What is TDEE & why is it important?

In order to achieve your goal, whether that is fat loss, muscle gain or body composition maintenance - one of the first and most vital calculations you will work with, is your TDEE, or your 'total daily energy expenditure.'

Both fat loss and muscle building will need to take this into account in order to determine the adequate output and calories to optimise your results. If you are maintaining - same thing! You need to know the amount of calories your body required for your daily output. So, what makes up your total daily energy expenditure?

TDEE is an estimation of the calories you burn per day (your output) when exercise is also considered. Understanding your output will ensure you are able to determine the input (calorie consumption) necessary to suit your goal. TDEE is made up of:

· BMR (basal metabolic rate): the amount of energy your body uses to survive (e.g. breathing and blood flow) This makes up around 60% of your TDEE.

· TEF (The thermic effect of food): the amount of energy needed to absorb and store nutrients from what we consume. Yes, you USE calories when you EAT calories. This makes up about 10-15% of your TDEE.

· PAL (Physical activity level): This is the amount of energy used performing physical activity and daily movement. PAL makes up around 15-30% of your TDEE and is broken down into two subfactors:

• EAT (Exercise-related Activity Thermogenesis): the energy we burn through exercise such as weight training, cardio, HIIT classes, sports activities etc.

• NEAT (Non-Exercise-related activity thermogenesis): all other unplanned physical movements in your day to day living, such as fidgeting, standing, sitting, blinking etc. This is commonly referred to on social media as 'steps' - though steps and walking is TECHNICALLY 'EAT' many trainers will use 'steps' as a way of tracking 'NEAT' as it is a simple way to ensure basic movement remains in a consistent place.
  

When determining your TDEE you need to consider all of these above factors. Exercise only makes up a small portion of your total daily energy expenditure. SO don't rely solely on your exercise when it comes to your goals. You want to balance your training, your nutrition, and your steps ('neat') to ensure you are not consuming too much or too little!