How is TDEE calculated?

TDEE is your BMR (the calories you burn at complete rest) multiplied by an activity factor that reflects how active you are — from 1.2 for a sedentary lifestyle up to 1.9 for very heavy daily training. This calculator finds your BMR with the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, then multiplies by the factor for your activity level.

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the energy your body needs just to stay alive at rest — breathing, circulation, cell repair. TDEE is BMR plus everything else you do: walking, working, exercising, and digesting food. TDEE is always higher than BMR, typically 20% to 90% higher depending on how active you are.

How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

To lose weight, eat below your TDEE. A deficit of about 500 kcal a day loses roughly 0.5 kg (1 lb) per week, since 1 kg of fat holds about 7,700 kcal. The calculator's goal table shows the exact daily targets for losing 0.25, 0.5, or 1 kg per week, floored at a safe minimum.

How accurate is a TDEE calculator?

A TDEE estimate from an equation is usually within about 10% of your true expenditure, which is good enough to start. Real metabolism varies with genetics, muscle mass, and adaptation. Treat the number as a starting point: track your weight over two to three weeks and adjust calories up or down based on what actually happens on the scale.

Which activity level should I pick?

Pick the level that matches a typical week, not your best week. Most people with desk jobs who train a few times a week are 'lightly' or 'moderately active', not 'very active'. Over-rating activity is the most common reason a TDEE estimate comes out too high and weight loss stalls.

Should I include my workouts in TDEE?

Yes — the activity factor already bakes your typical exercise into the TDEE figure, so you do not add workout calories on top. If you train far more in some weeks than others, choose a factor for your average week rather than logging each session separately.

How often should I recalculate my TDEE?

Recalculate whenever your weight changes by more than a few kilograms or your activity level shifts. TDEE falls as you lose weight, because a lighter body burns fewer calories, so a deficit that worked at the start will slow down later unless you update the number.

Health

TDEE Calculator

Find your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the calories you burn each day — from your sex, age, weight, height, and activity level. See your BMR and a full table of daily targets to lose, maintain, or gain weight, updating as you type.

Your details

We use the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, the modern standard.

Sex

Age

Weight

Height

Activity level

Total daily energy expenditure

2,760kcal/day

Resting (BMR) 1,780 × 1.55 (moderately active)

Daily calories by goal

Lose 1 kg / 2 lb per week−1,0001,760

Lose 0.5 kg / 1 lb per week−5002,260

Lose 0.25 kg / 0.5 lb per week−2502,510

Maintain weight±02,760

Gain 0.25 kg / 0.5 lb per week+2503,010

Gain 0.5 kg / 1 lb per week+5003,260

Deficits floored at 1,500 kcal — the common safe minimum for men.

Try an example

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The basics

What TDEE is

Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the total calories your body burns in 24 hours. Eat that many and your weight holds steady; eat fewer and you lose, more and you gain. It starts from your resting metabolism and scales up for everything you do. This is the hub of the cluster — once you have your TDEE you can set macros and a protein target around it.

BMR = resting burn

BMR is the floor

Your Basal Metabolic Rate is the energy you would burn lying still all day — the cost of simply being alive. It is the largest slice of the total for most people.

TDEE = BMR × activity

TDEE adds your life on top

Movement, work, exercise, and even digesting food all burn extra energy. An activity factor rolls those into a single multiplier on top of resting burn to give the daily total.

Method

How TDEE is worked out

Four steps — the calculator does them live, but here is the logic.

1
Compute BMR
Plug sex, weight, height, and age into the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, the modern standard for resting metabolism.
10·kg + 6.25·cm − 5·age (+5 men / −161 women)
2
Pick an activity factor
Choose the multiplier that matches your typical week, from sedentary (1.2) to extra active (1.9).
sedentary 1.2 → extra active 1.9
3
Multiply to get TDEE
Scale BMR by the activity factor. That product is your maintenance calories — what holds your weight.
TDEE = BMR × activity factor
4
Adjust for your goal
Subtract calories to lose weight or add them to gain. About 7,700 kcal moves one kilogram.
target = TDEE ± deficit/surplus

Reference

The activity multipliers

The standard Mifflin/Katch factors the calculator uses. Pick for your average week — most desk-job exercisers sit at lightly or moderately active, not very active.

×1.2SedentaryLittle or no exercise, desk job

×1.375Lightly activeLight exercise 1–3 days/week

×1.55Moderately activeModerate exercise 3–5 days/week

×1.725Very activeHard exercise 6–7 days/week

×1.9Extra activeHard daily exercise + physical job

Worked examples

See it across activity levels

Three sample people, each shown at every activity level. Same body, same BMR — only the factor changes, and it swings the daily total by hundreds of calories.

