TDEE Calculator
Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and find your calorie needs for any goal.
| Activity Level | Multiplier | TDEE (kcal) |
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Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the calories you burn in an average day including activity — using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, with calorie targets for every weight goal.
How TDEE Calculator Works
TDEE starts from your Basal Metabolic Rate, calculated with the Mifflin-St Jeor formula: 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age, plus 5 for men or minus 161 for women. This is then multiplied by an activity factor from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extra active) to account for calories burned through daily movement and exercise on top of resting metabolism.
The activity-level comparison table recalculates your TDEE at all five activity levels using your same BMR, letting you see at a glance how much your calorie needs would shift if your typical weekly activity changed — useful for planning around a more or less active season of life.
Calorie targets for different weight goals are simple offsets from TDEE: roughly a 500-calorie daily deficit or surplus corresponds to about 1 lb of weekly weight change (based on the commonly cited ~3,500-calorie-per-pound estimate), with 250-calorie adjustments offered for a more gradual, half-pound-per-week pace.
See It In Action
Who Uses TDEE Calculator and Why
- Establishing your baseline total daily calorie burn before setting a weight-loss, maintenance, or gain target.
- Comparing how your calorie needs would change across different activity levels if your routine shifted.
- Getting both 500-calorie and 250-calorie adjustment options for faster or more gradual weight change.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Selecting a higher activity level than your actual typical week to make room for more food — this inflates TDEE and can stall progress toward a weight goal.
- Treating the 3,500-calorie-per-pound estimate as an exact, guaranteed conversion rather than a commonly cited approximation affected by water retention and metabolic adaptation.
- Not recalculating TDEE after a significant weight change, since BMR (and therefore TDEE) shifts as your weight does.
Tips for Best Results
- Use the activity-level comparison table to see how a genuinely more or less active season of life would shift your calorie needs, rather than guessing.
- Choose the 250-calorie adjustment for a slower, more sustainable pace if a full 500-calorie deficit or surplus feels difficult to stick with.
Fixing Common Problems
I'm not losing or gaining weight at the rate this predicts. — Give your target intake two to three weeks to show a real trend before adjusting — then shift by 100-200 calories based on your actual measured progress rather than assuming the calculation is off.
Terms Explained
BMR vs. TDEE: BMR is calories burned at complete rest; TDEE multiplies BMR by an activity factor to estimate total calories burned in a typical full day.