TDEE Calculator — Total Daily Energy Expenditure
Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — every calorie you burn in a day, broken down by source. Then set your exact calorie target for any goal.
Enter your details on the left to see your TDEE and calorie targets.
Calorie Targets by Goal
| Goal | kcal/day |
|---|
* 1 kg of fat ≈ 7,700 kcal. Rates assume a 500 kcal/day deficit or surplus.
What is TDEE?
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the complete number of calories your body burns in a 24-hour period. It is the single most important number in any nutrition plan. Eat below it and you lose weight; eat above it and you gain weight; eat at it and you maintain.
TDEE is not a fixed number. It changes based on your weight (heavier people burn more), your body composition (more muscle = higher TDEE), your activity level, your age (TDEE drops ~1–2% per decade after 30), and even how much you ate the day before. Tracking TDEE over time — rather than treating it as a single fixed output — gives you a metabolic picture that guides smarter, more sustainable decisions.
The four components of TDEE
Calories burned at complete rest: breathing, circulation, organ function, cell repair. Calculated using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.
Calories from all movement that isn't deliberate exercise: walking, fidgeting, standing, typing. Varies enormously — up to 2,000 kcal/day between individuals with the same job.
Calories burned digesting and absorbing food. Protein has the highest TEF (20–30%), carbs moderate (5–10%), and fat the lowest (0–3%). High-protein diets burn more calories just through eating.
Deliberate structured exercise. A 60-minute moderate run burns ~400–600 kcal. Resistance training burns less during the session but elevates EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) for up to 48 hours.
The activity multiplier in this calculator accounts for NEAT + EAT combined. "Moderately active" (1.55×) assumes you exercise 3–5 times per week and have a generally active lifestyle outside the gym.
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990), the most accurate predictive equation for resting metabolic rate in the general population. A 2005 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics systematic review confirmed it outperforms the Harris-Benedict equation (originally published in 1919 and still widely used).
TDEE is then calculated by multiplying BMR by an activity factor ranging from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extremely active). The mean prediction error vs measured resting metabolic rate is approximately 70 kcal/day — significantly better than the Harris-Benedict equation's ~170 kcal error.
TDEE vs BMR — what's the difference?
| BMR | TDEE | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Calories burned at total rest | All calories burned daily |
| Includes exercise? | No | Yes |
| Use for | Understanding baseline metabolism | Setting calorie intake targets |
| Typical ratio | Base number | 1.2–1.9× BMR |
Eating at your BMR — a common mistake on very-low-calorie diets — puts you in a severe deficit that triggers muscle loss, hormonal adaptation, and metabolic slowdown. Always base your calorie target on TDEE, not BMR.
How to use your TDEE for your goal
trending_down Fat Loss
Set calories to TDEE − 300 to 500 kcal/day. A 500 kcal daily deficit produces approximately 0.5 kg fat loss per week — the rate at which muscle preservation is most reliable. Larger deficits are possible but carry higher risk of muscle loss, especially without adequate protein (1.8–2.2g per kg bodyweight).
Diet breaks: if you've been in a deficit for 12+ weeks, a 1–2 week "maintenance phase" at TDEE restores leptin, reduces cortisol, and makes the next cut phase more effective.
balance Maintenance / Body Recomposition
Eat at TDEE to maintain weight. Body recomposition — losing fat while building muscle simultaneously — is achievable at maintenance calories when protein is high (2.0–2.4g/kg) and resistance training is progressive. Results are slower than a dedicated bulk or cut but maintain body weight stability.
trending_up Muscle Gain
Set calories to TDEE + 200 to 300 kcal/day for a lean bulk. Natural muscle gain is slow — approximately 1–2 kg per month maximum for beginners, 0.25–0.5 kg per month for intermediate lifters. Larger surpluses mostly add fat. Use the Macro Calculator to set protein at 1.6–2.2g/kg and structure carb/fat intake around training sessions.
Common TDEE mistakes
- closeOverestimating activity level. Most people select "very active" when "moderately active" is more accurate. If weight isn't responding as expected at your target calories, the most likely cause is overestimating activity level. Try the next level down.
- closeNot recalculating after weight changes. Lose 5 kg and your TDEE drops by ~50–80 kcal/day. Most plateaus happen because people never recalculate — they're eating at their old TDEE which is now above maintenance.
- closeTreating TDEE as a daily fixed target. TDEE is an average. On rest days, actual expenditure is closer to 1.2× BMR; on heavy training days, 1.7× BMR. You don't need to precisely hit your target every day — the weekly average is what matters.
- closeIgnoring NEAT. NEAT is the most variable component and the most trainable without structured exercise. Increasing daily step count from 4,000 to 10,000 adds roughly 250–400 extra calories burned per day — equivalent to a moderate gym session.