The total you should burn in a day is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE. TDEE is the number of calories your body uses across a full day from three parts:

1. Basal Metabolic Rate, which keeps you alive at rest
2. Non-exercise activity like standing, walking, chores
3. Exercise and intentional workouts

There is no single target that fits everyone. Your ideal total depends on your size, body composition, age, sex, and activity.

A quick way to estimate your TDEE

1. Estimate BMR with a modern formula such as Mifflin St Jeor.
   Men: BMR = 10×weight kg + 6.25×height cm − 5×age + 5
   Women: BMR = 10×weight kg + 6.25×height cm − 5×age − 161
2. Multiply by an activity factor that matches your lifestyle:
   Sedentary 1.2
   Lightly active 1.375
   Moderately active 1.55
   Very active 1.725
   Athlete level 1.9

The result is your daily total burn target for weight maintenance.

What if you want to lose or gain weight

Use TDEE as the baseline, then adjust intake or activity carefully.

• Slow fat loss: eat about 300 to 500 calories below TDEE, or cut roughly 10 to 15 percent.
• Slow gain: eat about 200 to 300 calories above TDEE, or add roughly 5 to 10 percent.
• Faster approaches raise the risk of muscle loss, fatigue, and rebound.

Where daily cardio fits

You do not need to burn a fixed amount with exercise every day. Cardio is one tool that contributes to your total. Many people find 200 to 600 exercise calories on training days sustainable, paired with strength work 2 to 4 times per week. Let steps and daily movement carry a big share, since they are easier to recover from.

Example

A 35-year-old, 80 kg, 178 cm, moderately active man:
BMR ≈ 10×80 + 6.25×178 − 5×35 + 5 = 1,754
TDEE ≈ 1,754 × 1.55 ≈ 2,720
Maintain near 2,700 to 2,750. For gentle loss, target about 2,250 to 2,400.

Practical tips

• Track trends, not single days. Weight can swing by 1 to 2 percent from water and glycogen.
• Keep protein high and lift weights to protect muscle.
• Let steps, posture changes, and light activity raise your total with less strain.
• Recalculate after 5 to 10 kg of body change or after major routine changes.

Bottom line

Your daily total burn is your TDEE, which you estimate from BMR times an activity factor. Maintain near that number to hold weight. Adjust by a small percentage for slow, sustainable change.