TDEE Calculator

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including resting metabolism (BMR), daily activity, exercise, and food digestion. It is calculated by first estimating your BMR using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then multiplying by an activity factor between 1.2 (sedentary) and 1.9 (extremely active). For example, a 30-year-old male at 75 kg and 175 cm with moderate exercise has a BMR of 1,699 and a TDEE of approximately 2,633 calories per day.

Subtract 500 calories from your TDEE to lose roughly 0.5 kg (1 lb) per week. This is considered a safe, sustainable rate of fat loss. For faster loss, a 750-calorie deficit targets about 0.75 kg per week, but deficits beyond 1,000 calories are generally not recommended as they increase muscle loss and metabolic slowdown. Never eat below your BMR. If your TDEE is 2,600, aim for 2,100 calories per day for steady fat loss.

Choose based on your total weekly exercise AND daily movement combined. Sedentary: desk job with no planned exercise. Lightly active: 1-3 days per week of walking or light weights. Moderately active: 3-5 days of structured exercise like running, cycling, or gym sessions. Very active: 6-7 days of intense training. Extremely active: hard daily training plus a physically demanding job. Most people overestimate their activity level, so if in doubt, choose one level lower and adjust based on results after 2-3 weeks.

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the calories your body burns at complete rest just to stay alive, covering breathing, circulation, and cell repair. It accounts for 60-70% of your total burn. TDEE adds the calories from daily movement (NEAT, 15-30%), food digestion (TEF, 8-15%), and exercise (5-10%). A person with a BMR of 1,700 and moderate activity has a TDEE of about 2,635. You should base your diet on TDEE, not BMR, because BMR does not account for any physical activity.

The Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in 1990, predicts actual measured metabolic rate within 10% for approximately 80% of healthy adults, making it the most accurate non-clinical BMR formula available. It is more accurate than the older Harris-Benedict equation for most populations. However, it may underestimate BMR in very muscular individuals and overestimate in older adults with low muscle mass. For the most precise measurement, indirect calorimetry in a clinical setting remains the gold standard.

Yes. TDEE decreases as you lose weight because a lighter body requires fewer calories to maintain. For every 10 kg lost, TDEE typically drops by 150-250 calories per day. This is why weight loss plateaus occur: the deficit that worked at 90 kg is no longer a deficit at 80 kg. Recalculate your TDEE after every 5-10 kg of change and adjust your calorie intake accordingly. Conversely, gaining muscle slightly increases BMR (each kg of muscle burns about 13 calories per day at rest), which raises TDEE over time.

Yes, the TDEE Calculator is fully embeddable. Tap "Embed" above to configure appearance and copy the code. It is free to use, works on any platform (HTML, WordPress, CMS), and adjusts to any screen size automatically. Visit calculory.com/services/embed-calculators for the complete guide.