TDEE Calculator
Maintenance calories (your TDEE)
2,693 cal/day
- Basal metabolic rate (BMR)(Mifflin-St Jeor)
- 1,737 cal/day
- Activity multiplier
- × 1.55
- Weekly burn at this level
- 18,850 cal
Your TDEE at every activity level
| Activity level | Calories/day |
|---|---|
| Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) | 2,085 |
| Lightly active (exercise 1–3 days/week) | 2,389 |
| Moderately active (exercise 3–5 days/week) | 2,693 |
| Very active (exercise 6–7 days/week) | 2,997 |
| Extra active (physical job + daily training) | 3,301 |
Most people overestimate their activity level — when in doubt, start one level lower and adjust after two weeks on the scale.
Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is everything you burn in a day: your basal metabolism multiplied by an activity factor. A 30-year-old man, 5'10" and 170 lbs, who works out 3–5 days a week has a TDEE of about 2,693 calories — eat that much and his weight stays put. With a desk job and no exercise it drops to 2,085. This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and shows your maintenance calories at all five activity levels, so you can see what moving more (or less) is actually worth.
How the TDEE calculator works
The math runs in two steps: estimate your resting burn, then scale it by how much you move.
- Basal metabolic rate (BMR) comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: for men, 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5; for women, 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age − 161. Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1990, it's the most widely validated estimating equation for healthy adults.
- An activity multiplier scales BMR up to real life: sedentary 1.2, lightly active 1.375, moderately active 1.55, very active 1.725, and 1.9 for a physical job plus daily training. TDEE = BMR × multiplier.
Run the defaults (male, 30, 5'10", 170 lbs) and the BMR lands near 1,737 calories. At "moderately active" the TDEE is 1,737 × 1.55 ≈ 2,693 calories a day. The table under the result lists his number at every level — 2,085 / 2,389 / 2,693 / 2,997 / 3,301 — so switching levels is a one-glance comparison.
For a deeper look at the resting number itself (two formulas compared side by side, and what pushes it up or down), see the BMR calculator.
Where your calories actually go
TDEE is four buckets added together, and knowing them is more useful than memorizing the multipliers.
- Basal metabolism (60–75%): the cost of keeping your heart beating, lungs moving, and body at 98.6°F while you do absolutely nothing. Bigger bodies cost more; extra muscle costs a little more.
- Thermic effect of food (~10%): digestion isn't free. Protein is the most expensive to process — roughly 20–30% of its calories — versus 5–10% for carbs and 0–3% for fat.
- NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis): walking, chores, standing, fidgeting. This is where two people with identical stats diverge the most — a naturally fidgety desk worker can burn several hundred more calories a day than a still one.
- Exercise: deliberate workouts. Most people overrate this bucket: a 45-minute jog burns roughly 300–400 calories, and one muffin cancels it.
The activity multiplier is a rough bundle of the last three buckets, which is why any TDEE number is an estimate. Two people with the same stats who both pick "moderate" can genuinely differ by 10% or more.
Picking your activity level (the step most people get wrong)
When in doubt, go one level lower. Overestimating activity is the classic mistake: three gym sessions a week feels like "moderate," but if the other 23 hours of your day are in a chair, your real burn is closer to "light." A simple calibration beats arguing with the dropdown:
- Pick the conservative level, eat at that number for two weeks.
- Weigh yourself under consistent conditions (mornings, before breakfast) and average the week.
- Weight steady → your estimate is good. Creeping up → your real TDEE is lower; dropping → higher. Adjust by 100–200 calories for every quarter- to half-pound of weekly drift.
Recalculate after your weight changes by 10 pounds or more, or whenever your training or job activity shifts meaningfully.
How to use this calculator
- Toggle Imperial / Metric at the top — ft/in + lbs, or cm + kg. Each system remembers its own inputs.
- Pick Biological sex, then enter Age, height, and weight. Results update as you type.
- Choose an Activity level — match the description, and when you're torn between two, take the lower one.
- Read the result: the big number is your maintenance calories (TDEE), with your BMR, the multiplier applied, and your weekly burn below it.
- Open Your TDEE at every activity level to see all five scenarios side by side, with your current pick highlighted.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to the questions people ask most about TDEE and daily calorie needs.
What is TDEE and how is it calculated?
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure — every calorie you burn in 24 hours. It's calculated by estimating your basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then multiplying by an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.9. Enter your stats and activity level above and the calculator does both steps instantly.
How many calories should I eat to maintain my weight?
Eat your TDEE. A 30-year-old, 5'10", 170 lb man who's moderately active maintains on about 2,693 calories; a 30-year-old, 5'5", 140 lb woman who's lightly active maintains on about 1,864. When long-term intake matches TDEE, weight holds steady — that's the definition of maintenance.
Is TDEE the same as BMR?
No. BMR is what you'd burn lying perfectly still all day; TDEE adds everyday movement and exercise on top, so it runs 20–90% higher. For any eating plan — maintaining, losing, or gaining — TDEE is the number to build from, not BMR.
How accurate are TDEE calculators?
At the formula level, figure on roughly ±10%. Mifflin-St Jeor describes population averages, and your true TDEE also shifts with muscle mass, fidgeting, and genetics. The practical move is to treat the result as a starting point: eat at that number for two weeks and let the scale calibrate it. That beats chasing decimal-point precision.
Which activity level should I choose?
Count the days per week you actually break a sweat, not your job title: almost none → sedentary; 1–3 → lightly active; 3–5 → moderately active; 6–7 → very active. The 1.9 level is reserved for physical work plus daily training. Most people overestimate by one level — when unsure, choose lower and calibrate.
How often should I recalculate my TDEE?
Whenever your weight moves by about 10 pounds, your training volume changes significantly, or every five years or so as metabolism naturally drifts down with age. A big change in muscle mass — say, six months of serious lifting — is also worth a recalculation.
Sources: The BMR equation is Mifflin-St Jeor, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1990); activity multipliers are the standard values used across exercise nutrition; calorie-component shares are textbook figures. Example numbers were computed with the same engine that powers this calculator. Related tools: BMR Calculator and the health calculators hub.
Disclaimer: This calculator uses widely accepted estimating equations from published research and is for general reference only — it is not medical or nutritional advice. If you have a metabolic condition, a history of disordered eating, are pregnant or nursing, or plan a major diet change, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian first.