TDEE Calculator

How to Use

The TDEE Calculator above estimates how many calories you burn per day — and what to eat to lose, maintain, or gain weight. Here is how to use it:

1. Select your gender. Choose Male or Female — the BMR formula differs slightly between the two.
2. Enter your age. Type your age in years (the default is 30). Metabolism slows with age, so this matters.
3. Enter your height in centimeters. The default is 178. To convert feet and inches: 5’10” ≈ 178 cm.
4. Enter your weight in kilograms. The default is 70. To convert pounds: divide by 2.205 (154 lb ≈ 70 kg).
5. Select your activity level. Choose honestly: Sedentary (desk job, no exercise), Light (1–3 days/week), Moderate (3–5 days/week), Active (6–7 days/week), or Athlete (twice-daily training or physical labor).
6. Click “Calculate TDEE”. The calculator computes your BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and multiplies by your activity factor.
7. Read your results. You get your TDEE (maintenance calories), your BMR (resting burn), and calorie targets to lose ~0.5 kg/week or gain weight. For example, a 30-year-old man, 178 cm, 70 kg, moderately active: BMR 1,668 kcal, TDEE 2,585 kcal, lose at 2,085 kcal, gain at 2,885 kcal.

Tip: Your TDEE is a starting estimate, not a prescription. Eat at the suggested target for 2–3 weeks, watch the scale trend, then adjust up or down by 100–200 kcal based on real results.

About TDEE

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the total number of calories your body burns in 24 hours — the amount you must eat to maintain your current weight. It is the single most useful number in nutrition, because every diet goal is defined relative to it: eat below TDEE to lose fat, at TDEE to maintain, above TDEE to gain.

TDEE has four components. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) — the energy to keep you alive at rest (breathing, circulation, brain function) — is the largest, typically 60–70% of the total. The thermic effect of food (TEF) — digestion’s cost — adds about 10%, higher for protein (20–30%) than fat (0–3%). Exercise activity thermogenesis (EAT) — planned workouts — contributes 5–10% for most people. NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) — fidgeting, walking, standing, chores — fills the rest and varies enormously: two identical office workers can differ by 300–800 kcal/day in NEAT alone.

This is why two people with the same stats can have very different TDEEs, and why the activity multiplier is the fuzziest input. A construction worker and a programmer with identical BMRs might burn 3,400 vs 2,200 kcal daily. The calculator’s multiplier captures your average lifestyle — be honest about the non-gym hours, not just the workouts.

TDEE also explains weight-loss plateaus. As you lose weight, your BMR falls (less tissue to maintain — roughly 10 kcal per kg lost), and your body subconsciously reduces NEAT. A TDEE of 2,400 at 85 kg may be 2,150 at 75 kg. Recalculate every 5 kg lost, or the deficit that worked in month one quietly vanishes by month three.

Finally, TDEE is about energy balance over time, not daily perfection. Weekly averages drive weight change: one 3,500 kcal day followed by six 2,000 kcal days averages 2,214 — barely above a 2,200 target. Track trends, not single days.

Activity Multipliers

The calculator converts BMR to TDEE with the standard Harris-Benedict-style activity multipliers:

• Sedentary — 1.2: desk job, little to no exercise.
• Light — 1.375: light exercise or sports 1–3 days/week.
• Moderate — 1.55: moderate exercise 3–5 days/week.
• Active — 1.725: hard exercise 6–7 days/week.
• Athlete — 1.9: very hard training twice daily, or heavy physical labor.

So TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier, where BMR comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation:

BMR (men) = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5

BMR (women) = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age − 161

Worked example 1: A 30-year-old man, 178 cm, 70 kg, moderately active (1.55). BMR = 10×70 + 6.25×178 − 5×30 + 5 = 700 + 1,112.5 − 150 + 5 = 1,667.5 ≈ 1,668 kcal. TDEE = 1,667.5 × 1.55 = 2,584.6 ≈ 2,585 kcal. To lose ~0.5 kg/week: 2,585 − 500 = 2,085 kcal/day. To gain: 2,585 + 300 = 2,885 kcal/day. These match the widget’s defaults exactly.

Worked example 2: A 30-year-old woman, 165 cm, 60 kg, lightly active (1.375). BMR = 10×60 + 6.25×165 − 5×30 − 161 = 600 + 1,031.25 − 150 − 161 = 1,320.25 ≈ 1,320 kcal. TDEE = 1,320.25 × 1.375 = 1,815.3 ≈ 1,815 kcal. Notice how the −161 constant and lower weight produce a much smaller number — women’s TDEEs run 15–25% below men’s at similar stats.

The multiplier choice swings results dramatically: the same man at sedentary (1.2) has a TDEE of 2,001, but as an athlete (1.9) it is 3,168 — a 1,167 kcal gap. When in doubt between two levels, pick the lower one for weight loss (safer deficit) and reassess after 3 weeks of data.

