Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the calories you actually burn per day — from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, with fat-loss and lean-gain reference targets built in.
Exercise 3–5 days/week (×1.55)
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Any formula TDEE is a population estimate — individual metabolisms commonly sit ±10% either side of it, and the "activity level" you pick is a guess. Worse, the number doesn't stay right: as you lose weight your BMR falls, dieting reduces NEAT (spontaneous movement) through metabolic adaptation, and your training load changes with the seasons. A calculator answer from January can be off by several hundred calories in April.
That is why the NutriMind app doesn't stop at the formula. Its adaptive TDEE engine treats this estimate as a starting point, then recalibrates weekly from your actual logged intake and weight trend — the same energy-balance back-calculation coaches do by hand. Eat 2,400 kcal a day and lose 0.25 kg that week? Your real TDEE was ~2,675, and your targets adjust automatically.
NutriMind starts with this formula, then recalibrates your true TDEE every week from photo-logged meals and your weight trend. No more stalls from a number that stopped being right two months ago.
What is TDEE?
Total Daily Energy Expenditure — every calorie you burn in 24 hours. It combines your BMR (energy to run your body at rest), the thermic effect of food (~10%), exercise, and NEAT (non-exercise activity like walking and fidgeting). Eat at TDEE and your weight holds; below it you lose; above it you gain.
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is the calories you would burn lying still all day — the engine idling. TDEE is BMR multiplied by an activity factor (1.2 sedentary to 1.9 very active) to account for everything you actually do. Always set calorie targets from TDEE, not BMR; eating at BMR is an aggressive, often unsustainable deficit.
Which activity level should I pick?
Most desk workers who train 3–5 days a week are "Moderate" — and most people overestimate. If you sit all day and train an hour, you are not "Very active" (that tier is for physical jobs or two-a-day training). When unsure, pick the lower level and adjust based on four weeks of real weight data.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
Mifflin-St Jeor is the most accurate general-population BMR equation, but individual TDEEs still spread roughly ±10% around any formula — genetics, muscle mass, NEAT, and hormone status all move the number. Treat the result as a starting estimate, then let 2–4 weeks of intake and weight-trend data correct it.
Should I add my workout calories on top of TDEE?
No. The activity multiplier already includes your typical training, so adding tracker "calories burned" on top double-counts exercise — a top reason deficits silently disappear. Only revisit your activity level if your weekly routine genuinely changes.
Does TDEE change over time?
Constantly. Losing 5 kg lowers BMR by roughly 50–100 kcal/day, dieting suppresses NEAT via metabolic adaptation, and muscle gain nudges it upward. Recalculate whenever your weight moves 2–3 kg — or use the NutriMind app, whose adaptive engine re-estimates your true TDEE weekly from your logs so the target never goes stale.