Health & fitness
TDEE Calculator
Your TDEE — Total Daily Energy Expenditure — is the calories you burn in a day, and the number you eat to maintain your weight. Most adults sit between 1,600–2,400 (women) and 2,000–3,000 (men). To lose about 1 lb a week, eat ~500 calories below it; to gain, eat above. Enter your details for your exact number, goal targets, and macros.
This calculator finds your maintenance calories by taking your Mifflin-St Jeor BMR (or Katch-McArdle, if you enter your body-fat percentage) and multiplying by an activity factor — then it does the rest: how many calories to hit any goal, your protein/carbs/fat split, and your TDEE at every activity level. It works in U.S. customary or metric units, updates as you type, runs entirely in your browser, and shows the exact math below. General information only, not medical advice.
Your details
Enter your details
TDEE is an estimate of maintenance calories, not a diagnosis. Real needs vary with body composition, genetics and how accurately you rate your activity.
Your calorie targets by goal
The same body can aim at several goals — here is exactly how many calories per day each one takes, based on your TDEE above. Losing weight uses a deficit (about 500 calories below maintenance ≈ 1 lb a week); gaining uses a surplus.
| Goal | Calories / day | Expected rate |
|---|---|---|
| Enter your details to see your targets. | ||
Your macros
Macros split your calories into protein, carbohydrate and fat. Pick a goal and a split, and we convert the calorie target into grams (protein and carbs are 4 cal/g, fat is 9 cal/g).
Based on your maintenance calories.
Your TDEE at every activity level
Activity level is the biggest source of error in any TDEE estimate, because most people overrate how active they are. Here's your maintenance number at each level so you can see the range — your selected level is highlighted.
| Activity level | Multiplier | Maintenance cal/day |
|---|---|---|
| Enter your details to see the table. | ||
How the TDEE calculator works
TDEE is built in two steps. First the tool finds your Basal Metabolic Rate — the calories you burn at complete rest. By default it uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the one most recommended for general use. If you enter your body-fat percentage, it switches to Katch-McArdle, which is based on lean body mass and is more accurate for lean or muscular people. Then it multiplies BMR by an activity factor that scales your needs to how much you move. Imperial inputs are converted to metric first, so the result is identical either way.
TDEE formula
TDEE = BMR × activity factor BMR (Mifflin, men) = 10W + 6.25H − 5A + 5 BMR (Mifflin, women) = 10W + 6.25H − 5A − 161 BMR (Katch-McArdle) = 370 + 21.6 × LBMwhere: W = weight in kg (lb ÷ 2.2046) H = height in cm (in × 2.54) A = age in years LBM = lean body mass in kg = W × (1 − body-fat% ÷ 100) activity factor = 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extra active)
Activity multipliers
- Sedentary (1.2) — desk job, little or no exercise.
- Lightly active (1.375) — light exercise 1–3 days a week.
- Moderately active (1.55) — moderate exercise 3–5 days a week.
- Very active (1.725) — hard exercise 6–7 days a week.
- Extra active (1.9) — very hard training or a physical job.
Notes & assumptions
- Activity factors are estimates — most people slightly overrate how active they are, so when in doubt pick the lower level.
- The 500-calorie-per-pound-per-week rule is a useful approximation; real loss slows as you get lighter, so re-check your numbers every few weeks.
- TDEE assumes a stable weight; rapid weight change shifts your real needs.
- Calculations are for general information only and are not medical advice — consult a healthcare professional before relying on them.
Worked example
Say you're a 30-year-old man in Florida who is 5 ft 9 in tall and weighs 160 lb. Converting gives 175.26 cm and 72.57 kg, and the Mifflin-St Jeor men's formula returns a BMR of about 1,676 calories per day. At moderately active (1.55) your TDEE is about 2,598 calories to maintain. To lose a pound a week you'd target roughly 2,098 calories; to gain, about 3,098. With a balanced 30/40/30 split at maintenance that's about 195 g protein, 260 g carbs and 87 g fat. Change any input above and every number — targets, macros and the activity table — recalculates instantly.
Frequently asked questions
What is TDEE?
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total number of calories your body burns in a full day. It combines your Basal Metabolic Rate (the energy used at rest) with the calories you burn through movement, exercise and digesting food. Because it captures everything, your TDEE is effectively the number of calories you need to eat each day to keep your current weight steady, which is why it's also called your maintenance calories.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
Eat below your TDEE. A deficit of about 500 calories a day produces roughly one pound of fat loss per week, since a pound of fat is about 3,500 calories; 250 a day is closer to half a pound. The "Your calorie targets by goal" table above shows your exact loss numbers. Don't drop below about 1,200 calories a day (women) or 1,500 (men) without medical supervision — very low intakes are hard to sustain and can cost you muscle.
How many calories should I eat to lose 1 lb a week?
Subtract about 500 calories from your TDEE. If your maintenance is 2,500 calories, you'd eat around 2,000 a day to lose roughly a pound a week. The exact figure for your body is in the goal table above. Pair the deficit with enough protein and some resistance training so most of the loss is fat, not muscle.
What are my maintenance calories?
Your maintenance calories are simply your TDEE — the amount that keeps your weight stable. The big number at the top of the worksheet is your maintenance figure at your selected activity level. Eat at it to hold steady, below it to lose, above it to gain. The most reliable way to confirm it is to eat that amount for two to three weeks and check whether the scale holds.
Should I use Mifflin-St Jeor or Katch-McArdle?
Use Mifflin-St Jeor (the default) if you don't know your body-fat percentage — it's the most accurate general equation. If you do know your body fat, enter it and the tool switches to Katch-McArdle, which bases your BMR on lean body mass. Katch-McArdle is usually more accurate for lean, muscular, or higher-body-fat people because it accounts for body composition rather than just height and weight.
Which activity level should I choose?
Pick the level that reflects your whole week, not just your gym days. If you have a desk job and don't exercise, choose sedentary. If you do moderate workouts three to five times a week, choose moderately active. Most people overestimate, so when in doubt choose the lower of two options — the activity table above shows how much the choice changes your number.
How do I turn TDEE into macros?
Pick a calorie target, then split it into protein, carbohydrate and fat. Protein and carbs supply 4 calories per gram and fat supplies 9, so a 2,000-calorie balanced 30/40/30 plan is about 150 g protein, 200 g carbs and 67 g fat. The macros panel above does this for any goal and split you choose; a common starting point is to keep protein around 0.7–1 g per pound of bodyweight.
Why is my TDEE different on other calculators?
Small differences are normal. Calculators may use different BMR equations (Mifflin-St Jeor, Harris-Benedict or Katch-McArdle) and slightly different activity multipliers. This tool uses Mifflin-St Jeor by default (Katch-McArdle when you add body fat) with the widely cited 1.2 to 1.9 activity factors. Treat any TDEE figure as a starting estimate and adjust based on how your weight actually responds.