Free TDEE calculator
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Your likely daily energy use
2,041 as low as
2,430 kcal/day
2,819 as high as
±16% — the shaded band is where your real figure most likely sits.
Show the arithmetic
- BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor)
- 10(82) + 6.25(178) − 5(34) + 5 = 1768 kcal
- Activity — Lightly active
- 1768 × 1.375 = 2430 kcal
- Honest band — ±16%
- 2041 – 2819 kcal/day
Mifflin-St Jeor is the default because it is the best-validated equation that needs no body-fat number. Harris-Benedict would give 1,848 kcal for the same person — a difference of well under 100 kcal. The formula is not what makes these calculators wrong; the activity multiplier is.
So what do I eat?
One recommendation, not a menu. Moderate loss is marked because it is the rate most people actually sustain. Pick another row to move the numbers.
Clamped. A target below 1,500 kcal is not something to run unsupervised, so we show the floor instead of the number the percentage asked for.
1,944 kcal/day · -0.44 kg per week, estimated
Macros — as ranges, because that is what the evidence supports
- Protein 148–180 g 1.6–2.2 g per kg bodyweight, upper end while cutting
- Fat 43–65 g 20–30% of calories
- Carbs 160–241 g whatever the calorie target has left
How to replace this estimate with your own number
Every figure on this page is a starting point, and the ±band is the honest size of the error. After two to three weeks of eating near your target, weigh yourself daily and compare the weekly averages, not single days. If the average moved less than the estimate predicted, your real maintenance is lower than shown — subtract roughly 100 kcal and hold for another fortnight. If it moved faster, add 100. Two cycles of that beat any formula, including this one.
In short
- Your TDEE is your BMR multiplied by an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.9.
- Any prediction of it carries roughly ±16% of error, so this tool shows a range with your estimate marked inside it.
- Which activity bucket you pick moves the answer far more than which formula you use.
- Treat the number as a two-week experiment: eat near it, track weekly averages, then adjust by about 100 kcal.
What this free TDEE calculator actually does
Your TDEE — total daily energy expenditure — is everything your body spends in a day: staying alive, digesting food, fidgeting, walking to the kitchen, and training. Most people open a total daily energy expenditure calculator with one question: how many calories do I burn a day? No tool can tell you exactly. It can give you a well-founded estimate and be straight about how wide the error really is.
That is the whole difference here. This tool shows a range with your point estimate marked inside it rather than one confident-looking figure. It names the formula it used, substitutes your own numbers into it, and shows the activity multiplier it applied. There is no Calculate button, no email wall, and no gated result.
Weight and height each carry their own unit switch, so you can enter kilograms with feet and inches — the combination plenty of people in the UK and India actually think in, and the one most calculators force you to convert by hand.
How to calculate TDEE, step by step
Every TDEE and BMR calculator works in two stages, and this one shows you both. First it estimates your basal metabolic rate — the energy your body spends at complete rest. The default TDEE formula here is Mifflin-St Jeor:
BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + swhere s is +5 for men and −161 for women
Then it multiplies that BMR by an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.9. That product is your TDEE. If you would rather work it out on paper, that is the whole of the arithmetic — and the "Show the arithmetic" panel above already has your figures in it.
Enter a measured body fat percentage and the tool switches to the Katch-McArdle equation, which works from lean body mass and ignores sex entirely. That is a genuine improvement when the measurement is real, and a genuine downgrade when it is a guess — which is why the field is optional and empty by default.
Why every TDEE calculator gives you a different number
Run your details through five sites and you will get five answers, sometimes 400 kcal apart. It is tempting to conclude one of them has a better formula. It almost never does: Mifflin-St Jeor and the revised Harris-Benedict equation usually land within 50–80 kcal of each other for the same person.
Two things actually drive the spread. The first is the activity multiplier — moving one bucket shifts the result by 150–250 kcal, and different sites label those buckets differently. The second is that people vary. Two adults matched on height, weight, age and sex can differ in resting metabolic rate by around ±10%, and non-exercise activity varies enormously between individuals at the same stated activity level. No calculator can see any of that from six input fields. A single number was always a small fiction; the band this tool draws is the size of that fiction, made visible.
