TDEE Calculator
Discover how many calories you burn per day — and what to eat to lose, maintain, or gain weight.
Calculate your calorie needs
What Is TDEE?
TDEE — Total Daily Energy Expenditure — is the total number of calories your body burns in 24 hours. It has four components:
- BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), ~60–70%: the energy to keep you alive at rest — breathing, circulation, brain function, body heat.
- NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), ~15–25%: everything else you do — walking, fidgeting, typing, chores. This varies enormously between people and is the most underrated lever in weight management.
- Exercise (EAT), ~5–10%: deliberate workouts. Smaller than most people expect — you can't easily out-train your diet.
- TEF (Thermic Effect of Food), ~10%: the energy cost of digesting what you eat. Protein costs the most to digest (~20–30% of its calories).
Eat at your TDEE and your weight stays roughly stable. Eat below it and you lose weight; eat above it and you gain. Every serious diet or bulking plan starts with this one number.
How TDEE Is Calculated (Mifflin-St Jeor Explained)
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990), validated against indirect calorimetry and still considered the most accurate widely-available formula for BMR in healthy adults:
BMR is then multiplied by an activity factor to get TDEE:
| Activity level | Multiplier | Typical week |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | Desk job, little or no exercise |
| Lightly active | 1.375 | Light exercise 1–3 days/week |
| Moderately active | 1.55 | Moderate exercise 3–5 days/week |
| Very active | 1.725 | Hard exercise 6–7 days/week |
| Extremely active | 1.9 | Athlete or heavy physical job |
Be honest about activity: most people overestimate. If you sit most of the day and lift three times a week, "moderately active" is the right pick — "very active" is for people training hard almost daily.
Worked Example: 30-Year-Old Active Male
Profile: male, 30 years, 180 cm, 80 kg, moderately active
Step 1 — BMR: 10 × 80 + 6.25 × 180 − 5 × 30 + 5 = 800 + 1,125 − 150 + 5 = 1,780 kcal/day. That's what his body burns lying still all day.
Step 2 — TDEE: 1,780 × 1.55 (moderately active) = 2,759 kcal/day to maintain weight.
Step 3 — Targets: for fat loss at ~0.5 kg/week → 2,759 − 500 = 2,259 kcal/day. For lean muscle gain → 2,759 + 250 = 3,009 kcal/day with progressive strength training and ~1.6–2.2 g protein per kg of body weight.
TDEE for Weight Loss vs Muscle Gain
Losing fat
A deficit of ~500 kcal/day yields roughly 0.5 kg (1 lb) of fat loss per week — the sweet spot where most people lose primarily fat, not muscle. Bigger deficits (750–1,000) work faster but raise the risk of muscle loss, hormonal disruption, and rebound bingeing. Keep protein high (1.6–2.2 g/kg), keep lifting, and expect the scale to stall for 1–2 weeks at a time — water retention masks fat loss routinely.
Gaining muscle
A small surplus of ~250 kcal/day with progressive resistance training builds muscle with minimal fat gain. Larger "dirty bulk" surpluses mostly add fat you'll diet off later. Beginners can gain 1–1.5% of body weight per month as muscle; advanced lifters, far less. If strength stalls for 3+ weeks, add ~150 kcal.
Maintaining
Eat at TDEE, train consistently, and let body recomposition do its slow work — especially effective for beginners returning to training.
Limitations of TDEE Estimates
An honest calculator admits what it can't know:
- Body composition matters. Mifflin-St Jeor uses total weight, but muscle burns far more than fat at rest. Two 80 kg people — one lean, one not — can differ by 200+ kcal/day. Very muscular or very obese individuals should treat the result as a rough starting point.
- NEAT is invisible. Fidgeters and pacers can burn 300–800 kcal/day more than sitters with identical workouts. No questionnaire captures this well.
- Metabolic adaptation is real. In a prolonged deficit, the body downregulates NEAT and BMR slightly — the "whoosh" of a diet stall. Recalculate every 2–3 kg lost.
- Medical conditions and medications (thyroid disorders, some antidepressants, etc.) can shift expenditure significantly — another reason this tool informs but never diagnoses.
The practical method coaches use: take the calculator's number, eat at it consistently for 2–3 weeks while tracking weight, then adjust based on the trend. The scale — averaged weekly — is the final arbiter, not the formula.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is TDEE?
TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including your basal metabolic rate plus all activity, exercise, and digestion. Eat at your TDEE to maintain weight.
How accurate are TDEE calculators?
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation predicts resting metabolism within about 10% for most people, but real-world TDEE varies with muscle mass, NEAT (daily movement), and genetics. Treat the result as a starting point and adjust based on 2–3 weeks of real data.
What's the difference between TDEE and BMR?
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is what you burn at complete rest just staying alive. TDEE is BMR multiplied by an activity factor — it is always higher, and it is the number that matters for diet planning.
Should I eat below my TDEE to lose weight?
Yes — a moderate deficit of about 500 kcal/day typically leads to roughly 0.5 kg (1 lb) of fat loss per week. Larger deficits can cost you muscle and energy; consistency beats severity.
How often should I recalculate TDEE?
Recalculate whenever your weight changes by more than 2–3 kg, or every 2–3 months, since a lighter body burns fewer calories. Also reassess if your activity level changes significantly.