TDEE Calculator
Use our TDEE calculator to estimate how many calories you burn in a typical day. Your result starts with your maintenance calories, then adjusts for fat loss, maintenance, or muscle gain, giving you a practical daily calorie target, suggested macros, and meal-planning options in one place.
Enter your age, sex, height, weight, body fat estimate, and activity level. In seconds, you'll see personalized calorie and macro targets you can instantly turn into a personalized meal plan.
What Is TDEE?
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It's an estimate of how many calories your body burns over a full day, not just during exercise, but across everything your body does.
Your TDEE is made up of three main components:
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): The energy your body uses at rest to keep you alive: breathing, circulation, cell repair, temperature regulation. For most people, BMR accounts for roughly 60–70% of total daily calorie burn.
- Activity Thermogenesis: All the calories you burn through movement, from structured exercise to walking, standing, chores, and fidgeting. This typically makes up 15–30% of TDEE and is the most variable component from person to person.
- Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): The energy your body uses to digest, absorb, and process food. TEF accounts for roughly 10% of daily calorie burn, though it varies by macronutrient. Protein requires more energy to digest than carbs or fat (Westerterp, 2004).
Your TDEE is the foundation behind any calorie-based plan. Eat at your TDEE and your weight stays roughly stable. Eat below it and you lose weight; eat above it and you gain.
What Affects Your TDEE
Even two people who weigh the same can have meaningfully different calorie needs. The main factors that influence your TDEE include:
- Body composition: Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue. People with more lean mass burn more calories at rest (Müller et al., 2009).
- Age: Metabolic rate tends to decline over time, partly from gradual loss of muscle mass, though the decline is more gradual than many people assume. A large cross-sectional study found that total energy expenditure stays relatively stable from roughly age 20 to 60 before decreasing more notably (Pontzer et al., 2021).
- Sex: On average, men burn more calories than women at the same body weight, largely because of differences in lean mass.
- Daily movement: The calories you burn outside of formal exercise, often called Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), can vary enormously between individuals and has a significant impact on total energy expenditure (Levine, 2002).
- Genetics and hormones: Thyroid function, cortisol, sleep quality, and individual metabolic variation all play a role, though these are harder to quantify.
How Your Calorie Target Is Calculated
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (Mifflin et al., 1990) to estimate your Basal Metabolic Rate, then applies an activity multiplier to arrive at your estimated TDEE. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is generally considered the most accurate predictive formula for BMR in non-obese individuals (Frankenfield et al., 2005).
After estimating your maintenance calories, we also suggest macronutrient targets (protein, carbs, and fat) based on your goal, activity level, and body composition. You can fully customize these numbers when you create a free account.
An important note on accuracy: All TDEE calculators, including this one, produce estimates, not exact measurements. Your actual energy expenditure depends on factors no formula can fully capture (genetics, hormones, sleep, stress, and more). The most useful way to use your result is to follow it consistently for 1–2 weeks, then adjust based on your weight trend, training performance, hunger, and energy. Err in the direction of your goals: if you're trying to lose weight, round down; if you're trying to gain, round up.
As always, consult a healthcare professional before making major changes to your diet.
Choosing Your Activity Level
Activity level is one of the biggest drivers of your calorie estimate, and it's often the hardest input to get right. Choose the option that best matches your typical week, not your most ambitious one.
A general tip: lean in the direction of your goals. If you're between two levels and trying to lose weight, choose the lower one. If you're trying to gain, choose the higher one.
Sedentary: Little or No Exercise
- You spend most of your day sitting (desk job, remote work, studying)
- You may work out occasionally, but that's the majority of your movement
- Less than ~30 minutes of moderate activity per day on average
Lightly Active: Exercise 1–3 Days/Week
- You spend a good part of your day on your feet (teaching, nursing, retail)
- You walk at a moderate pace for 30+ minutes daily or do light workouts
- Occasional higher-intensity sessions, but not exceeding ~60 minutes/week total
Moderately Active: Exercise 3–5 Days/Week
- You move frequently throughout the day
- You do moderate activity regularly (brisk walking 60–120 min/day)
- You include 2–3 intense workouts per week (60–180 minutes total/week)
Very Active: Exercise 6–7 Days/Week
- Physically demanding lifestyle or consistent vigorous exercise
- 4–5 intense workouts per week (running, HIIT, competitive sports)
- Over 180 minutes of vigorous activity per week
Extremely Active: Daily Intense Exercise + Physical Job
- Intense exercise nearly every day plus a labor-intensive job
- Over 300 minutes of vigorous activity per week
- Examples: professional athletes, military personnel, construction workers who also train
If you're between two levels, start with the one you can sustain most weeks, then adjust based on real-world results after a week or two.
How We Suggest Macros Based on Your TDEE
After estimating your calorie target, we suggest starting targets for protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Our aim is to make sure you hit healthy minimums for each macronutrient while leaving enough flexibility to enjoy the foods you like. These are starting points, and you can fully customize them.
Protein
Protein is essential for muscle repair, recovery, and maintaining lean mass. It's also the most satiating macronutrient, which makes it particularly useful during fat loss.
How much you need depends on your goals and activity level:
- The RDA is 0.36 g/lb (0.8 g/kg), which is enough to prevent deficiency in most sedentary adults but likely suboptimal if you're active or in a calorie deficit.
- Research suggests that up to ~0.82 g/lb (1.8 g/kg) is the approximate ceiling for benefits to muscle protein synthesis in most people (Phillips & Van Loon, 2011).
- During a cut, higher protein intakes (up to ~1.1 g/lb or 2.4 g/kg) can help preserve lean mass while losing fat, particularly in trained athletes (Hector & Phillips, 2018).
