Suggested daily target
Use this as a baseline, then adjust weekly based on trend data.
What TDEE actually means
Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the number of calories you burn in a day, all in: the energy your body spends staying alive, the energy it spends digesting food, and the energy you spend moving. It is the number that decides whether you gain, hold or lose weight. Eat below it and you lose; eat above it and you gain.
TDEE is built from your Basal Metabolic Rate, the calories you would burn lying still all day, multiplied by how active you are. BMR is usually 60 to 70 percent of the total for most people, which is why body size affects your target far more than your workout schedule does.
The equation this calculator uses
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in 1990 and still the most accurate of the widely used predictive equations for healthy adults. Weight is in kilograms, height in centimetres, age in years.
Men:BMR = (10 × weight) + (6.25 × height) − (5 × age) + 5
Women:BMR = (10 × weight) + (6.25 × height) − (5 × age) − 161
TDEE= BMR × activity multiplier
The older Harris-Benedict equation tends to overestimate. Katch-McArdle can be more accurate but needs a measured body-fat percentage, which most people do not have to hand. Mifflin-St Jeor needs only numbers you already know.
Activity multipliers, and how to pick honestly
This is where most people get their number wrong. The multiplier covers your whole week, including your job, your walking and your fidgeting, not just your training sessions. Most people who train three or four times a week but sit at a desk are Light, not Moderate.
| Level | Multiplier | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | Desk job, little deliberate exercise, under about 5,000 steps a day |
| Light | 1.375 | Light exercise one to three days a week, or a job with some walking |
| Moderate | 1.55 | Moderate exercise three to five days a week |
| High | 1.725 | Hard exercise six or seven days a week, or a physically demanding job |
If you are between two levels, take the lower one. An overestimated multiplier is the most common reason a calorie target quietly stops working.
A worked example
Take a 28-year-old man, 172 cm tall, weighing 74 kg, training moderately three to five days a week.
BMR = (10 × 74) + (6.25 × 172) − (5 × 28) + 5
BMR = 740 + 1,075 − 140 + 5 = 1,680 kcal
TDEE = 1,680 × 1.55 = 2,604 kcal
So roughly 2,604 calories a day holds his weight steady. To lose fat at about half a kilo a week he would eat around 2,100. To gain slowly he would eat around 2,900.
Turning TDEE into a goal
A kilogram of body fat holds roughly 7,700 calories, so a daily deficit of about 550 calories works out near half a kilo a week. That is the rate most people can hold without losing muscle or patience.
- Fat loss: TDEE minus 15 to 20 percent. Faster than 25 percent tends to cost muscle and makes the diet hard to stay on.
- Maintenance: TDEE, adjusted by what the scale actually does over two to three weeks.
- Slow gain: TDEE plus 10 to 15 percent, paired with resistance training.
Whatever number you start with, it is an estimate. Weigh yourself several mornings a week, take the weekly average, and adjust by 100 to 200 calories if the average has not moved in two to three weeks. The trend is the real measurement; the calculator is only the starting point.
How accurate is this?
Mifflin-St Jeor predicts resting energy expenditure within 10 percent of measured values for about 70 percent of healthy adults. That means a 2,000 calorie estimate could reasonably sit anywhere between 1,800 and 2,200, and a minority of people fall further out than that.
Predictive equations are less reliable at the extremes of body composition. A very muscular person is usually underestimated, because muscle burns more at rest than fat does and the equation only sees total weight. Someone carrying a lot of body fat is often overestimated for the same reason.
Common questions
Should I eat back the calories I burn exercising?
No, not if you used an activity multiplier above Sedentary. Your training is already counted in that multiplier, so eating it back a second time double-counts it. This is the single most common way a calorie target gets quietly undone.
Why did my TDEE drop when I lost weight?
A smaller body needs less energy, so the equation returns a lower number as your weight falls. Recalculate every four to six kilos, or whenever the scale stalls for three weeks at a target that used to work.
Is TDEE the same as BMR?
No. BMR is what you burn at complete rest. TDEE is BMR plus digestion and all movement. TDEE is always the larger number and it is the one to eat against.
Do I need to weigh my food to use this?
Not forever, but weighing for the first two weeks calibrates your eye. Portion estimates drift, and the drift is almost always upward.
Sources
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, Scott BJ, Daugherty SA, Koh YO. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990;51(2):241-247. PubMed
- Frankenfield D, Roth-Yousey L, Compher C. Comparison of predictive equations for resting metabolic rate in healthy nonobese and obese adults. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2005;105(5):775-789. PubMed
- Nutrient reference values and food composition data: USDA FoodData Central
This calculator is an estimate for healthy adults and is not medical advice. If you are pregnant, managing a medical condition, or recovering from an eating disorder, speak to a clinician before setting a calorie target. For the macro side of the same numbers, see the macro calculator.