Every day, your body burns a certain number of calories just staying alive — and more on top for everything you do. That total is your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), and it is the single most useful number for managing your weight. Enter your details below and this calculator will estimate your BMR, your TDEE, and the daily calorie targets for losing, maintaining or gaining weight.
Estimates only — see “Why every calculator is an estimate” below, and never eat below 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) per day without medical supervision.
How the TDEE Calculator Works
The calculator works in two steps. First it estimates your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) — the calories your body burns in 24 hours at complete rest, just keeping your heart beating, lungs breathing and cells repaired — using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in 1990 and still considered the most accurate general formula by dietitians. For men it is (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age) + 5; for women the same formula ends with − 161 instead of + 5, reflecting average differences in body composition.
Second, it multiplies your BMR by an activity factor to get your TDEE. Nobody lives at complete rest: walking, working, training and even fidgeting all add to the total. The five activity levels in the calculator use the standard multipliers — 1.2 for sedentary up to 1.9 for athletes in heavy training — so the result reflects a full typical day, not just your time in the gym. Your TDEE is your maintenance level: eat that many calories and, on average, your weight stays the same.
How to Use Your Calorie Targets
Weight change is driven by the gap between your TDEE and what you eat. One kilogram of body fat stores roughly 7,700 kcal, so a steady deficit of about 500 kcal a day adds up to around half a kilogram lost per week — a pace most people can sustain without feeling wrecked. The calculator therefore shows three targets: lose (TDEE − 500), maintain (TDEE), and gain (TDEE + 300, a modest surplus that favours muscle over fat when combined with resistance training and enough protein). Pick the goal that matches your plan, track your food honestly for two to three weeks, and watch the trend of your morning weight rather than any single day.
Choosing the Right Activity Level
The most common mistake with any TDEE calculator is overestimating activity. Training hard for one hour does not make the whole day “very active” if the other fifteen waking hours are spent in a chair. Be honest: most office workers who train three or four times a week land at “lightly” or “moderately” active. If your calculated maintenance keeps your weight stable over three weeks, you picked well. If you gain or lose unexpectedly, adjust by 100–200 kcal a day and test again — your real TDEE reveals itself through the trend, and the calculator’s job is to give you a sensible starting point.
Why Every Calculator Is an Estimate
Even the best formula is a population average. Two people with identical age, sex, height and weight can differ by 10–15% in real energy burn because of muscle mass, genetics, thyroid function, medications and how much they move outside formal exercise (called NEAT — non-exercise activity thermogenesis). Treat the numbers here as a well-informed first draft, verify them against your own results over a few weeks, and adjust. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or have a history of eating disorders, speak to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing your intake.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is what you burn doing absolutely nothing — the floor. TDEE is BMR plus all daily movement and exercise — the realistic total you should plan your eating around.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
Start at TDEE minus 500 kcal for a loss of roughly 0.5 kg per week. If that feels too aggressive, a 250 kcal deficit works too — slower, but easier to stick to.
Should I eat back the calories I burn in workouts?
No need — they are already inside your TDEE through the activity multiplier. Eating them back on top usually stalls progress, and fitness trackers tend to overestimate workout burn anyway.
How does this relate to my BMI?
BMI tells you whether your weight is in a healthy range for your height; TDEE tells you how much to eat to change or hold it. Use the BMI Calculator first, then come back here for your action plan.
Complete the picture with better rest and hydration: try the Sleep Cycle Calculator and the Water Intake Calculator.