Health & Fitness

TDEE Calculator

Find your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — exactly how many calories you burn every day. Use it to set precise calorie targets for weight loss, maintenance, or muscle gain.

Understanding TDEE: The Key to Weight Management

Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the single most important number for managing your weight. It tells you exactly how many calories your body burns each day, accounting for your metabolism, daily movement, and exercise. Once you know your TDEE, weight loss, maintenance, and muscle gain become a matter of simple math — eat below TDEE to lose, at TDEE to maintain, or above TDEE to gain.

TDEE = BMR × Activity Multiplier

The Mifflin-St Jeor equation calculates your BMR from age, sex, height, and weight. Your TDEE is then calculated by multiplying BMR by an activity factor. For a 28-year-old woman, 165 cm, 65 kg, moderately active: BMR ≈ 1,420 calories, TDEE ≈ 1,420 × 1.55 = 2,201 calories per day. This is the amount she needs to eat to maintain her current weight.

Recalculate Regularly

As you lose or gain weight, your TDEE changes. A person weighing 90 kg burns more calories than at 75 kg. Recalculate your TDEE every 5–10 kg of body weight change. Also, prolonged dieting can cause metabolic adaptation — your body becomes more efficient, burning fewer calories than predicted. If weight loss stalls despite eating at a calculated deficit, recalculate and consider a diet break.

Frequently Asked Questions

TDEE is the total number of calories your body burns in a 24-hour period, including basal metabolic rate (BMR), physical activity, and the thermic effect of food. It represents how many calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight.
BMR is the calories you burn at complete rest — just to keep your body alive. TDEE is your total daily burn including all movement. TDEE = BMR × Activity Multiplier. For a moderately active person with BMR of 1,600, TDEE ≈ 2,480 calories.
Sedentary: desk job, little exercise. Light: 1–3 days/week exercise. Moderate: 3–5 days/week. Active: 6–7 days/week. Very Active: physical job + daily exercise. Be honest — overestimating activity leads to eating too many calories.
To lose weight, eat 300–500 calories below your TDEE. This creates a safe deficit of about 0.5 kg (1 lb) per week. Never eat below your BMR for extended periods — this causes muscle loss and metabolic slowdown. Minimum safe intake: 1,200 cal/day for women, 1,500 for men.
To build muscle (lean bulk), eat 250–500 calories above your TDEE. This provides energy for muscle growth while minimizing fat gain. Combine with progressive resistance training and adequate protein (1.6–2.2g per kg of body weight).
Yes. As you lose weight, your BMR decreases because there is less body mass to maintain. Additionally, prolonged calorie restriction can cause adaptive thermogenesis — your body becomes more efficient and burns fewer calories. Recalculate your TDEE every 5–10 kg of weight change.
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990) is the most accurate BMR formula for the general population. For men: BMR = (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) + 5. For women: BMR = (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) − 161. It is recommended by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Men typically have more lean muscle mass and less body fat than women of the same weight and height. Muscle tissue burns 4–7× more calories at rest than fat. A man and woman of identical weight might have a BMR difference of 100–300 calories per day.
TDEE calculators provide a good estimate (typically within ±10% of actual). The Mifflin-St Jeor formula is validated in multiple studies. For maximum accuracy, track your calorie intake and weight for 2–3 weeks, then adjust based on actual results.