TDEE Calculator — Free Online Total Daily Energy Expenditure Tool

How to Use the TDEE Calculator

1. Select your unit system: Use the toggle at the top to choose between Metric (kilograms and centimeters) and Imperial (pounds, feet, and inches). All input fields adjust automatically to match your selection.
2. Enter your age: Type your current age in years. Age affects your Basal Metabolic Rate because metabolism naturally slows as you get older. The calculator accepts ages from 15 to 120.
3. Select your biological sex: Choose Male or Female. This affects the BMR calculation because males typically have more metabolically active lean tissue than females at the same body weight.
4. Enter your weight and height: Input your current body weight and height. For the most consistent results, weigh yourself in the morning before eating, wearing minimal clothing. Use a stable, flat surface for height measurement.
5. Select your activity level: Choose the option from the dropdown that best matches your typical weekly routine. Be honest with your assessment — overestimating activity is one of the most common mistakes that leads to consuming too many calories. If you are between two levels, select the lower one.
6. Review your results: The right panel shows your BMR (calories at rest), TDEE (maintenance calories), recommended intake for weight loss (TDEE minus 500 calories), and recommended intake for weight gain (TDEE plus 500 calories). Below these, a comparison shows your calorie needs across all five activity levels with your selected level highlighted.

All results update instantly as you change any input. Default values for a 30-year-old moderately active male are shown initially. Replace these with your own data for a personalized estimate.

TDEE Formula and Calculation Method

TDEE is calculated in two steps: first computing BMR using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then applying an activity multiplier based on the Harris-Benedict activity factor scale.

Activity Multipliers

• Sedentary (x1.2): Little or no exercise, desk job. Example: office worker who drives to work and does not exercise.
• Lightly Active (x1.375): Light exercise or sports 1-3 days per week. Example: walks 30 minutes most days or does yoga twice a week.
• Moderately Active (x1.55): Moderate exercise or sports 3-5 days per week. Example: jogs, swims, or cycles at moderate intensity regularly.
• Active (x1.725): Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days per week. Example: trains for a sport daily or has a physically demanding job with additional workouts.
• Very Active (x1.9): Very hard exercise, physical job, or training twice per day. Example: competitive athlete in heavy training, military service, or construction worker who also exercises.

Step-by-Step Calculation Example

Consider a 28-year-old female who weighs 65 kg, is 168 cm tall, and exercises moderately 4 days per week:

1. Calculate BMR: 10(65) + 6.25(168) - 5(28) - 161 = 650 + 1,050 - 140 - 161 = 1,399 cal/day
2. Select activity multiplier: Moderately Active = 1.55
3. Calculate TDEE: 1,399 x 1.55 = 2,168 cal/day
4. Weight loss target: 2,168 - 500 = 1,668 cal/day
5. Weight gain target: 2,168 + 500 = 2,668 cal/day

This means she needs approximately 2,168 calories per day to maintain her current weight. To lose about one pound per week, she should target 1,668 calories. To gain about one pound per week for muscle building, she should aim for 2,668 calories along with appropriate resistance training.

Practical Examples

Example 1: Tom Transitions from College to Office Work

Tom is a 23-year-old male who weighs 77 kg and is 180 cm tall. In college he played intramural sports regularly (active, x1.725), but now he works a desk job and walks occasionally (lightly active, x1.375). He wants to know why he has started gaining weight:

• BMR = 10(77) + 6.25(180) - 5(23) + 5 = 770 + 1,125 - 115 + 5 = 1,785 cal/day
• College TDEE (Active): 1,785 x 1.725 = 3,079 cal/day
• Current TDEE (Light): 1,785 x 1.375 = 2,454 cal/day
• Difference: 625 fewer calories needed daily

Tom discovers that his lifestyle change reduced his daily calorie needs by 625 calories. If he continued eating as he did in college, he would gain about 1.25 pounds per week. He decides to adjust his eating habits and add three gym sessions per week to bring his activity level back to moderate.

Example 2: Fatima Plans Post-Pregnancy Weight Management

Fatima is a 32-year-old woman who weighs 73 kg and is 164 cm tall. Six months after giving birth, with clearance from her doctor, she wants to safely return to her pre-pregnancy weight of 62 kg:

• BMR = 10(73) + 6.25(164) - 5(32) - 161 = 730 + 1,025 - 160 - 161 = 1,434 cal/day
• TDEE (Light activity, x1.375): 1,434 x 1.375 = 1,972 cal/day
• Safe deficit (-350 cal): 1,622 cal/day
• Time to lose 11 kg at 0.35 kg/week: approximately 31 weeks

Fatima chooses a moderate 350-calorie deficit rather than the aggressive 500-calorie approach, especially since she is breastfeeding and needs adequate nutrition. This gives her a sustainable target of approximately 1,622 calories daily. She also starts walking with her baby daily. Her goal is to reach her pre-pregnancy weight within about 8 months, which her healthcare provider confirms is a safe and realistic timeline.

