Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) Calculator

Calculate your TDEE to set a realistic daily calorie target

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is an estimate of how many calories your body uses in a full day. It includes your basic energy needs at rest and the extra energy you burn through movement, exercise, and normal daily activity. If your goal is weight maintenance, your TDEE is your best starting point for daily calories. If your goal is fat loss or weight gain, your TDEE is the baseline you adjust up or down.

This calculator is designed for one primary decision: choosing a daily calorie target for bodyweight change or maintenance. It is not a meal plan generator, it does not prescribe macros, and it does not diagnose medical conditions. It gives a clean, defensible estimate that most people can use immediately, then refine if they have better inputs such as body fat percentage.

To use it, select your units, enter your sex, age, height, weight, and activity level, then calculate. Your main output is your estimated maintenance calories per day. The result also shows your estimated BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), which is the calories your body would burn if you did nothing all day. If you choose a goal of weight loss or gain, you will also see a recommended daily calorie target. If you provide a weekly target rate, the calculator converts that target into a daily calorie change and applies it to your maintenance estimate. If you leave the target rate blank, it uses a conservative default adjustment so you still get a useful answer.

Assumptions and how to use this calculator

• Maintenance calories are estimated using a standard BMR formula plus an activity multiplier, which is an approximation of real-world movement.
• If you enter body fat percentage, the calculator switches to a lean-mass-based BMR estimate because it can be more accurate for some people.
• Activity level is treated as an average over the week. If your week is inconsistent, choose the level that best matches your normal routine.
• Weight change targets are translated into calories using common approximations (about 7,700 kcal per kg and about 3,500 kcal per lb), which are not perfect for every body.
• The result is a starting point. Real intake needs can drift with sleep, stress, training changes, water retention, and tracking error, so adjust based on 2 to 3 weeks of consistent data.

Common questions

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR is the energy your body uses at rest to keep you alive: breathing, circulation, temperature control, and basic organ function. TDEE is BMR plus everything you do on top of that, including walking, working, training, chores, and digestion. For calorie planning, TDEE is the number you typically work from, not BMR.

Which activity level should I choose if I exercise but sit most of the day?

Most people overestimate activity. If you do 3 to 4 gym sessions per week but otherwise sit for work and do not walk much, “Light” or “Moderate” is usually more realistic than “Very active.” If you are unsure, choose the lower option and adjust after you compare the estimate to real results.

Do I need to enter body fat percentage?

No. Most people do not know it accurately. If you have a credible estimate (DEXA, consistent caliper readings, or a reliable trend from the same method), it can improve the BMR estimate because it accounts for lean mass. If you are guessing, you can leave it blank and use the default method.

Why does the suggested calorie target for weight loss or gain look conservative?

Because aggressive targets fail more often in practice. Tracking error, hunger, fatigue, and training performance all worsen as the deficit or surplus becomes extreme. A smaller adjustment that you can actually follow tends to outperform a bigger adjustment that you abandon. If you want a specific weekly rate, enter it in the Advanced section and the calculator will translate it into a daily target.

What should I do if the estimate does not match what I see on the scale?

Do not react to single days. Track your intake and body weight consistently for at least 14 days. Use the weekly average weight to reduce noise from water and food volume. If your weight is stable but you want to lose, reduce intake by a small amount (for example 100 to 200 calories per day) and hold it for another 10 to 14 days. If you are losing too fast or performance is dropping, increase intake slightly. TDEE is not a fixed number, it is an estimate that you calibrate with real data.