{"article":{"id":33132110153492,"url":"https://cronometer.zendesk.com/api/v2/help_center/en-us/articles/33132110153492.json","html_url":"https://support.cronometer.com/hc/en-us/articles/33132110153492-Mobile-Energy-Expenditure","author_id":16287192852884,"comments_disabled":false,"draft":false,"promoted":false,"position":16,"vote_sum":225,"vote_count":311,"section_id":360002520692,"created_at":"2024-12-17T18:40:05Z","updated_at":"2026-10-06T04:21:23Z","name":"Mobile - Energy Expenditure","title":"Mobile - Energy Expenditure","source_locale":"en-us","locale":"en-us","outdated":false,"outdated_locales":[],"edited_at":"2026-06-29T13:30:47Z","user_segment_id":null,"permission_group_id":123786,"content_tag_ids":[],"label_names":[],"body":"
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You can find your Energy Expenditure settings by going to the More tab > Targets > Energy Expenditure.

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These are the settings Cronometer uses to estimate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), in other words, the energy (calories/kilojoules) you burn in a day.

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Your TDEE is made up of:

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  1. \nBasal Metabolic Rate - energy burned at rest.
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  2. \nActivity Level - energy burned through activities of daily living and exercise.
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  3. \nTracker Activity - energy burned from activity (outside of logged workouts) imported from linked devices.
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  4. \nExercise - energy burned from workouts logged manually or imported from linked devices.
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  5. \nThermic Effect of Food - energy burned from digesting your food.
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At the beginning of the day, your Energy Expenditure will include your BMR and your Baseline Activity.
 

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

BMR is the amount of energy that a person needs to keep the body functioning when at rest. 

Cronometer calculates your BMR by using the Mifflin St. Jeor Equation, which is based on age, sex, height, and weight. If you select pregnant or breastfeeding in your profile, this will also affect your BMR. 

If you'd like to set a Custom BMR, select Custom from the drop-down menu > Enter a custom value in the box below.

This will be a fixed value, unlike using the Mifflin St. Jeor Equation which will fluctuate with changes in your age, sex, height, and weight.

 

Baseline Activity & Adjusted Baseline Activity

At the beginning of the day, your Energy Burned will include your BMR and your Baseline Activity. Your Baseline Activity is an estimate of the energy you burn throughout the day beyond your BMR. We recommend setting a baseline activity level that best describes your everyday life, and then logging exercise manually or syncing an activity tracker for the most accurate results.

If you are synced with a device that tracks general activity, the Tracker Activity from your device will gradually replace your Baseline Activity throughout the day (and will now appear as Adjusted Baseline Activity in your Energy Expenditure circle). Exercise (either logged or imported from a device) will also adjust your Baseline Activity based on the time spent exercising. This ensures you don’t double-count calories burned.

Learn more about how we adjust Baseline Activity here. 

 

Even if your tracker replaces your Baseline Activity, it’s still important to set one for two key reasons:

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  1. Better meal planning – At the start of the day, you’ll see your BMR plus your Baseline Activity, giving you a realistic idea of your total daily energy needs before your device has tracked any movement. If your baseline were set to 0, your Energy Expenditure would start much lower and only increase as your device logs activity, making it harder to plan meals in advance.

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  2. Credit for untracked time – If your activity tracker isn’t worn all day (e.g., you forget to put it on, it runs out of battery, or you remove it for certain activities), your Baseline Activity ensures you still receive credit for that time so your Energy Expenditure stays accurate.

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Consider the following descriptions when choosing the activity level that is right for you:

Sedentary (BMR x 0.2)

The Default Activity Setting. Little or no physical activity, typically a desk job or minimal movement throughout the day. 

Example: Office work, watching TV, and minimal walking.

Lightly Active (BMR x 0.375)

A job that involves some physical activity or light intensity exercise 1-3 days/week.

Example: Light walking, casual biking, or household chores.

Moderately Active (BMR x 0.5)

Jobs that keep you on your feet most of the day, or moderate intensity exercise 3-5 days/week.

Example: Gym sessions, running, or active jobs like retail.

Very Active (BMR x 0.9)

A very physical job, very hard exercise, or physical training. 

Example: Pro athletes, military training, or jobs with continuous high physical activity.

No Activity

Health professionals monitoring comatose patients should select this activity level.

Custom

Set your own fixed daily value for calories burned due to exercise.

 

Thermic Effect of Food

The thermic effect of food (TEF), also called diet-induced thermogenesis, is the rise in your metabolic rate after eating a meal. It takes energy to digest protein, carbs, fat and alcohol and this contributes a small amount to the total energy you burn in a day. 

By default, this option is toggled OFF. Toggle ON this option to include an estimate of the energy burned from digesting your food.

Learn about Energy Expenditure settings on the web

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