Example 3: Chen Calculates Needs for Marathon Training

Chen is a 36-year-old male who weighs 72 kg and is 176 cm tall. He is training for his first marathon and has increased his running to 6 days per week with cross-training. He needs to fuel his training without losing muscle:

• BMR = 10(72) + 6.25(176) - 5(36) + 5 = 720 + 1,100 - 180 + 5 = 1,645 cal/day
• TDEE (Very Active, x1.9): 1,645 x 1.9 = 3,126 cal/day
• Maintenance with slight surplus (+200): 3,326 cal/day

Chen learns his training demands over 3,100 calories daily. He adds a modest 200-calorie surplus to support recovery and prevent muscle breakdown during long runs. He uses the carbohydrate calculator to ensure he gets 55-65% of calories from carbs to fuel his running, and the protein calculator to maintain adequate protein at 1.2-1.5 g/kg for muscle preservation.

TDEE Reference Table by Activity Level

Values calculated using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. Individual results vary based on body composition and genetics.

Tips and Complete Guide to TDEE

Understanding the Energy Balance Equation

Weight management ultimately comes down to the relationship between energy intake (calories consumed) and energy expenditure (TDEE). When intake equals TDEE, weight remains stable. When intake exceeds TDEE, the body stores excess energy primarily as fat. When intake falls below TDEE, the body draws on stored energy, resulting in weight loss. While this concept is straightforward, the execution is nuanced. Both sides of the equation are dynamic — your TDEE changes as your body adapts to new eating patterns, activity levels, and body composition. This is why periodic recalculation is important and why rigid, unchanging calorie targets eventually stop producing results.

The Role of Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)

NEAT refers to all the energy you expend through daily movements that are not structured exercise — walking to your car, cooking, typing, fidgeting, standing, and taking the stairs. Research published in the journal Science found that NEAT can vary by up to 2,000 calories per day between individuals of similar size. People who naturally fidget, pace, and stand frequently burn significantly more calories than those who sit still. NEAT is also the component of TDEE most affected by calorie restriction — when you eat less, your body unconsciously reduces NEAT by making you move less, sit more, and fidget less. Deliberately increasing daily movement through strategies like using a standing desk, taking walking meetings, and parking farther away can meaningfully increase your TDEE.

Metabolic Adaptation and Diet Breaks

Extended calorie restriction triggers metabolic adaptation, a process where your body reduces energy expenditure beyond what is explained by weight loss alone. This means your actual TDEE may become 5% to 15% lower than what equations predict after several months of dieting. Signs of metabolic adaptation include persistent fatigue, feeling cold frequently, reduced workout performance, and weight loss plateaus. Scheduled diet breaks — periods of 1 to 2 weeks where you eat at estimated TDEE — can help mitigate adaptation. Research suggests these breaks may improve long-term fat loss outcomes compared to continuous dieting by maintaining metabolic rate and hormonal health.

Tracking and Adjusting Your TDEE

The most accurate way to determine your true TDEE is through tracking. Record your daily calorie intake and weight for 2 to 4 weeks while eating consistently. If your weight remains stable, your average daily intake equals your TDEE. If you gain weight, your TDEE is lower than your intake. If you lose weight, your TDEE is higher. Adjust the calculator's estimate based on real-world data. A food scale and a calorie tracking app increase accuracy significantly — studies show that estimating portions visually leads to errors of 20% to 50%. Once you establish your true TDEE, use it as the foundation for any weight management plan.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Overestimating your activity level: This is the single most common TDEE calculation error. Most people with desk jobs who exercise 3 times per week fall in the Lightly Active to Moderately Active range, not Active or Very Active. Overestimating leads to eating too many calories and wondering why you are not losing weight.
• Creating too large a calorie deficit: Aggressive deficits of 1,000+ calories below TDEE can cause significant muscle loss (up to 25% of weight lost may be muscle), hormonal disruption, energy crashes, and binge eating. A moderate deficit of 300 to 500 calories produces more sustainable results with better body composition outcomes.
• Ignoring the thermic effect of food: Different macronutrients require different amounts of energy to digest. Protein uses 20-30% of its calories for digestion, carbohydrates use 5-10%, and fat uses 0-3%. A higher-protein diet effectively increases your TDEE slightly through this mechanism.
• Using TDEE as an exact number: TDEE is an estimate with a margin of error. Treat it as a starting point, not a precise target. Track your weight trend over 2-4 weeks and adjust calories if results do not match expectations. A change of 100-200 calories in either direction is usually sufficient.
• Not accounting for weekends: Many people eat consistently on weekdays but significantly overeat on weekends. If your weekday intake averages 1,800 calories but weekends average 2,800 calories, your weekly average is actually about 2,086 calories — well above a target of 1,800.

Frequently Asked Questions