How Can I Calculate My Daily Energy Needs?

What is your energy requirement (TDEE)?

Your energy requirement (in English: Total Daily Energy Expendure or TDEE) is the amount of energy you need per day.

This depends on:

• Your age
• Your gender
• Your height and body weight
• Your physical activity
• Physiological factors, such as growth, recovery from illness, pregnancy...

An adult person with light activity needs between 2000 and 2500 kilocalories daily.

We can divide your total energy consumption into 4 compartments:

• Basal metabolism (BMR) = your energy expenditure at complete rest
• Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) = your thermal effect of food = energy needed to digest your food
• Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT) = all the energy you use during exercise
• Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) = all the energy you use during all activities except sleeping, eating and exercising

How can I calculate my energy needs?

You can calculate your total daily energy needs in different ways.

As mentioned earlier, your total energy needs consist of the sum of:

• Your basal metabolic rate (BMR)
• Your Thermal Effect of Food (TEF)
• Your Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
• Your Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT)

If you add all 4, you get your total energy requirement.

TDEE = BMR + TEF + NEAT + EAT

However, in most cases we will base our decision on the daily energy requirement without exercise.

Calculate your energy needs without exercise

To calculate your daily energy needs without exercise, you only need to multiply your basal metabolism by a PAL score.

TDEE = BMR x PAL

1) You can calculate your basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor formula:

2) Multiply that result by the PAL score that most closely matches your lifestyle:

Calculate your energy consumption during exercise

To calculate how many calories you consume during exercise, you need the MET score of your sporting activity. You can then calculate the total number of calories burned during your sporting activity as follows:

[MET score of your sports activity] x [your body weight in kg] x 3.5 x [number of minutes] / 200

Calculate your energy needs per week or per day?

Not every day of the week is the same. One day you will do some sport, while the next day you might enjoy an evening on the couch. So you will not use the same amount of energy (read: calories) every day of the week.

You can choose to eat the same number of calories every day, but you may be better served with more calories on the days that you exercise. So you can choose to calculate your energy needs per week or per day. Below we explain when to choose which option, and how to calculate your energy needs per day.

When is the best time to calculate your energy needs per week...

It is best to calculate your energy needs on a weekly basis if you experience one of the following:

• You do not do extremely strenuous exercise (such as intervals or long endurance runs) throughout the week
• You do not have too little energy on days when you exercise
• After adding a calorie deficit, your daily energy requirement is below your basal metabolic rate

To calculate your daily energy needs, proceed as follows:

1. You calculate your daily energy needs without exercise
2. You multiply that number by 7
3. You add your calories consumed during exercise (= EAT) throughout the week
4. You divide this number by 7 again

When is the best time to calculate your energy needs per day...

It is best to calculate your energy needs per day when you experience one of the following:

• You also do heavy efforts during the week (such as intervals or long runs)
• You have too little energy on days when you exercise

To calculate your daily energy needs, proceed as follows:

1. You calculate your daily energy needs without exercise
2. You add your calories consumed during exercise (= EAT) for that day

Or choose a combination of the 2

You can also opt for a combination of the two, whereby you will record half of your calories consumed during exercise on a weekly basis. And the other half will be added to the days on which you exercise. You follow the following step-by-step plan:

1. You calculate your daily energy needs without exercise
2. You multiply that number by 7
3. You add half of your calories consumed during exercise (= EAT/2)
4. You divide this number by 7 again

This is your energy requirement for the days when you do not exercise. On the days that you do exercise, you can add half of your calories consumed (for that day).