TDEE Calculator

Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the number of calories your body burns every day. It includes everything from breathing and digestion to walking, working out, and fidgeting at your desk.

Use the calculator above to get a personalized estimate of how many calories your body burns based on your age, height, weight, and activity level. Once you know your TDEE, you can set a calorie target for weight loss, muscle gain, or maintenance.

Total Daily Energy Expenditure: How Your TDEE Is Calculated

TDEE is calculated based on two main pieces: your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and an activity multiplier.

BMR is the amount of energy your body needs to maintain essential functions at rest. Think heartbeat, breathing, cell repair, and temperature regulation. It accounts for the largest share of your daily calorie burn, typically 60% to 70%.

The activity multiplier scales your BMR up to reflect the additional energy expenditure from daily activities and exercise. A sedentary office worker gets a small multiplier. A construction worker who also trains five days a week gets a much larger one. The TDEE calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for BMR, then applies one of five standard activity levels:

• Sedentary (little to no exercise): BMR × 1.2
• Lightly active (light exercise 1–3 days/week): BMR × 1.375
• Moderately active (moderate exercise 3–5 days/week): BMR × 1.55
• Very active (hard exercise 6–7 days/week): BMR × 1.725
• Extra active (very hard exercise plus a physical job): BMR × 1.9

The result is an estimate of how many calories you burn per day across all activities combined.

BMR and the Basal Metabolic Rate Equation

Your basal metabolic rate is the energy your body uses just to stay alive. If you spent the entire day lying still, BMR is roughly how many calories your body would need.

BMR depends primarily on your current weight, height, age, and sex. Larger bodies burn more energy at rest. Younger people generally have a higher BMR because of greater lean body mass. Men typically have a higher BMR than women of similar size, largely because of differences in muscle mass.

The Mifflin St Jeor Equation vs the Harris Benedict Formula

Two equations dominate TDEE calculators online. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in 1990, is the one most dietitians and researchers now recommend for the general population. The Harris-Benedict formula is older (1919, revised in 1984) and tends to slightly overestimate calorie needs in some groups.

Here are the Mifflin-St Jeor equations:

• Men: BMR = (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age in years) + 5
• Women: BMR = (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age in years) − 161

This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation because research shows it produces a more accurate estimate of how many calories your body burns at rest compared to the Harris-Benedict formula. Neither equation is perfect, but Mifflin-St Jeor gets closer for most people.

Thermic Effect of Food and Physical Activity in the Calculation

Your TDEE is really the sum of several energy costs, not just BMR and exercise.

• BMR: 60–70% of total energy expenditure.
• Thermic effect of food (TEF): The energy needed to digest, absorb, and process the food you eat. TEF accounts for roughly 10% of your daily calories. Protein has the highest thermic effect (20–30% of its calories), while fat has the lowest (0–3%).
• Physical activity: Planned exercise plus everyday movement. This is the most variable component.
• Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): Energy burned through fidgeting, walking to the mailbox, standing, and other movement that is not formal exercise. NEAT can vary by hundreds of calories per day between individuals.

The activity multiplier baked into the TDEE calculation is a simplified way to capture TEF, exercise, and NEAT together. It is not itemized, but it accounts for all of them.

Use Your TDEE to Maintain Weight

To maintain your current weight, eat roughly the same number of calories your body burns. That number is your TDEE.

If your TDEE estimate comes out to 2,400 calories per day, eating around 2,400 calories should keep your weight stable over time. Small day-to-day fluctuations are normal. What matters is the weekly average.

How do you know if the estimate is right for you? Track your weight and calorie intake for two to three weeks. If your weight stays steady, you have found your maintenance level. If you are slowly gaining, your true TDEE is a bit lower than the estimate (or your calorie tracking needs tightening). If you are losing, it is a bit higher.

Calorie Deficit Calculator for Weight Loss Goals

A calorie deficit means eating fewer calories than your TDEE. This forces your body to tap stored energy (mostly body fat) to make up the difference.

A common starting point is a deficit of 500 calories per day, which works out to roughly one pound of fat loss per week. A 250-calorie deficit is more conservative and easier to stick with. Going much beyond a 750-calorie daily deficit can be hard to sustain and may cost you muscle along with fat.

Use your TDEE from the calculator, then subtract your chosen deficit to find your daily calorie target:

These numbers are starting points. Adjust based on real-world results every two to four weeks.

How Many Calories You Burn vs How Many You Eat

Weight change comes down to the balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. When you eat fewer calories than your body burns, you lose weight. When you eat more, you gain weight.

This sounds simple, but both sides of the equation are estimates. Calorie counts on food labels can be off by 10–20%. TDEE calculators estimate within a similar range. That is why tracking your actual weight trend over time is more reliable than trusting any single number.

