TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is an estimate of the total calories you burn per day. It combines your basal metabolic rate, the energy your body uses at rest, with an activity multiplier that accounts for exercise and daily movement.

Which TDEE formula is most accurate?

For most people the Mifflin-St Jeor equation is the best-validated starting point, which is why this calculator uses it by default. If you enter a body-fat percentage from a reliable measurement, it switches to the Katch-McArdle equation, which works from lean mass and can tell apart two people of the same height, weight, age and sex who carry different amounts of muscle.

Why does this calculator show a range instead of one number?

Because a single figure to the calorie is more precise than the science allows. The systematic review that established Mifflin-St Jeor as the best equation in clinical use found it lands within 10% of a measured metabolic rate more often than the alternatives, but not always, and it noted that meaningful errors remain for individuals. The band on your result is that plus or minus 10%. Treat the middle as your best guess and the edges as genuinely possible.

How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

Set the goal to losing weight and the calculator turns your maintenance estimate into a daily target, between 10% and 25% below maintenance. A percentage rather than a flat figure, because 500 kcal off is a mild trim for a large man and a severe restriction for a small woman. Twenty-five percent is the steepest cut offered, and most people do better with a smaller one they can hold for months.

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the energy your body uses at complete rest to keep basic functions running. TDEE is BMR multiplied by an activity factor, so it estimates everything you burn in a normal day, including exercise and everyday movement.

How do I use TDEE to lose or gain weight?

Your TDEE is an estimate of maintenance calories. Eating consistently below it tends to produce weight loss and eating above it tends to produce weight gain. Because it is only an estimate, track your weight over a few weeks and adjust intake based on what actually happens.

Which activity level should I pick?

Choose based on your whole week, not your best day. Most people with desk jobs who train three to five times a week fall under moderate activity. If your weight is not moving the way the estimate predicts, adjust the activity level down or up rather than assuming the formula is wrong.

How accurate is a TDEE calculator?

Prediction equations are typically within about 10% of measured values for most healthy adults, but individual results vary with genetics, body composition and daily movement. Treat the number as a starting estimate to refine with real-world tracking, not a precise measurement.

TDEE Calculator: Total Daily Energy Expenditure

Estimate the calories you burn per day from your stats and activity level, using peer-reviewed equations.

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Methodology

This calculator estimates your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) in two steps: it first estimates your basal metabolic rate (BMR), then multiplies it by an activity factor.

BMR is estimated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1990 and repeatedly found to be the most reliable of the common prediction equations for healthy adults:

Sex	Equation (kcal/day)
Men	`BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age (years) + 5`
Women	`BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age (years) − 161`

This is the simplified form proposed for practice in the original paper; the paper’s full regression coefficients (9.99 for weight and 4.92 for age) round to the values above.

If you enter a body-fat percentage, the calculator switches by itself to the Katch-McArdle equation, which works from fat-free mass (FFM) rather than total weight:

BMR = 370 + 21.6 × FFM (kg), where FFM = weight × (1 − body fat ÷ 100)

You are not asked to choose between the two. The tool takes a body-fat figure if you have one and says which equation it used. Two people of the same height, weight, age and sex can carry very different amounts of muscle, and only the second equation can tell them apart. Enter a measured figure if you can: a guess makes the result worse, not better, because it replaces a population average with your own error. If you want to compare several equations side by side, including the revised Harris-Benedict, the BMR calculator is built for that.

Your BMR is then multiplied by a standard activity factor, 1.2 (sedentary), 1.375 (lightly active), 1.55 (moderately active), 1.725 (very active) or 1.9 (extremely active), to estimate the total calories you burn in a normal day.

Why we show a range

Most calculators give you a single number to the calorie. That number is a prediction from a regression fitted on other people, and presenting it as exact is the least honest thing a tool like this can do.