Given 30-year-old woman · 65 kg · 165 cm

BMR = 1,370 kcal/day at rest

Then BMR × the activity factor gives TDEE for each lifestyle:

SedentaryLittle or no exercise, desk job×1.21,640

Lightly activeLight exercise 1–3 days/week×1.3751,880

Moderately activeModerate exercise 3–5 days/week×1.552,120

Very activeHard exercise 6–7 days/week×1.7252,360

Extra activeHard daily exercise + physical job×1.92,600

Same body, same BMR — only the activity factor changes, and it swings the daily total by hundreds of calories. That is why honest activity selection matters more than the exact equation.

Calorie goals

Deficits, surpluses & the 7700 rule

Your TDEE is the pivot. Eat below it to lose, above it to gain — the size of the gap sets the pace.

eat below TDEE

Calorie deficit

A daily shortfall forces the body to burn stored energy. Around five hundred calories under maintenance is the classic, sustainable rate.

eat above TDEE

Calorie surplus

A modest surplus fuels muscle and weight gain. A small one — a couple hundred over — limits fat gain while you build.

≈7700 kcal / kg

The conversion rule

About seven thousand seven hundred calories equals one kilogram of body fat, so a 500-a-day gap is roughly half a kilo a week.

The calculator's goal table applies this for you and floors aggressive deficits at a safe minimum. To turn a calorie target into meals, send it to the macro calculator, and check what your sessions add back with the calories-burned calculator.

Where it shows up

Cutting, bulking & maintenance

Every diet and training plan is really a decision about where to sit relative to your TDEE.

below TDEE

Cutting (fat loss)

A controlled deficit strips fat while protein and training protect muscle. TDEE sets the ceiling you eat under.

at TDEE

Maintenance

Eating at TDEE holds your weight — useful between phases, for a diet break, or once you have reached your target.

above TDEE

Bulking (muscle gain)

A measured surplus supplies the raw material to build. Knowing TDEE keeps the surplus small enough to stay lean.

Worth knowing

Pitfalls & caveats

A TDEE number is a model, not a measurement. Four things keep it honest.

estimate, not gospel

It is an estimate

Equations predict an average body. Yours may burn more or less, so let the scale over a few weeks correct the number, not the formula alone.

usually within ±10%

lighter = lower

Recalculate as you change

A smaller body burns fewer calories, so a deficit that worked at the start slows down. Update your stats whenever the scale moves meaningfully.

lose weight → TDEE falls

the body adapts

Adaptive thermogenesis

Prolonged dieting nudges metabolism down beyond what weight loss alone predicts. Diet breaks at maintenance help reset it.

long diets blunt the deficit

floor your intake

Don't eat below BMR

Dropping under your resting burn for long risks muscle loss and nutrient gaps. Keep deficits moderate and intake above a safe minimum.

floors: 1500 men / 1200 women

Quick chart

TDEE by weight and activity

Maintenance calories for a reference profile across body weights and every activity level. Set the profile, then read your row — eat below a column to lose, above to gain.

Profile

AgeHeight (cm)

Weight	Sedentary×1.2	Lightly×1.375	Moderately×1.55	Very×1.725	Extra×1.9
50 kg110 lb	1,740	1,990	2,250	2,500	2,750
55 kg121 lb	1,800	2,060	2,320	2,590	2,850
60 kg132 lb	1,860	2,130	2,400	2,670	2,940
65 kg143 lb	1,920	2,200	2,480	2,760	3,040
70 kg154 lb	1,980	2,270	2,560	2,840	3,130
75 kg165 lb	2,040	2,340	2,630	2,930	3,230
80 kg176 lb	2,100	2,400	2,710	3,020	3,320
85 kg187 lb	2,160	2,470	2,790	3,100	3,420
90 kg198 lb	2,220	2,540	2,870	3,190	3,510
95 kg209 lb	2,280	2,610	2,940	3,280	3,610
100 kg220 lb	2,340	2,680	3,020	3,360	3,700
110 kg243 lb	2,460	2,820	3,180	3,530	3,890

Maintenance calories (TDEE) in kcal/day. Eat below a column to lose weight, above it to gain.

FAQ

Common questions

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including resting metabolism, digestion, and all movement and exercise. It is the number of calories you would eat to maintain your current weight.

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