Have you ever tried several methods to lose weight, but you’re still not seeing your desired result? Then, it’s time to get it right!
Listen! For you to lose weight, your calorie intake has to be on check per day.
Yea! “No matter how your diet is, you will lose weight if you consume fewer calories than you body needs to burn.”
A TDEE calculator helps you determine how much calories you need daily to shed excess weight and live healthily.
Also, the TDEE calculator helps you determine how much calories to consume to gain weight.
So, in simple words:
- You need to eat less energy than you burn if you want to attain your weight loss goal.
- You need to eat slightly more energy than you burn if you desire to gain weight
- You can maintain your current weight by eating more or less the same amount of energy you burn over time.
The real deal is that you have to watch your energy balance to control your weight.
But you may wonder and ask “How to do I measure the amount of energy I am burning over time?” or “How less or more should I eat to lose or gain weight?”
The answer to these questions has been made simple! Yea, all you need is to use the TDEE Calculator.
We’re going to show you interesting details on how to use the TDEE calculator to help you eat less, more, or close the amount of energy you need per day.
Outline:
What is my basal metabolic rate (BMR)?
What is total daily Energy expenditure (TDEE)?
How to use the TDEE Calculator to lose weight and gain muscle
What is my basal metabolic rate (BMR)?
You need to understand your basal metabolic rate (BMR) to help you use the TDEE calculator effectively. Your BMR is the total amount of energy your body burns at rest when you are not engaged in any activities.
In other words, it is the minimum amount of energy your body needs to carry out essential functions like breathing, pumping blood, regenerating cells, and so on.
So you don’t need energy only for exercises or performing activities. Yea, even while sitting, you still need plenty of calories for your body to work optimally.
Your BMR is affected by your sex, height, weight, which is why they are important variables in the TDEE calculator.
Invariably, the more you weigh, or the taller you are, the higher your BMR will be and vice versa.
Note this: About two-thirds of your daily calorie needs is directed to keeping your body running
So what about energy for activities and exercises? Yea, let’s move to talk about that.
What is total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)?
In simple terms, your total daily energy expenditure is the total amount of energy your body expends every 24 hours.
While your BMR focuses on calorie needs for a state of rest, TDEE takes several factors into account, including your BMR and energy burned through physical activity and food eaten.
So in simple terms, to calculate your TDEE, we’ll multiply your BMR by your “Activity level” factor.
There are different activity levels you can fall into including:
Sedentary: Meaning you do not exercise at all. You’re just a couch potato.
Lightly active: Here, maybe all you do is to take a stroll down your neighbourhood or you exercise for about 30 minutes per day.
Moderately active: You exercise for about 1hour 45 minutes every day, or you do follow an intensive training program for 5o minutes daily.
Very active: You engage in an activity that requires much energy. Maybe you’re part of a softball team or work in an engineering company. Also, you are very active when you do intentional exercises for about 4 hours 15 minutes every day.
Extra active: Maybe you are a bodybuilder or a professional athlete. You train at least two times daily with each session lasting for about 2 hours.
Remember, if you have a goal to lose weight and you’re not sure of your activity level, it is better to pick the Activity level below your initial guess. So instead of “Very active,” pick “moderately active.”
You may ask “Why?” Well, for a better result, it is better to underestimate how much you eat and overestimate your activity level. This helps for a more accurate estimate of your daily caloric needs and gives chance for a lager error margin.
So with your BMR and activity factor, you can determine your TDEE. Yea, by selecting your age, height, weight, sex, and your “activity level” factor, our calculator can help you know your daily calorie expenditure.
How to use the TDEE Calculator to lose weight and gain muscle?
Remember we mentioned in the beginning that you need to watch your daily calorie intake if you desire to lose weight.
Your energy balance matters in determining whether you lose weight or gain muscle.
So the basic idea is that:
- A significant weight loss requires you to burn more calories than you consume
- And significant weight gain demands more consumption of calories than you expend.
