TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

TDEE is the total number of calories your body burns in a 24-hour period, including all activity — from sleeping to formal exercise to fidgeting at your desk.

It is the number every calorie app uses to set your daily goal. Get it wrong and your goal is wrong. Most apps get it somewhere between right and moderately wrong.

How TDEE is calculated

TDEE is typically estimated by multiplying your BMR (calories burned at complete rest) by an activity multiplier:

Activity level	Multiplier	Example
Sedentary (desk job, no exercise)	1.2	Most knowledge workers
Lightly active (1–3 days/week exercise)	1.375	Office worker, 3 gym sessions/week
Moderately active (3–5 days/week)	1.55	Manual worker or daily gym-goer
Very active (6–7 days/week hard training)	1.725	Athletes in training
Extremely active (twice daily training)	1.9	Competitive athletes

The problem: most people incorrectly self-select their activity multiplier. Someone who runs 30 minutes three times a week will often select “Moderately active” (1.55) when “Lightly active” (1.375) is more accurate for their total daily movement. A 10–15% overestimate of TDEE means a 200–300 kcal/day error in your goal.

Why apps give different numbers

Every app starts from a BMR formula — usually Mifflin-St Jeor (the most clinically validated) or Harris-Benedict (older, slightly less accurate). The formulas differ. The activity multiplier input differs. The result: two apps with the same inputs can produce TDEE estimates 100–200 kcal apart.

MacroFactor sidesteps this entirely by calculating your actual TDEE from observed weight change vs logged intake over 4–6 weeks. This is more accurate than any formula but requires consistent daily logging and weigh-ins.

NEAT: the variable nobody tracks

NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) is the energy burned through all non-exercise movement — walking to the kitchen, standing at a desk, talking with your hands. NEAT can vary by 300–800 kcal/day between individuals of the same weight and formal exercise level. This is why two people with the same TDEE estimate can have materially different actual maintenance calories.

No calorie app estimates NEAT accurately. It is the largest source of individual variation in TDEE.

Practical implication

If your expected weight loss at a given calorie goal is not materialising after 4 weeks, your TDEE estimate is probably too high. The correct response is to reduce your calorie goal by 100–150 kcal and wait another 3–4 weeks before adjusting again — not to assume the app is wrong or the diet does not work.