What is TDEE?
Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the number of calories you burn in a whole day: your basal metabolic rate plus everything you do on top. Eat about your TDEE and your weight stays steady; eat less and you lose weight, eat more and you gain.
This calculator estimates your BMR with the Mifflin–St Jeor formula, multiplies it by one of five standard activity factors, from 1.2 for sedentary to 1.9 for extremely active, and lists daily calorie targets for losing or gaining 0.25 or 0.5 kg a week, or maintaining.
How to use the TDEE Calculator
1.Enter your details
Sex, age, height and weight.
2.Choose your activity
From sedentary desk work to hard daily training. Be honest; most people overestimate it.
3.Use the targets
Your maintenance calories, plus daily targets for gentle weight loss or gain.
Example: moderately active, 70 kg man
Age 30, 170 cm, exercises 3–5 days a week:
- BMR (Mifflin–St Jeor)
- 1,618 kcal
- Activity factor
- × 1.55
- TDEE (maintenance)
- 2,507 kcal
- Lose about 0.5 kg a week
- 2,007 kcal
- Gain about 0.25 kg a week
- 2,757 kcal
TDEE = BMR × activity factor
Eating around 2,000 kcal a day would take this person from 70 to about 66 kg in two months.
Turning TDEE into a plan
A kilogram of body fat stores roughly 7,700 kcal, so eating 500 kcal less than your TDEE each day adds up to about half a kilogram a week, a pace most guidelines consider safe and sustainable. Bigger cuts tend to cost muscle and are hard to stick to.
Treat the number as a starting estimate. Weigh yourself at the same time a few days a week, and if your weight hasn't moved as expected after three or four weeks, adjust by 100–200 kcal.
Frequently asked questions
What does TDEE include?
Your resting burn (BMR), the energy to digest food, everyday movement like walking and chores, and exercise.
Which activity level should I pick?
Count planned exercise, not daily life: a desk job with three gym sessions a week is lightly to moderately active.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
About 250–500 below your TDEE for 0.25–0.5 kg a week. Women shouldn't usually go below about 1,200 kcal and men below about 1,500 without medical advice.
Why did my weight loss slow down?
As you lose weight your TDEE falls too. Recalculate with your new weight every few kilograms.
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