A few practical tips for managing your calorie deficit:

• Prioritize protein. It helps preserve lean body mass during weight loss and has the highest thermic effect, so your body burns more calories digesting it.
• Weigh yourself at the same time each day (morning, after waking) and average it weekly. Daily weight can swing 2–4 pounds from water alone.
• If you are trying to lose weight and the scale is not moving after two weeks, reduce intake by another 100–200 calories per day or increase your activity.

Is a 1,000-calorie daily deficit safe? For most people, that level is aggressive and hard to maintain without losing muscle or feeling terrible. Talk to a healthcare provider before attempting very large deficits, especially if you have any medical conditions.

Calorie Surplus: How to Gain Weight Using Your TDEE

To gain weight, eat more calories than your TDEE. If your goal is muscle gain rather than fat gain, the size and composition of the surplus matter.

A moderate calorie surplus of 250–500 calories per day supports muscle growth when paired with resistance training. Larger surpluses speed up weight gain but increase the proportion that comes from fat.

Here is a simple approach:

1. Calculate your TDEE with the tool above.
2. Add 250–500 calories to find your daily calorie target.
3. Eat roughly 0.7–1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day to support muscle gain.
4. Follow a structured strength training program.
5. Track your weight weekly. Aim for roughly 0.5–1 pound gained per week. If you are gaining faster, some of the extra is likely fat.

Beginners can build muscle more quickly than experienced lifters. If you are beginning to gain muscle, a moderate surplus combined with progressive resistance training is the most efficient path.

Increase Your TDEE With Exercise and Activity Level

Your TDEE is not a fixed number. You can burn more calories by increasing your physical activity, both structured exercise and everyday movement.

Ways to increase your TDEE:

• Add formal exercise. Strength training, running, cycling, swimming, and group fitness classes all raise your daily calorie burn.
• Walk more. Walking is the most underrated way to boost NEAT. Even 2,000–3,000 extra steps per day can add 100–150 calories of expenditure.
• Stand instead of sitting when possible. Standing burns modestly more energy than sitting, and it adds up over a full workday.
• Take active breaks. A five-minute walk every hour during sedentary work contributes to your daily total.

Can you increase your TDEE for weight loss? Absolutely. If you raise your activity level, your TDEE goes up, which makes it easier to maintain a calorie deficit without eating very little. Many people find it more sustainable to burn an extra 200 calories through movement than to cut 200 more calories from their plate.

When you update your activity level in the calculator, you will see how much your estimated TDEE changes. Even moving from sedentary to lightly active can shift your daily burn by several hundred calories.

Calculating Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure With Body Fat

Standard TDEE formulas use height, weight, age, and sex. They do not directly account for body composition. Two people who weigh the same can have very different TDEEs if one carries significantly more lean body mass.

If you know your body fat percentage, a body-composition-aware formula like the Katch-McArdle equation can give a more accurate estimate. It calculates BMR based on lean body mass alone:

Katch-McArdle BMR = 370 + (21.6 × lean body mass in kg)

Lean body mass = weight in kg × (1 − body fat percentage as a decimal)

For example, a 180-pound (81.6 kg) person at 20% body fat has a lean body mass of about 65.3 kg, giving a BMR of roughly 1,780 calories.

Not sure what your body fat percentage is? Common methods include:

• Skinfold calipers: Inexpensive and widely available. Accuracy depends on the person taking the measurement.
• DEXA scan: Considered the gold standard for body composition. Available at medical and fitness facilities.
• Bioelectrical impedance scales: Convenient but less reliable. Hydration levels affect the reading significantly.
• Visual estimation charts: A rough starting point. Look up reference photos online to approximate your range.

If you do not know your body fat percentage, the Mifflin-St Jeor equation in the calculator still provides a solid estimate for most people.

TDEE Calculator Estimates, Not Exact Calorie Counts

Every TDEE calculator, including this one, produces an estimate. It is a starting point, not a precise measurement.

Here is why:

• The equations were built from population averages. Your metabolism may sit above or below the average for your age, sex, and size.
• Activity multipliers are broad categories. "Moderately active" covers a wide range of real-world movement patterns.
• Calorie counts on food labels are approximations. The actual energy you absorb from a meal depends on cooking methods, gut microbiome, fiber content, and other factors.

Use your TDEE estimate as a baseline. Then let real-world data (your weight trend, energy levels, and how your clothes fit) guide adjustments over the following weeks. Small corrections of 100–200 calories at a time are more sustainable than large swings.

This calculator is a free planning tool. It does not replace guidance from a registered dietitian, physician, or other qualified professional, especially if you have a medical condition, a history of disordered eating, or specific clinical nutrition needs.