight. The provided results are easy to understand this does not involve any complex charts or mathematical calculations.

What is TDEE?

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) describes the amount of energy or calories burned by one during the whole day, depending on the activity level of a person. It involves the exercise and the exertion of a person throughout the day. Calculating TDEE is essential when calculating your daily caloric needs. The activity level can be divided into 5 categories:

  • Sedentary Level: Little or No Exercise (x1.2)
  • Lightly Active: Light Exercise 1-3 days/week (x1.375)
  • Moderately Active: Moderate Exercise 3-5 days/week (x1.55)
  • Very Active: Hard Exercise 6-7 days/week (x1.725)
  • Super Active: Very Hard Exercise, Physical Job (x1.9)

By understanding each activity level, you can have an estimate of how many calories your body is burning throughout the day and how many calories are essential for your body throughout the day. Knowing your TDEE helps in understanding how many calories are desired for maintaining the body, to achieve fitness goals and to have a proper view of how you can manage your meal planning and weight management.

TDEE

What is Your TDEE?

Total Energy Daily Expenditure (TDEE) describes the amount of energy or calories burned by one during the whole day, depending on the activity level of a person. Calculating the TDEE helps in a variety of ways, such as determining how many calories are being burned by your body throughout the day, how many calories are required by your body, planning your meals, and determining how much exercise is needed to maintain the normal functioning of your body. TDEE is described on the basis of the activity level of a person, which is described earlier. 

There are 5 activity levels, and by observing every level, you can have a view of your TDEE. TDEE works on a simple formula like

  • If you eat more calories than your TDEE, you will gain weight.
  • If you eat fewer calories than your TDEE, you will lose weight. 

TDEE NHS (Total Daily Energy Expenditure National Health Service ) describes the same thing, that you can lose or gain weight according to the calculated TDEE of a person. 

Energy is required by your body to manage the normal functioning of the body. Functions like breathing, running, nervous system movements and many other physical activities require energy. Creation and moving of molecules inside the body also require energy for the normal functioning of this whole procedure.

 This energy is attained from the bonds which break by the process of oxidation whenever we consume food. So the main source of this energy is the food we are consuming throughout the day. There are 3 essential nutrients which provide energy to the body when the process of oxidation occurs inside the body. These nutrients are:

  • Carbohydrates
  • Proteins 
  • Fats

So these are the nutrients which provide energy to the body when the food is consumed by a person. They are the main source of energy for the body. About 4 calories are gained by a gram of protein and carbohydrates, while 9 calories are gained by each gram of fat.

The loss, gain and maintenance work on a very simple principle. Suppose you are burning the same amount of calories that you are ingesting throughout the day; in simple words, you are ingesting the same amount of calories as compared to your TDEE. In that case, your weight remains stable and you are in a state which is known as “energy balance”.

 Now, if you are taking more calories than your TDEE. In that case, you will gain weight, and you will be in a state which is known as “positive energy balance”. Because in this, your body is storing more calories than the calories being burned, so these additional calories are being stored as fat inside the body, which then increases your weight. 

Now comes the last case, suppose you’re consuming or taking fewer calories than your TDEE, in that case, you will lose weight, and you will be in a state which is known as “negative energy balance”. Because in this state, when you take in fewer calories, your body will consume energy from the stored fat. So, in this case, you will start losing weight. 

It is essential to know how many calories are being consumed throughout the day because knowing your caloric intake can help you create meal plans that suit your energy requirements according to the TDEE. This tool can guide you to achieve your fitness goals, enhance your daily routine, and it can also help you build muscles.

Measuring and Calculating Energy Expenditure

There is are variety of tools available which can help you describe your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). These tools are based on the formulas which are used to define Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), or Resting Energy Expenditure (REE). These tools use a multiplication factor which is entirely based on your activity level, which is based on your TDEE.

 The results are entirely based on the height, age, gender and weight with the activity level you provide. The equations, which are well-known for this purpose, are Mifflin-St. Jeor Equation, Harris-Benedict Formula and Katch-McArdle Formula. These formulas are based on the data collected from the people in the general population. These formulas and data are used by the researchers in calculating the energy requirements for breathing, ingesting, and other respiratory activities taking place inside the body. 

Unlike the other calculators, the TDEE calculator uses the newest and advanced formulas developed by the National Health Service (NHS) to ensure the correct and accurate results. Every formula is based on the studies of energy expenditure using “Doubly Labelled Water” (DLW). The measurements of DLW are regarded as one of the best measurements when calculating the total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) of a person. 

They are considered because the calculation of measurements is based on the energy expenditure of a person in their daily lives without any restrictions. These DLW measurements are better than calorimetry as they are based on the energy expenditure in real life rather than in a lab setting.

The DLW method involves having individuals drink two stable water isotopes and measuring how these isotopes leave the body through fluids in the form of urine or blood throughout 1-3 weeks. The varying rates of disappearance indicate the amount of carbon dioxide the body produces. TDEE can be equally determined by analysing these rates and considering the composition of the individual’s diet.

Estimated Energy Requirement (EER)

Dietary Reference Intakes report, according to their report, (ERR) Estimated Energy Requirement is the energy or calories needed for the normal functioning of the body, or we can say the calories needed for the well-being of the body. So the purpose of this tool is to compute and provide results on the basis of ERR, not on the basis of TDEE, for individuals having an average weight. The formulas which apply to ERR are:

  • For the adults, having a healthy weight on their BMI (Body Mass Index) falling between 18.5 and 25
  • For the children between the ages of 3 and 18 who fall within the 5th and 85th percentiles of BMI.
  • For the infants and toddlers aged up to 2 years who fall within the 3rd and 97th percentiles of BMI.

If you are facing obesity and want to lose weight, you should start by calculating your (TDEE) Total Daily Energy Expenditure. You can calculate your TDEE with the help of the formula provided in the calculator. It will tell how much energy or calories are being burned throughout the day. Knowing the result will help you establish a weight loss goal. For weight loss purposes, you must eat fewer calories than your TDEE.

 For the initial phase, a calorie deficit of 200 than your TDEE is a good approach for a successful weight loss journey. Keeping in mind that your TDEE will go down with your weight loss, you should check your TDEE regularly so that your weight loss does not get affected, and intake of calories must be less than your TDEE.