What is Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)?

TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure. It adds up your resting calories (BMR), the calories you burn walking, working and exercising, and the small amount used to digest food. It is the best starting estimate of how much you should eat to maintain your weight.

You can estimate it by multiplying your BMR by an activity factor, such as 1.2 for a desk job with little exercise or 1.55 for moderate training most days. For example, a BMR of 1,500 with a factor of 1.4 gives about 2,100 calories. Treat it as a starting guess and adjust from real results.