Choosing an activity level without fooling yourself
This is where a TDEE calculator with activity level selection quietly goes wrong. Activity describes your entire week, not your hardest day. These are the five multipliers the slider above uses, with what each one actually means:
| × | Level | What it means in a normal week |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2 | Sedentary | Desk job, no deliberate exercise. Most days under 5,000 steps. |
| 1.375 | Lightly active | Desk job, 1–3 light sessions a week, or 6,000–8,000 steps a day. |
| 1.55 | Moderately active | Desk job plus 3–5 real training sessions a week, or an active commute. |
| 1.725 | Very active | Hard training 6–7 days a week, or a job spent on your feet all day. |
| 1.9 | Extremely active | Physical job plus daily hard training. Manual labour, or two-a-days. |
A desk job with three good gym sessions is lightly active — not "very active", which describes hard training six or seven days a week. Overstating by one bucket is the most common way people end up eating 200–300 kcal more than they meant to and then conclude their metabolism is broken. If you are torn between two options, take the lower one: correcting upward from a slight underestimate is far easier than diagnosing a stall.
From maintenance calories to an actual plan
Used as a maintenance calories calculator, the number above is the intake that should hold your weight roughly steady. Everything else is a shift away from it: about 10–25% below for fat loss, around 10% above for a lean gain. Those are percentages rather than a flat "500 calories" because the same deficit means very different things to a 55 kg and a 120 kg body.
Protein sits at 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight, toward the upper end while cutting; fat at 20–30% of calories; carbohydrate fills whatever remains. Those are ranges in the literature, so they are shown here as ranges. A daily calorie burn calculator that hands you "163 g of protein" is inventing precision the evidence does not have. If the split is what you came for, the macro calculator runs the same engine with the grams as the destination.
How to stop estimating and start measuring
The best use of any free TDEE calculator is as a starting point you intend to replace. Take the number above, eat near it for two to three weeks, and weigh yourself daily. Then compare weekly averages rather than individual days — day-to-day swings are mostly water and gut contents, and they will mislead you.
If your average weight moved less than predicted, your real maintenance is lower than the estimate: drop about 100 kcal and hold for another two weeks. If it moved faster, add 100. Two rounds of that will beat every equation on the internet, including this one, because your own trend reflects what no formula can observe. At that point you no longer need my TDEE calculator, or anyone else’s — you have measured the answer instead of predicting it.
None of this sits behind anything. There is no account, no paywall and no gated macro breakdown, and the arithmetic runs entirely in your browser — your height and weight are never sent to a server, because there is no server to send them to. To keep a result, the address bar already holds it, and "Copy a link to this result" gives you a shareable version.
Where these figures come from
The equations and reference ranges above are drawn from the primary literature rather than from other calculators:
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Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51(2), 241–247.
The default BMR equation.
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Roza AM, Shizgal HM (1984). The Harris-Benedict equation reevaluated. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 40(1), 168–182.
The revised Harris-Benedict comparison figures.
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Cunningham JJ (1980). A reanalysis of the factors influencing basal metabolic rate in normal adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 33(11), 2372–2374.
The lean-mass basis behind the Katch-McArdle form.
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McArdle WD, Katch FI, Katch VL. Exercise Physiology: Nutrition, Energy, and Human Performance. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
The Katch-McArdle lean-mass equation.
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Frankenfield D, Roth-Yousey L, Compher C (2005). Comparison of predictive equations for resting metabolic rate in healthy nonobese and obese adults: a systematic review. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 105(5), 775–789.
The accuracy figures and the ±16% band.
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Levine JA (2004). Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Nutrition Reviews / Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Why two people at the same stated activity level differ.
This site is written by Madhu Kinnera, who is not a clinician. Nothing here is medical advice. If you have a condition that affects your metabolism, are pregnant, or are considering a large or rapid change in intake, talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian before acting on any calculator, this one included.
Frequently asked questions
What is TDEE?
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure — every calorie your body spends in 24 hours. It bundles four things: your basal metabolic rate, the energy used digesting food, deliberate exercise, and all the incidental movement in between. Eat around your TDEE and your weight holds steady; eat consistently under or over it and it moves.
How is TDEE calculated?
