TDEE is an acronym for Total Daily Energy Expenditure which is the number of calories your body burns over a 24 hour period. Your TDEE is calculated based on your sex, height, weight and weekly physical exercise. Unless you are very active, it is recommended you select ‘sedentary’ as it is very easy to overestimate your level of activity and the parameters used on the calculator are very broad. Most women have an average TDEE of 1800 – 2000 calories or thereabouts (2400 for men). If you are older or on the shorter side, your TDEE may be a bit lower.

What is my TDEE?

You can calculate your own TDEE via an online TDEE calculator. Just remember to go back every couple of weeks when you have lost weight or cm’s and recalculate your TDEE, as it will change when you start losing weight.

Do I have to eat my TDEE?

No you do not have to eat all the way up to your TDEE. If you are happy eating 1600 calories then just eat that amount. There really is no need to count your calories if you are eating under your TDEE without even trying.

Should I count calories on my non-fasting days?

I found that at the start as I was unsure how many calories I was eating I was counting calories on my non-fast days just to see if I needed to watch what I eat on those days. It was also curiosity on my behalf as I had no idea if I was eating too much. I usually hate counting calories as the old-fashioned calorie restriction diets require you to count everyday and you always feel deprived and hungry.

I found though from counting on my non-fasting days without calorie restricting was not too bad at all. I realised that I was not actually over eating which was a nice surprise. But I was eating close to me TDEE on some days and other days I was well under. So I decided that after 2 weeks there was no need to worry about counting anymore on my non-fast days. And this also took the pressure off, which I just love.

What I use to count calories.

The best and easiest thing I have found is to use an app called My Fitness Pal. It is not always accurate as so it can be a good idea to check against other calorie counting products. I do however find that it is very helpful and quick to use as it had a barcode scanner and also a massive list of australian foods in the database for quick searching.

I also use this tool when creating my recipes for you, so I can put the complete recipe description up with a breakdown of the calories.