Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — find your BMR, maintenance calories, weight loss or gain targets, and macronutrient breakdown. Instant, free, no signup.
Fill in your details on the left to see your calorie breakdown.
Beyond a simple calorie number — understand your BMR, activity multiplier, goal-based targets, and macro split in one place.
Uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation — the most accurate BMR formula validated by modern research and recommended by dietitians over the older Harris-Benedict method.
Results update instantly as you fill in your details — no submit button required. Change your activity level and see your TDEE adjust in real time.
Select a calorie goal and see the recommended protein, carbohydrate, and fat split in both percentages and grams — tailored to whether you're cutting, maintaining, or bulking.
See the estimated weekly and monthly weight change for your chosen calorie goal — based on the 7,700 kcal per kilogram rule of thumb.
Switch between metric (kg, cm) and imperial (lbs, inches) with a single tap. All calculations convert automatically — no manual unit conversion needed.
All calculations happen in your browser. Your personal data — age, weight, height — is never sent to any server. No account, no tracking, completely private.
Anyone with a body composition or fitness goal benefits from knowing their TDEE — it is the foundation of any evidence-based diet plan.
Find your maintenance calories, then subtract 500 kcal/day to lose approximately 0.5 kg per week at a sustainable pace.
Add 250–500 kcal above maintenance to support muscle growth without excessive fat gain. Pair with a high-protein macro split.
Eat at your TDEE to maintain your current weight. Useful for people who have reached their goal and want to stay there long-term.
High-activity individuals often dramatically underestimate their calorie needs. TDEE gives an accurate starting point for fuelling performance.
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total number of calories your body burns in a day, accounting for your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and your physical activity level. It represents the amount you need to eat to maintain your current weight. Eating below TDEE causes weight loss; eating above causes weight gain.
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories your body burns at complete rest — just to keep your heart beating, lungs breathing, and organs functioning. TDEE is your BMR multiplied by an activity factor to account for movement and exercise. BMR is typically 60–75% of TDEE for most people.
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is considered the most accurate BMR formula for most adults. The formula is: Men: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age) + 5. Women: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age) − 161. The result is then multiplied by your chosen activity level to get TDEE.
A deficit of 500 kcal/day below your TDEE is widely recommended as a sustainable starting point — it produces approximately 0.5 kg (1 lb) of fat loss per week. A 1,000 kcal/day deficit doubles the rate but is harder to sustain and risks muscle loss without adequate protein. Going below 1,200 kcal/day (women) or 1,500 kcal/day (men) is generally not recommended without medical supervision.
TDEE calculators give a reliable estimate, not an exact measurement. Individual metabolism varies due to genetics, hormones, gut microbiome, sleep quality, and stress. Treat your calculated TDEE as a starting point — track your weight over 2–3 weeks and adjust up or down by 100–200 kcal based on actual results. The most accurate method is indirect calorimetry in a clinical setting.
Macros (macronutrients) are protein, carbohydrates, and fat — the three main sources of calories in food. Protein (4 kcal/g) is essential for muscle repair and satiety. Carbohydrates (4 kcal/g) are the primary fuel for exercise. Fat (9 kcal/g) supports hormones and brain function. The ratio matters because the same calorie total with different macro splits produces different results for body composition, energy, and hunger.
This depends on how you selected your activity level. If you chose an activity level that already accounts for your exercise (e.g. “Very Active”), your TDEE already includes those calories — do not eat them back additionally. If you selected “Sedentary” as a baseline and exercise on top, you may need to add some calories back. The simplest approach is to pick the activity level that genuinely reflects your typical week.
Yes — as your weight, age, and activity level change, so does your TDEE. When you lose weight, you burn fewer calories at rest and during activity, so you'll need to recalculate periodically. Metabolic adaptation — where the body reduces calorie expenditure in response to a prolonged deficit — also means your effective TDEE may drop slightly after several months of dieting.
These are the three standard body composition phases. A cut (calorie deficit) prioritises fat loss while preserving muscle. Maintenance keeps body weight stable — useful for consolidating progress or as a diet break. A bulk (calorie surplus) prioritises muscle gain, accepting some fat gain alongside it. A “lean bulk” uses a smaller surplus (+250 kcal) to minimise fat gain; a “dirty bulk” uses a large surplus for maximum mass.
Understanding your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the foundation of any evidence-based approach to diet and body composition. Whether your goal is fat loss, muscle gain, or weight maintenance, TDEE gives you the single most important number: how many calories your body needs each day. Everything else — meal timing, food choices, macro ratios — is secondary to hitting the right calorie target.
TDEE is calculated in two steps. First, your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is estimated using a formula that accounts for your weight, height, age, and biological sex. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990) is the most validated modern formula — more accurate than the older Harris-Benedict equation (1919) for most people. Second, BMR is multiplied by an activity factor ranging from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extremely active) to account for physical movement.
The activity multiplier is the most significant source of error in TDEE estimates. Most people overestimate their activity level — choosing “moderately active” when their genuine average week is closer to “lightly active.” If you are unsure, start with a lower activity level and adjust based on your real-world results over 2–3 weeks.
One kilogram of body fat stores approximately 7,700 kcal of energy (3,500 kcal per pound). A consistent daily deficit of 500 kcal should theoretically produce around 0.5 kg of fat loss per week. In practice, early weight loss is faster due to water and glycogen depletion, and then slows as the body adapts. This is why tracking actual weight trends over several weeks is more reliable than calculating from the formula alone.
For muscle gain, a surplus of 200–500 kcal above TDEE combined with progressive resistance training is the standard recommendation. Beginners can gain muscle even in a slight deficit (“newbie gains”), but more experienced lifters generally need a surplus. Higher surpluses do not produce faster muscle gain beyond a certain point — excess calories above what the body can use for muscle synthesis are stored as fat.
Two diets with identical calorie totals can produce very different body composition results depending on their macro ratios. High protein intake (1.6–2.2g per kg of body weight) preserves lean muscle during a cut and supports muscle synthesis during a bulk. Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel for high-intensity exercise — reducing them too severely can impair performance. Fat supports hormone production and fat-soluble vitamin absorption — going too low (below 20% of calories) is counterproductive.
The macro splits shown in this calculator are general evidence-based recommendations. Individual needs vary — athletes, older adults, and people with specific health conditions may benefit from different ratios. Consulting a registered dietitian provides personalised guidance that a calculator cannot replace.
BMI (Body Mass Index) measures your weight relative to your height and categorises you as underweight, normal, overweight, or obese — but it says nothing about your calorie needs or metabolism. TDEE tells you how many calories you need regardless of your BMI category. A heavily muscled athlete may have a high BMI but a very high TDEE; a sedentary person of “normal” BMI may have a low TDEE. Use our BMI Calculator alongside this tool for a fuller picture of your health metrics.