For some people, it’s easy to tell if they’re eating enough. But for others, it can be difficult. And for athletes and other high-performance individuals, knowing exactly how many calories you’re burning is critical for your health and well-being.
If you want to lose or maintain weight and aren’t sure where to start or how much exercise or food intake is enough, calculating TDEE might be an excellent place to start.
Why is TDEE important?
TDEE measures your calorie expenditure or the amount of energy you burn in a day. To calculate TDEE, you need to know your current weight, height, age and gender (for adults).
Legion Athletics experts say, “Once you know your TDEE, you can use this number to determine how many calories you should eat every day to lose, gain, or maintain your weight.”
TDEE is also known as resting metabolic rate (RMR). RMR refers to the number of calories an individual burns while resting or sleeping. TDEE differs from BMR because it accounts for activity levels. Therefore, the higher your activity level is above sedentary, the more calories you will burn on top of what’s needed for essential functions like breathing and heart rate.
While calculating BMI can give you some idea about how much fat mass you have on your body and thus how healthy that fat may be. There are other ways to determine whether this number is where it should be for good health.
Should I eat my TDEE to lose weight?
The TDEE is a guide, not a rule. It’s a starting point for your weight loss journey, not an end goal. If you want to lose weight:
- You will have to eat less energy than your TDEE to create a deficit.
- This is because you need the energy to do anything, and your body requires more energy when you exercise – even if it’s just walking! A lower-calorie diet can be achieved by eating smaller portions or reducing calorie-dense foods (such as candy).
- Once you reach your target weight, you can then adjust downwards if desired or maintain at this level until further notice.
How do you calculate TDEE for weight loss?
There are many different methods for calculating TDEE, and they can all give slightly different results. This is because so many factors determine your weight loss needs age, height, gender and activity level among them. So you can use the TDEE calculator to get this figure right.
There’s no right or wrong method to use when tracking your caloric intake: the important thing to remember is that whatever method you choose should be based on accurate information about yourself.
If you want a way to track your caloric intake that considers all of these variables, TDEE is the best option.
It is essential to calculate your TDEE because it helps you figure out how many calories you should eat each day. The equation considers your weight, height, activity level, and other factors such as age and gender. Once you know the number of calories your body needs each day, it’s easy to find foods that fit within those parameters.