How To Find Your TDEE and How Many Grams of Protein, Carbs and Fat To Eat

We know that calories are our energy source.  

The main factor in weight gain or loss is calories in vs calories out (it’s really that simple).

If you want to maintain your body weight you need to eat around the same number of calories that you are burning.  

If you want to gain muscle you need to be eating more calories than you are burning.

If you want to lose fat, you need to be eating less calories than you are burning.

Even though we know all of these things we still may not know how much and what to eat!

Along with all of this information that we’ve learned from Digital Barbell (wink wink) we also know that our Total Daily Energy Expenditure (or TDEE) is the number of calories we burn daily just living our every day life.  This includes the exercise that you do and the work you do just making your body run from place to place, errand to errand, sidewalk to bed… and everything in between.

We can quickly get an estimate of our TDEE number by using an online calculator and entering our age, weight, heigh and activity level.   Since this is an online calculator used by everyone it might not be 100% accurate but it will likely get you in the ball park.  But now we have a starting place and a number to work with. 

It is also important to remember that this number will change over time.  This will not be our TDEE until the end of time. 

If we start working out regularly and eating regularly our metabolism will likely increase and this number will likely increase with our increased health (yay).  If we become more sedentary and eat poorly or irregularly this number will likely go down (boooo).  

Since food is your source of energy, we want you eating the most food you can while maintaining a healthy body weight (aka we want your TDEE number to increase).

And by eating the most food possible I know you know that we mean eating…

meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and minimal added sugar. 

Using those food groups, a good starting place for how much of each would be to eat around 1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight and then divide the remaining calories between carbohydrates and fat depending on your lifestyle, energy needs and preferences.

MATH BREAK:

Protein = 4 calories per gram

Carbohydrates = 4 calories per gram

Fat = 9 calories per gram

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE:

I eat 2000 calories per day and weight 135-lbs.

I eat 135g of protein per day and that equals (135*4) 540 calories.

I have 1460 calories remaining to divide between carbohydrates and fat for the day.

There are so many good and delicious meals and snacks that come from the food groups we just listed… you likely shouldn’t need much more. 

It may take a week or so of work to understand how much you are eating and to get the right amounts of each macronutrient dialed in but THAT IS OK.  This is your health and your energy and your LIFE so it’s ok to do a little work to get this machine (YOU) working right.  

Now we know WHAT to eat and approximately HOW MUCH to eat… how do we maintain this over time?

Eat at your estimated TDEE calories with the right portions of macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates and fat) for 5-7 days and track your body weight.  We want to maintain within a pound of body weight during this time if we are eating consistently.  

Did that work?  Did you maintain your weight? 

Then you know what your approximate TDEE is right now. 

How do we use this number?

If you want to lose weight, eat approximately 15-25% less than your TDEE.  If you maintain that calorie deficit a week, you should begin to lose weight.

If you want to maintain your body weight, eat at your TDEE number.  Add in exercise (preferable resistance training) and your TDEE number will likely rise.  Check back in on your body weight each week and adjust your calories (eat more food) if your body weight drops.

If you want to gain weight, eat approximately 10-15% more calories more than your TDEE.  You should begin to gain weight if you eat more calories per week.

There you have it.  The secret to YOUR SUCCESS. 

If you need help with your nutrition, apply for 1 on 1 coaching HERE.