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TDEE Calculator

Estimate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) from your body size and activity level, and see how many calories to eat to lose, keep or gain weight.

Units
Height
ft
in

Targets use 7,700 kcal per kg (about 3,500 kcal per lb). Results are estimates, not medical advice.

What TDEE means

Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the number of calories your body uses in a full day. It has four parts:

  • Resting metabolism (BMR): the energy needed to keep you alive at rest. For most people this is the largest part.
  • Exercise: planned workouts such as running, lifting or cycling.
  • Everyday movement: walking to the bus, standing, cleaning, fidgeting. This part varies a lot between people and can matter as much as exercise.
  • Digesting food: roughly a tenth of what you eat is used to process it.

If you eat about as many calories as your TDEE, your weight tends to stay stable. Eating less or more moves it down or up over time.

How to use the calculator

Choose US or Metric units, then enter your age, sex, weight and height. Pick the activity level that matches a normal week and press Calculate. The result shows your TDEE, your BMR, the activity factor used and three daily targets: losing weight, keeping it stable and gaining slowly. The details panel shows what your TDEE would be at every activity level.

If you know your body fat percentage, switch the formula to Katch-McArdle. It works from lean body mass instead of age and sex, which can suit very muscular people better.

How the estimate is made

  1. BMR comes from Mifflin-St Jeor: 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age, then + 5 for men or − 161 for women. Katch-McArdle uses 370 + 21.6 × lean mass (kg).
  2. TDEE = BMR × activity factor: 1.2 (sedentary), 1.375 (light), 1.55 (moderate), 1.725 (very active) or 1.9 (extra active).
  3. Targets use the rule that about 7,700 kcal equals 1 kg of body fat (about 3,500 kcal per lb). Losing 1 lb a week means about 500 kcal less per day; losing 0.5 kg a week means about 550 kcal less. Gaining 0.5 lb or 0.25 kg a week adds about 250 or 275 kcal.

Worked example

A 30-year-old man, 80 kg and 180 cm tall, has a BMR of 1,780 kcal. At the moderate level his TDEE is 1,780 × 1.55 ≈ 2,759 kcal a day. With US units his targets are about 2,259 kcal to lose 1 lb a week and 3,009 kcal to gain 0.5 lb a week.

How much activity changes TDEE

For the same man, TDEE ranges from about 2,136 kcal (sedentary) to 3,382 kcal (extra active), a difference of more than 1,200 kcal a day without any change in body size. This is why choosing an honest activity level matters more than small differences in weight or age. Most people with desk jobs who train a few times a week fit the light or moderate level.

Good to know

  • The result is an estimate, not a measurement. Real needs can differ by several hundred calories.
  • If a target falls below 1,200 kcal for women or 1,500 kcal for men, the calculator marks it. Eating that little is generally only advised with medical supervision.
  • Track your weight for two to four weeks and adjust if it does not move as expected.
  • These results are not medical advice and are not intended for pregnancy, breastfeeding or medical conditions.

Frequently asked questions

Is TDEE the same as BMR?

No. BMR is only what your body burns at complete rest. TDEE adds everything else you do in a day, such as walking, working out and digesting food, so it is always higher than BMR, usually by 20% to 90% depending on how active you are.

Should I eat back the calories from my workouts?

Not separately. The activity level you choose already includes your usual exercise. Adding workout calories on top would count them twice. If your training changes a lot, pick a different activity level instead.

Why does the calculator use 7,700 kcal per kg?

It is a common rule of thumb for the energy stored in a kilogram of body fat (about 3,500 kcal per pound). Real weight change is less predictable because water, muscle and metabolic adaptation also play a part, so treat the weekly rates as rough guides.

Which formula should I choose?

Mifflin-St Jeor is a good default for most adults because it only needs age, sex, weight and height. Katch-McArdle can be more accurate if you know your body fat percentage reasonably well, especially if you carry more muscle than average.