Frequently Asked Questions

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It's the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and physical activity. Understanding your TDEE is crucial for managing your weight, whether you want to lose, gain, or maintain it.

Our calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is considered one of the most accurate methods for estimating BMR. However, individual variations can occur due to factors like genetics, muscle mass, and metabolic health. We recommend using the calculated TDEE as a starting point and adjusting based on your actual results over 2-4 weeks. Our iOS mobile app provides advanced TDEE calculation, we recommend using it.

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories your body burns at complete rest to maintain basic physiological functions. TDEE includes your BMR plus all additional calories burned through physical activity, exercise, and digesting food. TDEE is always higher than BMR unless you're completely sedentary.

Choose your activity level based on your typical week, adjust as needed:

• Sedentary: Little to no exercise, desk job
• Lightly Active: Light exercise 1-3 days/week
• Moderately Active: Moderate exercise 3-5 days/week
• Very Active: Hard exercise 6-7 days/week
• Extra Active: Very hard exercise, physical job, or training twice per day

You can use whichever system you're most comfortable with. Our calculator supports both metric (kg, cm) and imperial (lbs, inches) units. The results will be the same regardless of which system you choose, as the calculator automatically converts between them.

It's recommended to recalculate your TDEE every 10-15 pounds of weight change, when your activity level changes significantly, or every 2-3 months. As you lose or gain weight, your TDEE will change accordingly, so regular updates ensure your calorie targets remain accurate.

For sustainable weight loss, aim for a moderate caloric deficit of 200-500 calories below your TDEE. This typically results in losing 0.5-1 pound per week. Avoid extreme deficits (more than 1000 calories below TDEE) as they can lead to muscle loss, nutrient deficiencies, and metabolic slowdown. We also recommend working with professional personal trainser and nutritionists, they will able to plan your diet and monitor your progress.

Our iOS calculator provides macronutrient recommendations based on common ratios. A balanced approach typically includes:

• Protein: 0.8-1g per pound of body weight
• Fats: 20-35% of total calories
• Carbohydrates: Remaining calories after protein and fat

Adjust these based on your preferences, activity level, and goals.

If you selected an activity level that already includes your exercise, you shouldn't eat back exercise calories. However, if you selected "Sedentary" and then exercise, you may want to eat back 50-75% of your estimated exercise calories. Be cautious as most devices overestimate calories burned during exercise.

If you have a physically demanding job (construction, nursing, warehouse work, etc.), start with "Moderately Active" even if you don't exercise outside of work. If you also exercise regularly on top of your active job, consider "Very Active" or "Extra Active". Monitor your results and adjust as needed.

Yes! Walking definitely counts. If you walk 10,000+ steps daily, you're at least "Lightly Active" even without formal exercise. If you walk 15,000+ steps or do brisk walking for extended periods, consider "Moderately Active". Combine this with other activities to determine your overall level.