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What is TDEE?

Answered by Nikkiey Stott and her guests · Updated

The short answer

TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure: the total calories your body burns in a day. Nikkiey explains it adds up your BMR, NEAT, TEF (digesting food) and EAT (exercise). It's essentially your maintenance number, the calories that keep your weight where it is, which tells you how much to eat to lose, maintain or gain.

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  1. Nikkiey defines TDEE and why it matters for losing, maintaining or gaining

    Plays from 14:05 · Ep. 21: How to Increase Your Daily Calorie Burn: BMR, NEAT, TDEE

  2. A quick summary of TDEE, its parts, and how to increase it

    Plays from 8:56 · Video: What Is TDEE? The 5 Parts of Your Daily Calorie Burn

  3. How to use your TDEE to create a calorie deficit for fat loss

    Plays from 15:13 · Ep. 21: How to Increase Your Daily Calorie Burn: BMR, NEAT, TDEE

  4. Two ways to raise your TDEE: more activity and more muscle

    Plays from 8:40 · Video: What Is TDEE? The 5 Parts of Your Daily Calorie Burn

The full answer

Think of TDEE as the sum of everything your body spends in a day. Nikkiey breaks it into parts:

  • BMR, your basal metabolic rate: the energy to breathe, circulate blood, regulate temperature and keep your organs running. She says it can make up as much as 70% of your daily burn.
  • NEAT, non-exercise activity thermogenesis: fidgeting, standing, walking, everything outside planned workouts. It varies a lot with your job and lifestyle.
  • TEF: the energy used digesting food.
  • EAT: your planned exercise.

Once you know your TDEE, the rest follows. On Ep. 21, Nikkiey explains that to lose fat you eat fewer calories than your TDEE, and that deficit can come from a combination of food and exercise. Eat around it to maintain, above it to gain.

Here is where many women get stuck. Online calculators estimate TDEE from age, gender, height, weight and activity level, but Nikkiey doesn't recommend relying on them. They all say different things and can leave you more confused about where to start. Her advice is to work with a professional who can give you a more precise number to work from, so you can stop guessing and just do the work.

You can also raise your TDEE. Nikkiey points to two levers: move more, both planned exercise and everyday NEAT, and build muscle through strength training. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, so more of it raises your BMR, even at rest. She shares that years of lifting have pushed her own baseline up. If your numbers have felt off, it's the plan, not you.

From Nikkiey Stott and WarriorBabe's coaching. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.

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