We set your protein target based on your body weight, body fat estimate, activity level, and goal. If you're losing weight or very active, your target will be higher. If you're maintaining and less active, it'll be more moderate.
Carbohydrates
Carbs are your body's preferred fuel source, especially during moderate-to-high intensity exercise. We scale your carb target based on your activity level, weight, and goal.
If you're more active, you'll generally need more carbohydrates to support training performance and recovery. If you're more sedentary or focused on fat loss, a lower carb target can help control total calories and manage hunger, though this is a preference, not a requirement. What matters most is total calorie intake.
Fat
Fat is essential for hormone production (including testosterone and estrogen), absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K), and brain function. Going too low on fat can impair hormonal health.
Research on bodybuilders suggests a minimum of 0.5 g/kg (about 0.23 g/lb) per day to support essential fatty acid needs and hormonal health (Iraki et al., 2019), though that's in the context of fairly aggressive dieting. We set a somewhat higher floor for a better balance of satiety and sanity: 0.3 g/lb during a cut, and 0.5 g/lb for maintenance or gaining phases. Your actual fat intake will often end up above the floor depending on the meals and recipes in your diet.
A Note on Macro Percentages
If you use our meal planner, we allow you to set targets as percentages if you prefer, but we don't recommend it for most people. Your body doesn't need a specific ratio of macros. It needs enough of each to function well. Fixed percentages can be unnecessarily restrictive and may leave you under- or over-consuming a given macro depending on your calorie level. Our approach focuses on absolute minimums (in grams) rather than arbitrary ratios. This also has the added benefit of giving you a lot more flexibility with food choices.
Using Your TDEE for Fat Loss, Maintenance, or Muscle Gain
Your TDEE tells you roughly how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. From there, adjusting is straightforward:
- For fat loss: Aim to eat 10–25% below your TDEE. For most people, this means a deficit of roughly 300–500 calories per day. Our calculator defaults to a 20% reduction (0.8x your TDEE), which is a moderate starting point. Larger deficits can accelerate fat loss but also increase muscle loss, hunger, and the risk of rebounding. Patience tends to produce better long-term results.
- For muscle gain: Eat 10–20% above your TDEE, combined with a strength training program and adequate protein. Our calculator defaults to a 15% surplus (1.15x your TDEE), which keeps gains relatively lean. Without a training stimulus, a surplus is more likely to be stored as fat.
- For maintenance: Eat roughly at your TDEE. This is also a good place to spend time between cutting and gaining phases to let your metabolism and hormones normalize.
These are practical starting targets. Real energy expenditure changes over time as your body weight, activity, and routine shift, so it's normal to recalculate and fine-tune your intake based on actual results.
Turn Your TDEE Into a Meal Plan
Knowing your calorie and macro targets is useful, but the real value is turning them into meals you can actually follow. Once you have your TDEE-based calorie target and macro suggestions, you can use them as nutrition targets for a personalized meal plan that fits your diet preferences, schedule, and goal.
Eat This Much lets you choose from a variety of diet styles (keto, Mediterranean, paleo, vegan, vegetarian, or anything) and generate a meal plan built around your numbers. The calculator above has a 1-click button to turn your targets into a meal plan, so you can understand your calorie needs and start acting on them right away.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between TDEE, BMR, and BMI?
These are three different measurements that serve different purposes:
- BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories your body burns at complete rest, just to keep you alive. It doesn't include any activity or digestion.
- TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) builds on BMR by adding activity and the thermic effect of food. TDEE is the number you should use when setting calorie targets.
- BMI (Body Mass Index) is a ratio of height to weight. It's a population-level screening tool, not a measure of metabolism, body composition, or daily calorie needs.
Can my TDEE change over time?
Yes. Your TDEE shifts as your body weight, muscle mass, age, and activity level change. It's a good idea to recalculate every 6–8 weeks, or sooner if your weight has changed by more than 5% or your activity level has shifted significantly.
It's also worth noting that your body can adapt to prolonged calorie restriction by slightly reducing energy expenditure, a process sometimes called metabolic adaptation. The effect is small, and likely not noticeable in most people, but it can be a reason periodic diet breaks or maintenance phases may be beneficial during longer cuts.
How accurate is this TDEE calculator?
It's an evidence-based estimate, not a measurement. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is among the most validated predictive formulas for BMR, but real-world calorie burn is influenced by genetics, hormones, sleep quality, stress, and other factors no equation accounts for.
Use your result as a starting point, then let your actual progress over 1–2 weeks tell you whether to adjust up or down.
Should I eat exactly this many calories every day?
Not necessarily. Daily calorie burn varies naturally, and that's fine. What matters is your average intake over the course of a week. Some people also prefer calorie cycling (eating more on training days, less on rest days), which is a perfectly valid approach as long as the weekly total aligns with your goal.
When should I recalculate my TDEE?
Recalculate when your body weight changes meaningfully (roughly 5% or more), your routine changes significantly, or your activity level shifts enough that your current targets no longer match your real-world results.
Health & Fitness Calculators
Easily estimate your daily calorie needs, optimize your macronutrient intake, and plan your nutrition with these powerful tools. Whether you're aiming to lose weight, build muscle, or maintain a healthy lifestyle, these calculators will help you make informed decisions tailored to your goals.
- BMR Calculator
- Estimate your Basal Metabolic Rate to understand how many calories your body needs at rest.
- Calorie Deficit Calculator
- Determine how many fewer calories you need to eat per day to lose weight effectively and safely.
- Macro Calculator
- Calculate the optimal ratio of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates based on your fitness goals.
- Protein Intake Calculator
- Find out how much protein you need daily based on your activity level and fitness objectives.
- TDEE Calculator
- Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure to know how many calories you burn each day.