TDEE Calculator
Estimate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) — the maintenance calories you burn per day including activity — using the Mifflin-St Jeor BMR formula and a standard 5-tier activity multiplier.
How It's Calculated
Formula
\text{TDEE} = \text{BMR} \times \text{Activity Multiplier}
\text{where BMR is the Mifflin-St Jeor estimate (see the BMR Calculator):}
\text{BMR (male)} = 10w + 6.25h - 5a + 5,\quad \text{BMR (female)} = 10w + 6.25h - 5a - 161
\text{where } w = \text{weight (kg)},\ h = \text{height (cm)},\ a = \text{age (years)}TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is an estimate of the total calories you burn in a day — your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR, the calories burned at complete rest) plus the additional calories burned through daily activity, exercise, and digestion. This is an estimate for general informational and educational purposes, based on a published formula — it is not a medical diagnosis, and it is not a substitute for individualized advice from a qualified healthcare provider. This calculator computes BMR using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (the same primitive used by the BMR Calculator — it is not recalculated with a different formula here) and then multiplies it by one of five standard activity-level multipliers (1.2 to 1.9) to arrive at TDEE. This calculator reports maintenance calories only — the estimated calories needed to keep your weight roughly stable at your current activity level. It deliberately does not subtract or add calories for a weight-loss or weight-gain target (for example, a common "TDEE minus 500 calories per day" deficit for losing about a pound a week); building a target calorie goal on top of TDEE is the job of a future, separate Calorie Calculator, not built yet. Use this result as a starting point for maintenance calories, not a prescription.
Worked Examples
Male, 30 years old, 80 kg, 180 cm, moderately active
- BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor): 10 × 80 + 6.25 × 180 − 5 × 30 + 5 = 800 + 1125 − 150 + 5 = 1780 kcal/day
- Activity multiplier for moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3–5 days/week): ×1.55
- TDEE = 1780 × 1.55 = 2759 kcal/day
Female, 25 years old, 60 kg, 165 cm, sedentary
- BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor): 10 × 60 + 6.25 × 165 − 5 × 25 − 161 = 600 + 1031.25 − 125 − 161 = 1345.25 kcal/day
- Activity multiplier for sedentary (little or no exercise): ×1.2
- TDEE = 1345.25 × 1.2 = 1614.3 kcal/day, rounded to 1614 kcal/day
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is only the calories your body burns at complete rest, with no activity at all. TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is BMR plus the calories burned through your day's activity, exercise, and digestion — it is always higher than BMR for anyone who moves at all during the day. TDEE is the more useful number for everyday calorie planning; BMR is the physiological baseline it's built on.
Why five activity tiers instead of a more precise input?
The 1.2–1.9 five-tier activity scale is the de facto standard reproduced across authoritative fitness and sports-nutrition sources — it is a deliberately coarse, well-validated classification rather than an attempt at false precision. Self-reported activity is inherently approximate, and a five-tier scale is simpler and more reliable to self-assess honestly than, say, asking for exact weekly exercise minutes.
Why doesn't this calculator show a weight-loss or bulking calorie number?
This calculator's scope is deliberately limited to maintenance calories (TDEE) only. Turning TDEE into a weight-loss or weight-gain target involves additional judgment calls (how aggressive a deficit or surplus, over what timeframe) that belong to a dedicated, separate Calorie Calculator — not built yet — rather than being bolted onto this one.
What ages and inputs does this calculator support?
Age must be between 15 and 100 years, matching the BMR Calculator's supported range, since TDEE is built directly on the same Mifflin-St Jeor formula. Height and weight must be positive numbers; you can enter height in centimeters or total inches, and weight in kilograms or pounds.