In two steps. First an equation estimates your basal metabolic rate from your sex, age, height and weight. Then that BMR is multiplied by an activity factor between 1.2 (sedentary) and 1.9 (extremely active). The result is your TDEE. This calculator shows both steps with your own numbers substituted rather than only the final figure.
What's the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is what you would burn lying still all day doing nothing — roughly 60–70% of most people's total. TDEE is that number plus everything else you actually do. TDEE is always the larger of the two, and it is the one to eat against. BMR is an input, not a target.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
Less accurate than the confident single numbers most calculators display. Prediction equations put roughly four in five healthy adults within 10% of their measured resting rate, but the remaining fifth are missed by much more, and the activity multiplier adds error on top. That is why this tool shows a ±16% band instead of one figure.
Why do different TDEE calculators give me different numbers?
Almost always because they assume different activity multipliers or round them differently, not because one has a better formula. Mifflin-St Jeor and Harris-Benedict typically differ by well under 100 kcal for the same person. Change your activity bucket by one step and the answer moves by 150–250 kcal — far more than the formula ever does.
Which BMR formula should I use?
Mifflin-St Jeor if you do not have a measured body fat percentage — it is the best-validated equation for the general population and is the default here. Katch-McArdle if you do have a real measurement, because it reads leanness directly. With a guessed body fat number, Katch-McArdle is worse than Mifflin-St Jeor, not better.
What activity level should I choose?
Almost certainly a lower one than you think. Activity level describes your whole week, not your best day. Three gym sessions on top of a desk job is "lightly active", not "very active". If you are genuinely torn between two buckets, pick the lower one and let two weeks of real weight data correct you upward.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
Roughly 10–25% below your TDEE, which works out near 0.25–0.7% of your bodyweight per week. Percentages beat flat rules like "500 calories" because a 55 kg and a 120 kg person need very different deficits. Below about 1,200 kcal for women or 1,500 for men, get supervision rather than a calculator.
How many calories should I eat to gain muscle?
About 10% above your TDEE for most people, paired with resistance training and 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight. That is around 0.25% of bodyweight gained per week. Faster surpluses add fat rather than muscle, because the rate you can build tissue has a ceiling that eating more does not raise.
How do I calculate my TDEE by hand?
Take 10 × weight in kg, add 6.25 × height in cm, subtract 5 × age, then add 5 if you are male or subtract 161 if you are female. That is your BMR. Multiply it by your activity factor — 1.2, 1.375, 1.55, 1.725 or 1.9 — and you have your TDEE.
Does TDEE change as I lose weight?
Yes, and this catches people out. A smaller body costs less to run, so your TDEE falls as you lose. Adaptive changes in incidental movement can lower it further still. Recalculate after every 5–10 kg of change, or whenever a deficit that used to work has quietly stopped working.
Do I need my body fat percentage?
No, and you should leave it blank unless the figure is measured — a DEXA scan, a skinfold reading, or a clinical assessment. A real measurement narrows the estimate from about ±16% to ±11% by switching to the Katch-McArdle equation. A guess degrades the estimate while making it look more precise.
How often should I recalculate my TDEE?
Every 5–10 kg of weight change, or every couple of months if your weight is stable. Recalculate sooner if your training load or job changes substantially. Beyond that, your own weight trend is a better instrument than any recalculation — the formula cannot see the changes your scale already recorded.
Is this TDEE calculator free?
Yes — completely, with no catch to find later. There is no account to create, no email to hand over, no paywall, and no gated macro breakdown. The calculation runs in your browser rather than on a server, so your measurements never leave your device. Nothing here is a trial of a paid version.
Can I enter my weight in kg and my height in feet?
Yes. Weight and height have separate unit switches, so kilograms with feet and inches is a valid combination here, as is pounds with centimetres. Most calculators offer one metric-or-imperial toggle and make you convert the other measurement yourself. Switching a unit converts the value you already typed rather than clearing it.
Is it safe to eat below my BMR?
It is not automatically dangerous, but it is rarely necessary and easy to get wrong. Very low intakes make protein and micronutrient targets hard to hit and are difficult to sustain. If the arithmetic pushes you under roughly 1,200 kcal as a woman or 1,500 as a man, that is a signal to involve a clinician.