TDEE Calculator
Range: 15 - 100
Range: 80 - 500
Range: 1 - 8
Range: 0 - 11
Your TDEE
2,573
calories per day
Your BMR
1,660
calories at rest
Daily Calorie Targets
Lose Weight
2,073
~1.0 lb/week
Maintain
2,573
Current TDEE
Gain Weight
3,073
~1.0 lb/week
Weight Loss Projections
| Deficit | Daily Calories | Weekly Loss |
|---|---|---|
| -250 cal/day | 2,323 | ~0.5 lbs |
| -500 cal/day | 2,073 | ~1.0 lbs |
| -750 cal/day | 1,823 | ~1.5 lbs |
| -1000 cal/day | 1,573 | ~2.0 lbs |
Understanding TDEE
- TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure. All calories you burn in a day.
- BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate. Calories burned at complete rest.
- TDEE = BMR × Activity Multiplier
- To lose weight: eat below TDEE. To gain: eat above TDEE.
- 500 calorie deficit/surplus ≈ 1 lb (0.45 kg) per week
About the TDEE Calculator
The TDEE Calculator estimates your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, the total number of calories your body burns in a day across all activity. It works by first calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate (the energy needed at complete rest) and then multiplying it by an activity factor that reflects how active you are. The result is the maintenance calorie level at which your weight stays roughly stable.
Most TDEE tools compute BMR using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which factors in your weight, height, age, and sex, and is considered more accurate for modern populations than the older Harris-Benedict formula. The activity multiplier ranges from about 1.2 for sedentary lifestyles up to roughly 1.9 for very intense daily training. Choosing the right multiplier honestly is the single biggest driver of accuracy, since overestimating activity is a very common mistake.
TDEE is the foundation of any structured nutrition plan. To lose weight you eat below it, to gain you eat above it, and to maintain you match it. This makes the TDEE Calculator a natural companion to the Calorie Calculator and the Macros Calculator, which translate your target intake into a daily calorie goal and a protein, carbohydrate, and fat breakdown.
A practical tip is to treat your calculated TDEE as a starting estimate, then adjust based on real-world results over two to three weeks. If your weight is not moving as expected, your true expenditure or food logging differs from the model, so nudge intake by 100 to 200 calories rather than trusting the formula blindly. Recalculate periodically as your weight changes, since a lighter body burns fewer calories.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
- BMR is the calories your body burns at complete rest just to stay alive. TDEE adds in the energy from movement, exercise, and digestion by multiplying BMR by an activity factor, giving your total daily burn.
- Which activity level should I pick?
- Be conservative and honest. 'Sedentary' suits desk jobs with little exercise, 'moderate' fits training three to five days a week, and the highest levels are for physical jobs or daily intense training. Most people overestimate.
- How often should I recalculate my TDEE?
- Recalculate after every five to ten pounds of weight change, since a smaller body has a lower energy expenditure. Also revisit it if your activity level shifts significantly.
- Why isn't my weight changing at my calculated TDEE?
- TDEE formulas are estimates with individual variation, and food logging is rarely perfect. Use the number as a starting point and adjust intake up or down by 100 to 200 calories based on two to three weeks of real results.