Health & fitness tool
Find out how many calories your body actually burns each day. This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for BMR, applies your activity level for TDEE, and shows calorie targets for cutting, maintaining, or building muscle — with suggested macros for each goal.
Next steps
Weigh yourself daily under the same conditions and compare weekly averages. If your weight is flat after two weeks, you are eating at maintenance — adjust intake by 100–200 calories in your intended direction rather than making big jumps.
In a deficit, prioritize 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kg of body weight and keep resistance training. This helps preserve lean mass so more of the weight you lose is fat.
TDEE is not fixed: every few kilograms of change shifts your BMR. Recalculate after every 4–5 kg (or 10 lbs) of progress to keep targets accurate.
Most people overestimate exercise burn. If you are between two activity levels, choose the lower one and adjust based on results rather than the gym clock.
Fuel your body needs
Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the number of calories your body burns in a full day. Understanding where the estimate comes from, and where it stops being useful, helps you turn a single number into a sensible eating plan instead of a rigid rule.
Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the number of calories your body burns in a full day, including the energy used just to stay alive, the energy spent moving, and the smaller amounts used to digest food. It is the sum of your basal metabolic rate and everything you do on top of it, from walking to work to the fidgeting you never notice. Knowing this figure gives you a practical baseline: eat close to it to maintain weight, eat below it to lose, and eat above it to gain, with the size of the gap setting how fast the change happens.
Our calculator starts with a basal metabolic formula based on your age, sex, height, and weight, then multiplies that foundation by an activity factor that reflects your typical week. A desk bound routine sits near the low end, while a physically demanding job with daily training sits near the high end. The result is an estimate, not a measurement, because real metabolism varies between individuals for reasons a simple form cannot capture, including genetics, hormone levels, and the precise makeup of your muscle mass.
A common approach is to subtract roughly 300 to 500 calories from your TDEE for steady, sustainable weight loss, which tends to preserve more muscle than aggressive cuts. For building strength, a modest surplus of a few hundred calories supports training without excess fat gain. Weigh yourself on a consistent schedule and adjust the target if the scale moves faster or slower than intended, since the calculator gives a starting point rather than a permanent rule.
TDEE tools cannot see your unique metabolism, your exact training load, or your medical history, so treat the output as a flexible guide. Very low calorie targets can backfire by reducing energy and slowing the very metabolism you are trying to manage. This calculator runs locally in your browser, stores nothing you type, and offers no medical advice; for a plan tailored to your health, a registered dietitian or clinician is the right person to ask.
Using it well
A number is only helpful if it changes what you do. The note below is a small habit that keeps the TDEE estimate useful without turning daily life into a chore.
A single weigh-in after a salty meal can swing several pounds without changing body fat, so daily noise dwarfs the signal. Weighing at the same time each week and watching the trend over a month gives a far clearer picture of whether your plan is working. The TDEE number is a starting point for that trend, not a daily verdict on your worth or your effort.
FAQ
BMR is the energy your body uses at complete rest just to stay alive — breathing, circulation, cell repair. TDEE adds everything else: movement, exercise, and the thermic effect of food. TDEE is the number to compare your daily intake against.
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation: men, 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5; women, the same but − 161. It is generally more accurate than the older Harris-Benedict equation for modern populations.
Generally 0.5–1% of body weight per week. That is about 0.5 kg (1 lb) weekly for most people. Faster loss is possible short-term but increases muscle loss, fatigue, and rebound risk.
Common causes: portion tracking drift, weekend intake wiping out weekday deficits, overestimated activity, or water-weight masking fat loss for one to two weeks. Audit intake for a week with a food scale before changing targets.
If you selected an accurate activity level, no — exercise is already included in your TDEE. Only add extra calories for unusually long or intense sessions that clearly fall outside your normal weekly routine.
No. Estimates are for general education. If you are pregnant, under 18, managing a medical condition, or have a history of disordered eating, consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing your intake.
Disclaimer
This calculator provides educational estimates only and is not medical, nutritional, or diagnostic advice. Individual needs vary. Consult a healthcare professional before starting any diet or exercise program.