Now, after you calculate your TDEE, our TDEE calculator gives you a good estimate of your calorie needs per day.
So to lose weight, you need to eat below your total calorie needs per day (TDEE). This forces your body to switch to burning stored fat as a source of energy.
However, remember this:
- One pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories
- You have seven days in a week
So to lose 3,500 calories in a week, you can consume 500 fewer calories per day, burn 500 more calories per day, or the combination of the two options.
Also, let’s say your TDEE is 2,200. You can lose weight by consuming around 2,000 calories per to lose around one pound in a week.
So start focusing on your food intake to lose weight. Prioritize real foods like fish, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. Real foods are more likely to fill you up quickly while keeping you under your daily calorie intake goal.
What about muscle gain?
You can also use the TDEE calculator to bulk up and build muscle. You can achieve this by taking higher calories than your TDEE.
A calorie surplus has been shown by many studies to help boost muscle protein synthesis by increasing your anabolic hormone levels and decreasing that for catabolic reactions.
However, you should be careful not to eat too many more calories than you’re burning. This could move from boosting muscle growth to fat gain when it gets to a certain point.
So you may ask “how much calories can I eat to maintain muscle growth instead of fat gain?”
Well, studies have shown that you’re likely to achieve muscle gain by eating 110 percent of your TDEE.
Hence, if you want to achieve lean bulking, without gaining fat, you can stick to eating 110 percent of your TDEE.
That is, if your TDEE value is 2300 calories, you should eat about 2600 calories per day. This will result in a steady muscle gain with reduced fat gain.
[Related Reading: The Ultimate Weight Training Guide for Beginners]
So to wrap it up, follow these steps:
- Calculate your BMR and your TDEE
- Keep a record of everything you eat for one week and compare your current calorie intake with your TDEE.
- To lose weight, create a calorie deficit. Eat fewer calories than your TDEE.
- To gain weight, consume 110 percent of your TDEE.
We have made it easy for you. So you don’t have to worry anymore about your unattainable weight goals.
Get our TDEE calculator today and use it to get a perfect weight that you desire!
Still Confused? Read Below!
Are you looking for a diet that works best for you? If yes, then you’ve come to the right place. First, you will have to pinpoint your goals. Whether you are trying to lose some weight or gain it, or need help in managing it, you will have to monitor your calorie intake versus the calories you burn. This is where a TDEE and Macro Calculator will help you. Measuring your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is crucial no matter what your weight goals are.
The Science Behind TDEE
Our body burns a specific amount of calories each day just for the matter of existing, which is known as our Basal metabolic rate (BMR). The BMR is dependent on your age, height, and weight.
By indulging in a physical activity like running or exercising, you burn extra calories. The sum of BMR and the calories burnt through physical exertion is the Total Daily Energy Expenditure TDEE. These extra calories that you burn are regarded as your maintenance calories, so if you intake the same amount of calories that you burn, you will be able to maintain your weight.
How to Lose Weight?
Losing weight is simple when it comes to TDEE. All you have to do is intake lesser calories than your body is consuming to cause a calorie deficit. When you have lesser calories than required to maintain your weight, you will be able to lose weight.
Say, for instance, your BMR depending on your age, weight, and height is 1800 calories which when combined with the physical activities may result in a TDEE of 2400 calories. In order to maintain your weight, you will have to intake 2400 calories daily. While to lose weight you will have to eat lesser calories, and in order to gain weight you will have to eat more. On the other hand, you can also create a calorie deficit by exercising more.
Macro Calculation
The best way to creating a calorie deficit for weight loss in a healthy manner is by using Macro counting. When you calculate your macros (macronutrients) and indulge in non-restrictive dieting which means you can eat all your favourite foods as long as you don’t cross your macro goals and TDEE. Although you can lose weight by eating the unhealthy foods as well in this case, it is recommended to include healthy foods like vegetables, nuts, fruits, lean meat, etc. in your diet as well so that you don’t only lose weight but also stay fit.
