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Nutrition

TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)

The total number of calories your body burns in a day — resting metabolism plus digestion, everyday movement, and exercise.

By the glp1.how editorial teamReviewed

TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is the full number of calories your body uses in a day. Most of it is your resting metabolism, the energy needed just to stay alive; the rest comes from digesting food, ordinary daily movement, and deliberate exercise. A calorie deficit means eating below your TDEE, which is what drives weight loss.

On a GLP-1 the number matters in two directions: it's the starting point for setting a calorie and protein target when appetite is low (see what a calorie deficit is and the TDEE Calculator), and it falls as you lose weight — both because a smaller body burns less and because of metabolic adaptation. Calculator estimates get less reliable after large weight loss, so treat TDEE as an estimate to check against what the scale actually does (see do TDEE calculators still work after big weight loss). Source: Levine, Nutrition Reviews, 2004 (external link).

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Updated 2 times since Sep 2, 2026 · show changes
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