Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total calories your body burns in a day including base metabolism (BMR), physical activity, and the thermic effect of food. Eating at TDEE maintains weight. Eating 500 below = ~1 lb/week weight loss. Eating 300-500 above = muscle building surplus.

For body composition goals (muscle building or preserving muscle during weight loss): 0.7-1g per pound of body weight (1.5-2.2g per kg). Higher end for people doing resistance training or cutting calories. This is significantly more than the basic RDA, which is set for minimum health, not performance.