What Is Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)

Your metabolism is calculated using your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). TDEE is comprised of three key components; resting metabolic rate (RMR), the thermic effect of food (TEF), and the thermic effect of physical activity (TEPA). TEF is the energy expended when chewing, swallowing, digesting, and absorbing food. TEPA is the energy of activity, during and not during exercise.

Why Your TDEE Is Important

Using our free TDEE calculator can help you lose weight, maintain it, or build more mass. By determining your basal metabolic rate and your total daily energy expenditure, you can accurately predict, how many calories you need for your fitness goals. That's because knowing how many calories you naturally burn provides you with a baseline to calculate how many calories you need to consume on a daily basis.

What Is Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

Basal metabolic rate is the number of calories your body needs to accomplish its most basic (basal) life-sustaining functions.

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the smallest amount of calories/energy that our bodies need to sustain and support vital functions. This does not account for any activity outside of keeping us alive, meaning beating our hearts, breathing, blinking our eyes, and so on. Nearly 70% of the energy we expend every day goes towards nonmovement-related physiological activity, like breathing, and this is what BMR accounts for.

What Is Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)

You may have also heard of RMR. Similar to BMR, resting metabolic rate (RMR) is found by measuring oxygen consumption at rest. RMR will typically be higher than BMR but only by no more than a 10% difference. Things that contribute to this change are small amounts of movement, various environments, and digestion.

What Is The Thermic Effect Of Food (TEF)

Diet-Induced Thermogenesis (DIT) or the thermic effect of food (TEF) is essentially the energy “cost” it takes to breakdown your food, digest it, and turn it into fuel. While the cumulative effect of the thermic effect of food on total daily expenditure is small, it still contributes to burning more total calories and supporting your weight loss goals. A general estimate of the thermic effect of food is around 10% of total daily caloric intake, though the effect varies significantly with different types of foods. The energy required to digest each macronutrient or the (TEF) can be expressed as a percentage of the energy provided by each macronutrient [R].

• Fat: 9 calories per gram with a TEF of 0–3%.
• Carbohydrate: 4 calories per gram with a TEF of 5–10%.
• Protein: 4 calories per gram with a TEF of 20–30%.

IF YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT, then you’ll need to be in a caloric deficit.

IF YOU WANT TO GAIN WEIGHT, then you’ll need to be in a caloric surplus.

What Happens If You’re Not Getting Results

Our bodies are amazing, complicated systems. Sometimes it isn’t as straightforward as calories in vs calories out and we need to account for other things, like TEF (what our food is made up of i.e. eating more protein not just more calories), EA (introducing an exercise routine), NEAT (going for more walks through the day instead of sitting for 8 hours), and understanding your TDEE. If you’re not getting results on your own, it is time to consult a nutrition coach, so you can achieve efficient results from your efforts.

Further Nutrition And Training Resources

If you have additional questions or need help with your nutrition and training, you can schedule a free personal nutrition consultation with one of our certified nutrition coaches from The Swole Kitchen (TSK)

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Or if you’d like to learn more on your own, visit our fitness and nutrition blog with any questions you may have. We have a large library of content and resources.