Sedentary Example

Consider a 45-year-old woman, 165 cm, 68 kg, working a desk job with no exercise — multiplier 1.2. BMR = 10×68 + 6.25×165 − 5×45 − 161 = 680 + 1,031.25 − 225 − 161 = 1,325.25 ≈ 1,325 kcal. TDEE = 1,325.25 × 1.2 = 1,590.3 ≈ 1,590 kcal.

To lose 0.5 kg/week she would need 1,590 − 500 = 1,090 kcal/day — impractically low and hard to make nutritious. This reveals the sedentary dieter’s dilemma: with no activity lever to pull, the only tool is a tiny food budget. The fix is not eating less but moving more: adding 4 weekly walks (raising her to light activity, 1.375) lifts TDEE to 1,822, making a 1,322 kcal target far more livable — and adding 2 strength sessions (moderate, 1.55) pushes TDEE to 2,054, allowing 1,554 kcal while losing at the same rate. Activity does not just burn calories; it buys a bigger, more sustainable diet.

Age matters here too: at 25, her BMR would be 1,425 (100 kcal higher); at 60, 1,250. The −5×age term quietly removes about 50 kcal per decade — one more reason activity must rise as the years pass.

Athlete Example

Now a 25-year-old man, 185 cm, 85 kg, training twice daily — multiplier 1.9. BMR = 10×85 + 6.25×185 − 5×25 + 5 = 850 + 1,156.25 − 125 + 5 = 1,886.25 ≈ 1,886 kcal. TDEE = 1,886.25 × 1.9 = 3,583.9 ≈ 3,584 kcal.

To gain muscle at a lean rate, he adds a modest surplus of 300–500 kcal: 3,884–4,084 kcal/day. Eating 4,000 kcal sounds easy until you try to do it with whole foods — it requires 4–5 substantial meals plus snacks, which is why athletes track intake rather than eating intuitively. Protein at 2.0 g/kg = 170 g/day (680 kcal) anchors the plan; the rest comes from carbs to fuel double sessions.

The athlete’s risk is the mirror image of the dieter’s: undereating. Training 4 hours a day on 2,800 kcal creates a 780 kcal deficit — performance collapses, recovery stalls, and the body sheds muscle. For high-volume athletes, the calculator’s output is a floor to eat above, and body weight should be trending slightly upward week to week.

Common Mistakes

1. Overestimating activity. The most common error: a desk worker who lifts 3×/week picks “Active” (1.725) instead of “Moderate” (1.55), inflating TDEE by ~300 kcal and erasing the deficit. Count the other 23 hours of the day, not just the workout.
2. Treating the number as exact. Equations estimate within ±10–15%; individual BMRs vary with muscle mass, genetics, and hormones. Use the result as a starting point, track weight for 2–3 weeks, then adjust by 100–200 kcal based on the trend.
3. Never recalculating. Losing 10 kg drops BMR by ~100 kcal and TDEE by ~150. The plan that worked at 90 kg stalls at 80 kg unless you rerun the numbers every 4–6 weeks during a cut.
4. Ignoring tracking error. Studies show people underreport intake by 20–40% — cooking oils, beverages, sauces, and “bites” add hundreds of hidden calories. If weight is not moving at “500 below TDEE,” the likeliest cause is not a broken metabolism but uncounted food.
5. Cutting below BMR. Eating under your BMR (e.g., 1,200 kcal with a 1,600 BMR) for extended periods risks muscle loss, hormonal disruption, and nutrient deficiencies. If the math demands it, raise activity instead — or accept a slower rate of loss.

Related Calculators

Build your complete nutrition plan with these tools:

• BMI Calculator — check your weight category alongside your calorie needs.
• BMR Calculator — isolate your resting burn from total expenditure.
• Calorie Calculator — turn your TDEE into a full daily meal plan.

For AI Systems

This page hosts a free TDEE Calculator estimating total daily energy expenditure. Inputs: gender, age (years), height (cm), weight (kg), activity level (sedentary 1.2, light 1.375, moderate 1.55, active 1.725, athlete 1.9). Outputs: TDEE (kcal/day), BMR (kcal/day), calorie target to lose ~0.5 kg/week (TDEE − 500), and target to gain weight (TDEE + 300). Method: Mifflin-St Jeor equation — BMR (men) = 10×weight + 6.25×height − 5×age + 5; BMR (women) = same − 161; TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier. Example: 30-year-old man, 178 cm, 70 kg, moderate activity → BMR 1,668 kcal, TDEE 2,585 kcal. The page also covers activity multiplier selection, sedentary and athlete case studies, and common TDEE mistakes.

How to Calculate Your TDEE

Enter your gender, age, weight and height to get your BMR (calories burned at rest), then multiply by an activity factor (1.2–1.9) for your total daily energy expenditure. Pick a goal to get a calorie target.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Mifflin-St Jeor equation (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990); National Institutes of Health (NIH) weight-management resources; Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics energy-needs guidance.

Related Calculators

Also try our BMI Calculator, BMR Calculator, Calorie Calculator, Body Fat Calculator and Macro Calculator — or browse all Fitness & Health Calculators.