TDEE Calculator
Estimate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) — the calories you burn in a typical day — and get calorie targets for maintaining, losing, or gaining weight. Built for healthy adults; everything runs locally in your browser.
Calculate your TDEE
This calculator is built for adults. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is validated for people age 18 and up. Energy needs for a growing child or teen depend on growth stage, not this formula — please ask a pediatrician or registered dietitian for appropriate guidance instead of a number from this page.
Based on the Mifflin-St Jeor equation × your activity multiplier (1.55, moderately active).
One or more targets below are under a commonly used safe minimum (about 1,200 kcal/day for women, 1,500 kcal/day for men). Very low calorie intakes can be unsafe without medical supervision. Consider a smaller deficit, or talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before going below that level.
Calorie targets
| Goal | Daily calories | Estimated weekly change |
|---|---|---|
| Maintain weight | 2,760 | — |
| Mild weight loss | 2,510 | ≈ −0.5 lb/week |
| Weight loss | 2,260 | ≈ −1 lb/week |
| Mild weight gain | 3,010 | ≈ +0.5 lb/week |
| Weight gain | 3,260 | ≈ +1 lb/week |
This tool gives a general estimate for healthy adults and is not medical advice. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a diagnosed medical condition, or have a history of disordered eating, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing your calorie intake.
How to use the TDEE calculator
- Choose US or metric units, then enter your sex, age, weight, and height.
- Pick the activity level that honestly matches your average week, not your best week.
- Optional: check the body fat box and enter a value for the Katch-McArdle alternative.
- Read your BMR and TDEE, then use the calorie-target table for your goal.
- Track weight and intake for 2–3 weeks and adjust as described below.
How the calculation works
TDEE combines two numbers: Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the energy your body uses at complete rest to breathe, circulate blood, and run your organs and brain, and an activity multiplier that accounts for daily movement and exercise on top of that.
This calculator estimates BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the formula most dietitians recommend today because it performs well in validation studies against measured energy expenditure:
Men: BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5
Women: BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age − 161
If you provide a body fat percentage, the calculator also shows the Katch-McArdle formula, based on lean body mass (LBM) instead of sex and age:
BMR = 370 + 21.6 × LBM(kg), where LBM = weight(kg) × (1 − body fat% ÷ 100)
TDEE is then BMR × activity multiplier (1.2 to 1.9, see the table below). The
calorie targets add or subtract 250 or 500 kcal/day from TDEE, using the common estimate that
a deficit or surplus of roughly 3,500 kcal ≈ 1 lb (about 7,700 kcal ≈ 1 kg) of body weight — a
rough rule, since some of that change is water and lean tissue, not only fat.
Assumptions and limits: the formula assumes a healthy adult body composition and a stable starting weight. It does not account for thyroid or other metabolic conditions, pregnancy, certain medications, or extreme muscle mass. US inputs are converted with 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg and 1 in = 2.54 cm before the formula runs.
Worked examples
Example 1 — Alex, 30, male, 80 kg, 180 cm, moderately active. BMR = 10×80 + 6.25×180 − 5×30 + 5 = 1,780 kcal/day. TDEE = 1,780 × 1.55 ≈ 2,759 kcal/day. A 500 kcal deficit gives a target of about 2,259 kcal/day, roughly 1 lb/week of loss. Entered in US units (176 lb, 5 ft 11 in), Alex's weight converts to 79.83 kg — just under an even 80 kg — so the result comes out essentially the same: BMR 1,780 kcal/day, TDEE 2,760 kcal/day.
Example 2 — Priya, 25, female, 60 kg, 165 cm, lightly active. BMR = 10×60 + 6.25×165 − 5×25 − 161 = 1,345.25 kcal/day. TDEE = 1,345.25 × 1.375 ≈ 1,850 kcal/day. A mild 250 kcal surplus gives a target of about 2,100 kcal/day, roughly 0.5 lb/week of gain.
Example 3 — Jordan, 45, female, 50 kg, 155 cm, sedentary. BMR = 10×50 + 6.25×155 − 5×45 − 161 = 1,082.75 kcal/day. TDEE = 1,082.75 × 1.2 ≈ 1,299 kcal/day. Even a mild 250 kcal deficit (about 1,049 kcal/day) falls below the 1,200 kcal safe-minimum guideline for women, so the calculator flags it and suggests a smaller deficit or professional guidance.
What TDEE is actually made of
TDEE has four parts. BMR (60–75% of most people's total) is energy at rest. TEF, the thermic effect of food, is spent digesting what you eat — roughly 8–15% of intake, higher for protein. NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) covers everyday movement like walking and fidgeting, and varies enormously between people. The fourth part is deliberate exercise. The activity multiplier bundles TEF, NEAT, and exercise into one factor, which is why choosing it honestly matters so much.
Choosing an honest activity level
Most people overestimate their activity level. "Moderately active" means structured exercise 3–5 days a week on top of a normal day — not a job that just keeps you on your feet, and not one hard gym session followed by four sedentary days. A desk job with workouts 2–3 times a week is usually closer to "lightly active." When in doubt, pick the lower level: it is easier to add calories back after a couple of weeks than to explain a stalled result caused by an inflated multiplier.
Why this number is an estimate, not a guarantee
Every BMR formula here is a statistical average from population studies. Even the best-performing equations are typically accurate to within about ±10% for most people, and can be further off at the edges of the studied population (very muscular, very lean, or older adults). Treat this TDEE as a starting point. Track your weight and food intake consistently for 2–3 weeks at your chosen target; if your weight moves faster or slower than the table predicts, adjust by roughly 100–200 kcal and reassess — your own tracked data beats any formula.
Comparing BMR formulas
| Formula | Inputs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mifflin-St Jeor (1990) | Sex, age, weight, height | Used by this calculator by default; widely cited as the most accurate general-purpose predictive equation in modern validation studies. |
| Harris-Benedict (1919, revised 1984) | Sex, age, weight, height | The original widely used formula. Validation studies often find it overestimates BMR compared with measured values and with Mifflin-St Jeor. |
| Katch-McArdle | Lean body mass (from body fat %) | Shown here when you enter a body fat percentage. Can be more precise for people who know their body composition, since it skips the sex-based average. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is the energy your body burns at complete rest. TDEE adds digestion, daily movement, and exercise on top of BMR — it is the realistic number of calories you burn in a full day.
Should I eat exactly my TDEE every day?
Eating at your TDEE is a reasonable target for maintaining your current weight. To lose or gain weight, most people use one of the offset targets in the table above, then check it against their own tracked progress after a few weeks.
Why does the calculator ask for my body fat percentage?
It is optional. If you provide it, the calculator also computes BMR with the Katch-McArdle formula, based on lean body mass rather than a sex-and-age average — often more precise for people who already know their body composition.
Why is my calculated calorie target flagged as too low?
The calculator flags any target under roughly 1,200 kcal/day (women) or 1,500 kcal/day (men). These are commonly cited safe-minimum guidelines, not hard limits — very low intakes should not be self-prescribed without medical supervision.
Is this calculator accurate for athletes or bodybuilders?
Formula-based estimates are less reliable for unusually high muscle mass, since the equations are built from average populations. If you know your body fat percentage, the Katch-McArdle option is usually a better fit than the default sex-based formula.