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TDEE Calculator
Your TDEE — total daily energy expenditure — is the number every diet decision hangs on: the calories you actually burn in a normal day, activity included. This TDEE calculator estimates it in seconds and, unlike most, shows you exactly how it got there.
Your Facts
Fill in the form and press Calculate — your personal label prints here.
TDEE is the sum of four things: your basal metabolic rate (the energy of simply being alive), the thermic effect of food (digesting costs roughly 10% of what you eat), planned exercise, and all the incidental movement researchers call NEAT — walking to the bus, typing, fidgeting. Measuring each piece requires a metabolic lab; estimating them together requires only a validated equation and an honest activity level.
Eat at your TDEE and your weight holds steady. Eat under it and you lose; over it and you gain. That's why TDEE — not BMR — is the reference point for every calorie target, and why getting the activity multiplier right matters more than which equation you pick.
How the TDEE calculator works
First we compute your BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the formula rated most accurate for healthy adults in the American Dietetic Association's comparative review. If you know your body-fat percentage, the Katch-McArdle option computes from lean mass instead, which tracks better for very muscular or very lean people.
Then we multiply by an activity factor: 1.2 for sedentary, 1.375 for light activity, 1.55 for moderate, 1.725 for very active, and 1.9 for athletes with physical jobs or twice-daily training. The product is your TDEE. Every intermediate value appears in your results label, so you can audit the arithmetic yourself.
Choosing your activity level honestly
The activity multiplier is where TDEE calculators go wrong — not in the equation, but in the mirror. Studies of self-reported activity consistently find people overestimate. A desk worker who trains hard three evenings a week feels 'very active,' but arithmetically that's 'light' to 'moderate': roughly 45 hours of sitting still dominate three hours of exercise.
A practical rule: pick the level that describes your whole week, not your proudest day. If you're between two levels, pick the lower one and let two weeks of scale data settle the question. Underestimating costs you nothing but a slightly slower start; overestimating quietly erases your entire deficit.
- Sedentary (×1.2): desk job, under 5,000 steps, no regular training
- Light (×1.375): trains 1–3 days a week, or an on-your-feet job without training
- Moderate (×1.55): trains 3–5 days a week with intent
- Very active (×1.725): hard training 6–7 days a week
- Athlete (×1.9): physical labor plus training, or two sessions daily
What to do with your TDEE
Maintenance is your TDEE itself — the intake that keeps your weight stable while you focus on performance, health markers, or simply not thinking about food. To lose fat, subtract 250–500 kcal and hold it for at least two weeks before judging. To gain muscle, add 250–500 kcal alongside progressive training; more than that mostly adds fat.
Remember that TDEE is a moving target. It drops as you lose weight (a smaller body burns less), rises as you gain muscle, and shifts with training volume and daily movement. Recalculate after every 5 kg of change, or whenever your real-world results diverge from the math for more than two consistent weeks.
Frequently asked questions
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure — the total calories your body burns in 24 hours, combining your basal metabolic rate, the energy cost of digesting food, exercise, and all non-exercise movement. It's the maintenance intake your calorie targets are built from.
Effectively yes. Your TDEE is the number of calories that keeps your weight stable, which is exactly what 'maintenance calories' means. The terms are interchangeable; TDEE is just the more technical name for the same quantity.
Equation-based estimates land within about 10% of lab-measured values for most healthy adults, and the activity multiplier adds further uncertainty. Treat the result as a calibrated starting point: eat it consistently for two weeks, watch the scale trend, and adjust by 100–200 kcal as needed.
Only if your goal is fat loss. For weight loss, a deficit of 250–500 kcal below TDEE is sustainable for most people. For maintenance or muscle gain, eat at or slightly above TDEE. Consistently eating far below TDEE increases muscle loss, hunger, and rebound risk.