TDEE Calculator
Calculate total daily energy expenditure — the calories you burn in a full day.
Please note: For general information only. This is not medical advice — speak to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing your diet, training or medication.
What the TDEE Calculator does
TDEE is your maintenance calorie level: BMR multiplied by an activity factor covering exercise, daily movement and the energy used digesting food. Eat below it to lose weight, above it to gain.
Formula
TDEE = BMR × Activity factorSedentary 1.2, Light 1.375, Moderate 1.55, Very active 1.725, Extra active 1.9
Inputs explained
| Input | Unit | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Units | one of 2 options | Yes | — |
| Weight | kg or lb | Yes | Accepts 1 or more. |
| Height | cm or ft + in | Yes | Accepts 1 or more. |
| Age | years | Yes | Accepts 1 or more, up to 120. |
| Sex | one of 2 options | Yes | — |
| Activity level | one of 5 options | Yes | — |
How to use it
- Choose Units and Sex.
- Enter Weight, Height and Age.
- Select Calculate.
Worked example
A woman aged 28, 65 kg, 165 cm, moderately active.
- Weight
- 65 kg
- Height
- 165 cm
- Age
- 28
- Sex
- Female
- Activity
- Moderate
BMR 1,384 × 1.55 = about 2,145 calories a day to maintain.
Frequently asked questions
Why am I not losing weight in a deficit?
Usually because intake is underestimated or activity is overestimated. Track food accurately for two weeks, and remember that metabolic adaptation slows the rate over time.
How fast should I lose weight?
0.5–1% of body weight a week is sustainable. Faster loss costs more muscle and is harder to maintain.
Method and sources
Method. Resting metabolic rate from a published predictive equation, multiplied by an activity factor between roughly 1.2 for sedentary and 1.9 for very heavy training.
Assumptions
- The reader is a healthy non-pregnant adult, and the activity level chosen reflects a typical week rather than a good one.
- Body composition is average for the height and weight given; the equation cannot see muscle mass unless the body-fat variant is used.
Limitations
- The activity multipliers are a long-standing convention rather than a measured finding, and no authority defines them. Different sources use different ladders, so two calculators can disagree by several hundred calories on identical inputs.
- Self-reported activity is the largest source of error here, and it skews high — people consistently place themselves a rung above their actual week.
- Individual expenditure varies around any prediction by roughly ten per cent even when activity is known, and more after weight loss, when expenditure falls further than body size alone explains.
Sources
- A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals — The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Mifflin, St Jeor et al.), 1990. The resting metabolic rate the activity factor is applied to.