CALCULATING HOW MANY CALORIES YOUR BODY BURNS (TDEE)
Sustainable, long-term weight-loss results has to involve healthy eating habits that are realistic and that fit into your lifestyle. The key to reaching your health and fitness goals—and maintaining them—is knowing how many calories your body burns on a daily basis or your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). When you know how many calories your body burns and how many calories you should be taking in on a daily basis you can then make losing weight an exact science—or a numbers game—with a healthy meal plan that is custom fit for you.
TDEE is comprised of two parts:
- 1. Basal Metabolic Rate-how many calories you burn to sustain basic bodily function.
- 2. Daily Physical Activity-how many calories above your BMR that your body burns throughout the day which includes work and exercise, among other factors.
TDEE factors in your BMR, daily physical activity, age and weight. It does not, however, factor in body composition—fat weight vs. lean body weight. If you do not know your body fat percentage take off 30% from your body weight for women and 20% for men when you calculate your TDEE (30% and 20% is the average body fat percentage for women and men, respectively). When calculating your TDEE, most of us tend to overestimate our daily activity level so select the level below what you initially would estimate it to be. Both of these will help give you a more accurate TDEE.
To calculate your TDEE CLICK HERE.
Once you have calculated your TDEE, you can then determine how many calories you should be taking in on daily basis.
