TDEE Calculator
Estimate Total Daily Energy Expenditure from BMR and activity.
About the TDEE Calculator
The TDEE Calculator estimates your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the calories you burn in a full day, exercise included — by multiplying your basal metabolic rate by an activity multiplier. Two tabs handle the BMR side: Compute BMR asks for gender, age, weight, and height and applies the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (10 × kg + 6.25 × cm − 5 × age, plus 5 for men or minus 161 for women), while Enter BMR directly accepts a figure you already have from a lab test or another calculation. A five-level activity selector then applies multipliers from 1.2 for Sedentary up to 1.9 for Very Active, and the page reports BMR and TDEE side by side. Below the headline numbers, a goal table converts your TDEE into practical daily calorie targets — lose one pound per week at minus 500 calories, maintain, or gain at plus 250 or plus 500 — using the 3,500-calorie-per-pound rule of thumb the page explains. A reset button restores sensible defaults in one click whenever you want a clean comparison. Dieters, athletes, and coaches use this energy expenditure calculator as the foundation of any calorie-goal plan, turning three body measurements and an honest activity self-assessment into a daily maintenance calorie number they can actually plan around.
Examples
Compute BMR tab: Male, Age = 30, Weight = 70 kg, Height = 175 cm, Activity = Moderate (1.55)
BMR 1,649 cal/day · TDEE 2,556 cal/day
Compute BMR tab: Female, Age = 30, Weight = 60 kg, Height = 165 cm, Activity = Light (1.375)
BMR 1,320 cal/day · TDEE 1,815 cal/day
Enter BMR directly tab: BMR = 1600, Activity = Active (1.725)
TDEE 2,760 cal/day · Lose 1 lb/week row shows 2,260 cal
How to use
- 1
Choose the Compute BMR tab, or Enter BMR directly if you already have a figure.
- 2
On the body metrics card, pick Male or Female, then fill Age, Weight (kg), and Height (cm).
- 3
Select your Activity level from the dropdown, from Sedentary (1.2) to Very Active (1.9).
- 4
Read the BMR and TDEE stats beside the form — both update live.
- 5
Scroll to the Calorie targets by goal table to see adjusted daily targets for losing, maintaining, or gaining.
Common use cases
- Finding maintenance calories before starting a cut or bulk.
- Planning a one-pound-per-week deficit with the goal table.
- Setting a conservative surplus for lean muscle gain.
- Cross-checking the calorie burn a fitness watch reports.
- Giving a coach a starting TDEE for a client's meal plan.
- Recalculating energy needs after a significant weight change.
Best practices
- The Mifflin-St Jeor result is an estimate — individual BMR varies by body composition and genetics.
- Choose the activity multiplier honestly; most desk workers with light exercise are Sedentary or Light, not Moderate.
- Recalculate after your weight moves more than a few kilos, since BMR scales with body mass.
- Treat the 3,500-calorie-per-pound rule as a rule of thumb — the goal table states this caveat directly.
- If you have a lab-measured BMR, use the direct tab rather than accepting the equation's estimate.
- Use the Reset to defaults button to clear a muddled session and start a clean scenario.
Tips
- Use the direct-BMR tab to compare a lab result against the equation's estimate — the difference is informative.
- Pick one goal row from the table and build your meal plan around that single number.
- The reset button restores age 30, 70 kg, 175 cm, Moderate, male — a handy clean slate.
- Treat the activity dropdown as the biggest knob: one level up or down can move TDEE by hundreds of calories.
Frequently asked questions
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