A systematic review for the American Dietetic Association compared the four prediction equations in clinical use against measured metabolic rate. It found Mifflin-St Jeor the best of them, predicting resting metabolic rate to within 10% of measured more often than any other equation and with the narrowest error range, while recording that “noteworthy errors and limitations exist when it is applied to individuals”.

So the band shown under your result is your estimate plus or minus 10%. It is not a confidence interval and we do not present it as one. It is the width of the answer the best available equation can honestly give: right for most people, and wrong for a real minority. If your weight does not move the way the middle of that band predicts, you are probably one of them, and your own results are better evidence than our arithmetic.

Interpreting your result

Your TDEE is an estimate of maintenance calories: eat around this amount and your weight should stay roughly stable. Set a goal and the tool turns that into a daily eating target, a percentage below maintenance to lose weight or above it to gain.

Percentages rather than a flat number of calories, because 500 kcal off is a mild trim for a large man and a severe restriction for a small woman. The steepest cut offered is 25% below maintenance, the same ceiling the calorie deficit calculator applies. Surpluses stop at 15%, because the rate at which tissue can actually be added is the limit, and past a modest surplus the extra energy lands as fat.

The projected weekly weight change uses the 7 700 kcal per kg approximation. It is a reasonable guide over a few weeks and a poor one over many months.

Limitations

Prediction equations describe the average person of your size, age and sex. Individual BMR commonly varies by up to about 10% either side of the prediction, and more in people with very high or very low muscle mass.
Activity factors are the biggest source of error. Most people overestimate their activity level; if in doubt, pick the lower option.
Mifflin-St Jeor was derived in 498 healthy adults aged 19 to 78, and mostly non-athletic ones. For very muscular people, Katch-McArdle with a measured body-fat percentage is the better choice.
Energy expenditure adapts as you diet (adaptive thermogenesis), so a deficit that works initially will slowly shrink; recalculate as your weight changes.

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

What is TDEE?: TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is an estimate of the total calories you burn per day. It combines your basal metabolic rate, the energy your body uses at rest, with an activity multiplier that accounts for exercise and daily movement.
Which TDEE formula is most accurate?: For most people the Mifflin-St Jeor equation is the best-validated starting point, which is why this calculator uses it by default. If you enter a body-fat percentage from a reliable measurement, it switches to the Katch-McArdle equation, which works from lean mass and can tell apart two people of the same height, weight, age and sex who carry different amounts of muscle.
Why does this calculator show a range instead of one number?: Because a single figure to the calorie is more precise than the science allows. The systematic review that established Mifflin-St Jeor as the best equation in clinical use found it lands within 10% of a measured metabolic rate more often than the alternatives, but not always, and it noted that meaningful errors remain for individuals. The band on your result is that plus or minus 10%. Treat the middle as your best guess and the edges as genuinely possible.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?: Set the goal to losing weight and the calculator turns your maintenance estimate into a daily target, between 10% and 25% below maintenance. A percentage rather than a flat figure, because 500 kcal off is a mild trim for a large man and a severe restriction for a small woman. Twenty-five percent is the steepest cut offered, and most people do better with a smaller one they can hold for months.
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?: BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the energy your body uses at complete rest to keep basic functions running. TDEE is BMR multiplied by an activity factor, so it estimates everything you burn in a normal day, including exercise and everyday movement.
How do I use TDEE to lose or gain weight?: Your TDEE is an estimate of maintenance calories. Eating consistently below it tends to produce weight loss and eating above it tends to produce weight gain. Because it is only an estimate, track your weight over a few weeks and adjust intake based on what actually happens.
Which activity level should I pick?: Choose based on your whole week, not your best day. Most people with desk jobs who train three to five times a week fall under moderate activity. If your weight is not moving the way the estimate predicts, adjust the activity level down or up rather than assuming the formula is wrong.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?: Prediction equations are typically within about 10% of measured values for most healthy adults, but individual results vary with genetics, body composition and daily movement. Treat the number as a starting estimate to refine with real-world tracking, not a precise measurement.

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