TDEE Calculator
Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure to know exactly how many calories you burn per day
Calorie Targets by Goal
How to use:
- • Enter your age, height, weight, and biological sex
- • Select your activity level honestly — most people overestimate their activity
- • Your TDEE is the number of calories you burn daily on average
- • Eat below TDEE to lose weight; above TDEE to gain; at TDEE to maintain
- • Use the goal table to find your target calories for weight change
What is TDEE and why does it matter?
Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the total number of calories your body burns in a typical 24-hour period. It is not just the calories burned at the gym — it encompasses everything: the energy your organs consume while you sleep, the heat your body generates to maintain temperature, the fuel needed to digest food, and all the movement you make throughout the day from formal exercise down to fidgeting at your desk.
TDEE is the single most important number for any weight-related goal. Eat consistently below your TDEE and your body is forced to draw on stored energy — body fat — to make up the shortfall, producing weight loss over time. Eat consistently above your TDEE and the surplus is stored, leading to weight gain. Eat at your TDEE and your weight stays roughly stable. No matter which eating strategy you follow — low-carb, intermittent fasting, high-protein — the underlying mechanism always comes back to the relationship between calories consumed and calories burned.
Because TDEE varies so much between individuals — two people of identical height and weight can have a TDEE that differs by 300–500 kcal per day due to muscle mass, genetics, and daily movement habits — calculating a personalised estimate is far more useful than relying on generic advice like "eat 2,000 calories a day."
How TDEE is calculated
TDEE is calculated in two steps: first estimate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), then multiply it by an activity factor.
Step 1 — BMR via the Mifflin-St Jeor equation
Published in 1990, the Mifflin-St Jeor equation is widely regarded as the most accurate general-purpose BMR formula for the majority of adults. It uses weight in kilograms (kg), height in centimetres (cm), and age in years (A):
Men: BMR = (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × A) + 5
Women: BMR = (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × A) − 161
The only difference between the two formulas is the final constant: +5 for men and −161 for women. This correction reflects the fact that women generally carry a higher percentage of body fat relative to lean mass, and fat tissue has a lower metabolic rate than muscle.
Step 2 — Multiply by the activity factor
BMR only accounts for calories burned at complete rest. The activity multiplier scales BMR up to reflect real daily life:
| Activity level | Multiplier | Typical profile |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | Desk job, little or no structured exercise |
| Lightly active | 1.375 | Light exercise 1–3 days per week |
| Moderately active | 1.55 | Moderate exercise 3–5 days per week |
| Very active | 1.725 | Hard exercise or sport 6–7 days per week |
| Extra active | 1.9 | Very hard daily exercise, physical job, or twice-daily training |
These results are estimates only. For guidance on major dietary changes, consult a registered dietitian or qualified healthcare professional.
Worked example: step-by-step calculation
Let us walk through a complete calculation for a real-world scenario:
Profile: 30-year-old woman, 70 kg, 165 cm, moderately active (gym 4× per week)
Step 1 — Calculate BMR
BMR = (10 × 70) + (6.25 × 165) − (5 × 30) − 161
BMR = 700 + 1,031.25 − 150 − 161
BMR ≈ 1,420 kcal/day
Step 2 — Apply the activity multiplier
TDEE = BMR × 1.55 (moderately active)
TDEE = 1,420 × 1.55
TDEE ≈ 2,201 kcal/day
This means she burns approximately 2,200 kcal per day. Eating around that number keeps her weight stable. A 300–400 kcal deficit (eating roughly 1,800–1,900 kcal/day) would produce gradual, sustainable fat loss of about 0.5–1 lb per week.
Using your TDEE to reach your goal
Once you have your TDEE, applying it is straightforward. The three main scenarios are maintenance, fat loss, and muscle gain.
Maintaining weight
Eat at your TDEE. In practice this means tracking intake loosely and adjusting if the scale trends up or down over two to three weeks. TDEE is an average — you will naturally eat more on some days and less on others, and that is fine as long as the weekly average aligns.
Losing body fat (calorie deficit)
A deficit of roughly 15–20% below TDEE is a well-tolerated starting point for most people. For example, if your TDEE is 2,400 kcal, a 15% deficit means eating around 2,040 kcal/day. This creates a moderate shortfall without triggering the strong hunger, fatigue, or muscle-loss risk that comes with aggressive cuts. Many people prefer a fixed 300–500 kcal deficit rather than a percentage — both approaches work. Use our calorie deficit calculator to dial in the exact number.
Building muscle (calorie surplus)
Muscle tissue can only be built when your body has extra energy available. A modest surplus of around 5–10% above TDEE — sometimes called a "lean bulk" — provides enough fuel for muscle protein synthesis while limiting unnecessary fat gain. Larger surpluses ("dirty bulking") result in faster weight gain but a higher proportion of that weight will be fat. Pair a surplus with progressive resistance training to direct those extra calories toward muscle rather than fat stores.
Regardless of your goal, treat your TDEE as a starting point rather than a fixed rule. Weigh yourself daily and take the 7-day average. If the trend over two weeks does not match your expectations, adjust intake by 100–150 kcal and observe again. Real-world results always trump a calculated number.
For a deeper breakdown of protein, carbohydrate, and fat targets within your calorie budget, check out the macro calculator. If you want to estimate how much body fat you currently carry, the body fat calculator can help you set a more precise lean-mass target.
Tips and common mistakes
- •Overestimating your activity level is the most common error. A person who goes to the gym three times a week but sits at a desk for nine hours a day is rarely "moderately active" in the way the formula intends. When in doubt, choose the category below what feels right and adjust upward based on results.
- •Not recalculating as your weight changes. Every 5–10 kg of weight lost meaningfully lowers your TDEE. A calorie target that produced steady loss at 100 kg may cause a plateau at 85 kg. Build in a recalculation every 4–6 weeks or whenever weight loss stalls for more than two weeks.
- •Reacting to single-day weigh-ins. Body weight can fluctuate 1–3 kg overnight from water retention, sodium, hormonal shifts, and bowel content. Judging progress by one morning's number leads to unnecessary panic or premature celebration. Use a 7-day rolling average to see the actual trend.
- •Ignoring liquid calories. Drinks — coffee with cream, juice, smoothies, alcohol — can add hundreds of calories without triggering the same satiety signals as solid food. They are easy to miss in a food log and can quietly eliminate an entire day's deficit.
- •Setting the deficit too aggressively. Cutting 1,000 kcal/day may seem like a faster path to the goal, but it typically leads to increased hunger, muscle loss, lower training performance, and eventual dietary fatigue. A sustainable deficit you can maintain for months beats an aggressive one you abandon after three weeks.
- •Treating TDEE as precise. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation has an error margin of roughly ±10–15% even under ideal conditions. Use your calculated TDEE as a hypothesis to test, not a fact to obey. Your real TDEE is whatever intake keeps your weight stable over a two-week observation period.
❓TDEE Calculator FAQ
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