Rothstein: Daily Calorie Burn Totals Are Not the Full Story

Forbes Health quoted Alexander Rothstein, Ed.D., assistant professor of exercise science, on calculating daily calorie expenditure for weight loss. Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is an estimate of the number of calories the body burns daily, accounting for three major contributing factors: an individual’s basal metabolic rate (BMR), activity level, and energy used to metabolize food. Rothstein says that, while keeping track of TDEE and calculating “calories in vs. calories out” can help to establish a caloric deficit, it’s best not to obsess over your daily TDEE. Instead, he advises using that figure for motivation and understanding that it is an approximation that changes daily.

“The limitation of TDEE is that it gives you a small amount of the story, and it is just an estimate. But there’s more to the equation when it comes to lifelong health and fitness,” says Rothstein. Among other variables, he emphasizes that the quality of nutrients consumed plays a large role in healthy weight maintenance, fitness performance, and general good health.