You can use our TDEE calculator to track your macros and devise your weight management program accordingly by staying fit and healthy as well.
TDEE for Weight Loss
As already mentioned, the TDEE comprises of the basal metabolic rate and the additional energy dispensed through physical activity plus the food intake. If you create a balance in the energy that you feed your body and the energy that is expended by the body, then you can govern your weight loss or gain according to your desire.
For healthy weight loss, you are required to expend more energy compared to your energy consumption while healthy weight gain requires its opposite – more consumption less expenditure.
The TDEE calculator is most commonly used for weight loss. While you say, ‘ I want to lose weight’, you most probably mean to lose the extra fats and not the muscles. However, we go for the rapid methods of weight loss; we tend to lose both the fat and muscles unavoidably. As discussed, the only way to lose weight is by creating a calorie deficit – in taking lesser calories compared to the energy expenditure of the body. This is the reason that restrictive calories in any diet play the role of keystone when it comes to weight loss.
However, if you wish to lose the fat without targeting the muscle mass, then you shouldn’t restrict the calorie intake too drastically. Up to a 35% of restriction to your TDEE would be the right proportion to encourage fat loss while maximising the potential of muscle building in your body. For that matter, knowing your TDEE is very crucial as it will help you in limiting the calories in a moderate manner. Our TDEE calculator is perfect when it comes to restricting your calories as you can choose your setting from a range of 15% to 30% restriction on your TDEE for a gradual weight loss that preserves the muscles while only the fat is lost.
We need to bring an important point under your notice at this point that any TDEE calculator is meant to only provide you with an estimate of your calorie intake needs. You will have to make minor changes in this estimate depending upon your exact TDEE. Keep track of your weight fluctuations for that reason. Rapid weight loss may seem to be very appealing but know that if your goal is to preserve the muscles, go for the gradual route where losing a pound per week is absolutely fine. When you notice you have started to gain these results, know that you are going on the right track, until then you may need to tweak your plan a bit.
TDEE for Weight Gain
TDEE is also very important when it comes to gaining weight and packing muscles. So, if you are looking to build muscles and increase your strength, you will be required to intake more calories than your body expends daily. Once you get a track of your TDEE, you can easily manage your calorie intake to build those muscles and gain some weight.
It is usually recommended that you start by taking an extra 10% of your TDEE or taking 10% more calories than your body burns daily. But when it comes to building the muscles through training, it all becomes relative for each individual. A person who is new to the world of weightlifting may be able to reach the goal within a specified time while a person who has been at weightlifting for most of their life might be able to gain just a few pounds that too, over a longer period.
In any case, our TDEE calculator can only serve as an estimator. You will always have to tweak the results to fit it into your personal requirements. You also have to consider that gaining weight requires time as it should be a gradual process. So if you gain two pounds per month consider it the right track as you will be able to gain a total of 24 pounds in a year which the perfect and sustainable result. You can easily manage your calorie intake during the bulking process by keeping track of your weight. If you notice that you are gaining more than 2 pounds per month then maybe you should slow it down a bit and reduce your calorie intake. On the other hand, if you haven’t been able to gain those two pounds throwing in some extra calories might serve the purpose right.
TDEE for Maintaining Weight
Are you on your ideal weight on the scale? Do you wish to keep it that way? Your TDEE can play a significant role in weight maintenance as well. Although you might to take some time off from all the TDEE calculation but you need to know that giving up at this point may turn all your efforts to ashes. You will need to keep your diet on fleek to maintain your perfect weight, and that can be done by keeping track of your TDEE.
In order to maintain the weight, you will have to create a balance between the calories you intake and the calories you burn. Too little calories may lead you to lose weight, and too many calories may lead you to gain weight. But knowing your TDEE will help you in achieving the equilibrium so that things work out for the best of your interests – maintaining weight!