TDEE Calculator

What is TDEE?

Total Daily Energy Expenditure — TDEE — is the total number of calories your body burns in a full day. It includes everything: your resting metabolism (BMR), the energy used to digest food, and all movement from walking to intense workouts. Knowing your TDEE is the single most useful number for managing your weight because it is your maintenance calorie baseline. Eat this amount and your weight stays stable; eat less and you lose; eat more and you gain.

The four components of TDEE

TDEE is not just one number pulled from thin air. It is the sum of four distinct components:

• BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) — ~60–70%: the calories your body burns at complete rest to keep you alive: breathing, circulation, cell repair, brain function, and temperature regulation. This is the largest component and largely determined by your lean body mass. Use the BMR calculator to estimate yours.
• NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) — ~15–30%: every movement that is not deliberate exercise. Walking to the car, fidgeting at your desk, doing laundry, standing while cooking — these daily activities vary wildly between people and can shift TDEE by hundreds of calories. People with physically active jobs often have much higher NEAT than desk workers.
• TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) — ~10%: the energy your body spends digesting, absorbing, and processing nutrients. Protein has the highest thermic effect (20–30% of its calories are burned during digestion), while fat has the lowest (0–3%). This is why high-protein diets slightly increase daily calorie burn.
• EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) — ~5–15%: the calories burned during deliberate exercise sessions: gym workouts, running, sports, or structured fitness classes. EAT matters, but for most people it is smaller than NEAT.

What affects your TDEE

Several factors shift your TDEE up or down over time:

• Muscle mass: muscle is metabolically active tissue. Each pound of muscle burns roughly 6–10 calories daily at rest. More muscle means a higher BMR and a higher TDEE. Strength training is one of the best ways to boost long-term calorie burn.
• Age: BMR decreases approximately 2–3% per decade after age 30, largely due to muscle loss and hormonal changes. TDEE also tends to fall because people become less active as they age.
• Activity level: the most obvious lever. The activity multiplier ranges from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extra active), and choosing the right one is critical. Most people overestimate their activity level.
• Diet composition: high-protein diets increase TEF and preserve muscle during weight loss, helping maintain a higher TDEE. Very low-calorie diets can trigger metabolic adaptation, lowering BMR by 5–15%.
• Body size: larger bodies burn more calories simply because there is more tissue to maintain. Height, weight, and body composition all play a role.

TDEE vs maintenance calories

TDEE and maintenance calories mean the same thing. Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the amount of energy you burn in a day. When you eat that exact amount, your weight stays the same — that is maintenance. The terms are interchangeable, though TDEE is the more common technical term in research, while "maintenance calories" is more common in fitness and dieting conversations. Use the maintenance calorie calculator guide for a deeper dive, or explore maintenance calories explained for practical tips on staying stable.

How to find your TDEE

There are two ways to find your TDEE: calculate it with a formula, or measure it with real-world data.

Method 1: Calculate with a formula (fast)

1. Calculate your BMR using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: Men = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5; Women = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age − 161.
2. Multiply your BMR by an activity factor: 1.2 (sedentary), 1.375 (light), 1.55 (moderate), 1.725 (active), or 1.9 (athlete).
3. That product is your estimated TDEE.

The TDEE calculator does this automatically. The BMR calculator gives you the starting point if you only want the resting number.

Method 2: Track and adjust (more accurate)

1. Eat a consistent number of calories every day for 2–3 weeks.
2. Weigh yourself daily under the same conditions (morning, after bathroom, before eating).
3. If your weight is stable, your intake equals your TDEE.
4. If you are gaining, subtract 100–200 calories from your target. If you are losing, add 100–200 calories.

This empirical method is more accurate because it accounts for individual variation that formulas miss.

Common TDEE mistakes

Even experienced dieters and athletes make these errors:

• Overestimating activity level: the #1 mistake. If you have a desk job and go to the gym three times a week, you are probably "lightly active," not "moderately active." Be conservative if unsure.
• Forgetting NEAT: non-exercise movement can easily add 300–800 calories per day. People who fidget, stand, or walk a lot have higher TDEEs than their exercise schedule alone would suggest.
• Not updating after weight change: as you lose or gain weight, your TDEE shifts. Recalculate every 4–5 kg (about 10 lb).
• Using the wrong formula: Harris-Benedict (1919) overestimates BMR for modern populations. Mifflin-St Jeor (1990) is more accurate. Our BMR equations comparison explains why.
• Ignoring metabolic adaptation: long-term calorie deficits lower BMR through hormonal changes and muscle loss. This is why you should not run aggressive deficits for extended periods.

How to use TDEE for weight loss and gain

Once you have your TDEE, applying it is straightforward:

• Weight loss: eat 300–500 calories below your TDEE. This produces a safe deficit of ~0.5–1 lb per week. For faster progress, use the weight loss calculator to plan your timeline. Read the calorie deficit guide for strategies to stay consistent.
• Weight gain: eat 250–500 calories above your TDEE. This lean bulk approach adds mostly muscle when paired with resistance training. See the calorie surplus guide for details.
• Muscle building: combine a small surplus with the macro calculator to ensure you get enough protein (1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight).
• Maintenance: eat at your TDEE and adjust every few weeks as your body changes. The calories burned calculator helps you understand how exercise impacts your daily total.

TDEE examples by activity level

Profile	BMR	Sedentary (1.2)	Light (1.375)	Moderate (1.55)	Active (1.725)	Extra Active (1.9)
Woman, 25, 165cm, 65kg	~1,400	1,680	1,925	2,170	2,415	2,660
Man, 30, 180cm, 80kg	~1,820	2,184	2,503	2,821	3,139	3,458
Woman, 40, 170cm, 75kg	~1,475	1,770	2,028	2,286	2,544	2,803
Man, 20, 175cm, 70kg	~1,690	2,028	2,324	2,620	2,915	3,211

Real TDEE calculation walkthrough

Let's calculate TDEE for a 32-year-old woman, 168 cm, 68 kg, moderately active:

BMR = 10 × 68 + 6.25 × 168 - 5 × 32 - 161
BMR = 680 + 1,050 - 160 - 161 = 1,409 calories/day

TDEE = 1,409 × 1.55 = 2,184 calories/day

This is her maintenance level. To lose ~1 lb per week, she would eat ~1,684 calories/day. To gain, she would eat ~2,434 calories/day. The TDEE calculator computes this instantly.

Using TDEE with other tools

TDEE is the foundation for almost every other calorie and macro tool on this site. Pair your TDEE result with the macro calculator to split your calories into protein, carbs, and fats. Use the weight loss calculator to estimate how long it will take to reach your goal. Track exercise impact with the calories burned calculator. And for step-by-step guidance, read the maintenance calorie calculator guide and the maintenance calories guide.

Sources and further reading

These independent, authoritative sources inform the methods used on this page.

• Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy — National Academies
• Energy expenditure — PubMed / NIH review