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CALCULATOR · Health

TDEE Calculator

Your total daily energy expenditure at your activity level, and the same body at all five levels, from the BMR equation you choose.

Show formula
TDEE = BMR × activity factor: 1.2 sedentary · 1.375 lightly active · 1.55 moderately active · 1.725 very active · 1.9 extremely active

Method reviewed:BMR by Mifflin–St Jeor (1990), revised Harris–Benedict (1984) or Katch–McArdle, with the standard activity multipliers · reviewed September 2026

Inputs

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Adds Katch–McArdle, which works from lean mass. Leave it blank if you do not know it.

Moderate exercise 3–5 days a week.

Result

Your result appears here

Enter Age and the result fills in as you type.

How it works

  1. Enter your sex, age, height and weight, and your body-fat percentage if you want the Katch–McArdle equation.
  2. Pick the activity level that matches a typical week and the BMR equation to start from; Mifflin–St Jeor is the usual choice.
  3. Read your TDEE per day and per week, how much of it activity adds, and the same body at every activity level in the table.

Frequently asked questions

What is TDEE?

Total daily energy expenditure: every calorie you burn in a day. It is your basal metabolic rate plus everything on top of it, from walking and work to exercise and digesting food, and it is roughly what you would eat to keep your weight steady.

How do I choose my activity level?

Go by an ordinary week, not your best one. Sedentary is a desk job with little or no exercise; lightly active adds exercise on 1–3 days a week; moderately active on 3–5 days; very active is hard exercise on 6–7 days; extremely active is a physical job or training twice a day. When torn between two levels, take the lower one: most people overestimate how active they are.

How accurate is a TDEE estimate?

Treat it as a starting point. The BMR equations land within about 10% for most people, and the activity factor adds its own error on top. The reliable check is practical: eat at your TDEE for two or three weeks, and if your weight drifts, adjust by 100–200 kcal a day.

Why does the table show every activity level?

Because the activity factor moves the answer more than anything else you enter: for the same body, the step from sedentary to extremely active adds more than half the sedentary figure. Seeing all five shows what a change of routine is worth in calories a day.

Why does my TDEE match the Calorie Calculator?

With Mifflin–St Jeor selected, both pages use the same equation, the same activity factors and the same rounding, so they agree to the calorie. The Calorie Calculator goes on to turn the figure into targets for losing, holding or gaining weight.

Examples

A 35-year-old woman, 165 cm and 60 kg, lightly active
BMR 1,295 kcal × 1.375 = about 1,781 kcal a day, or 12,467 a week; activity adds 486 kcal a day. The same body burns about 1,554 kcal a day sedentary and 2,461 extremely active.
A 30-year-old man, 180 cm and 80 kg, moderately active
Mifflin–St Jeor gives a BMR of 1,780 kcal and a TDEE of about 2,759 kcal a day (× 1.55). With 20% body fat, Katch–McArdle starts from 1,752 kcal and gives about 2,716.

TDEE, BMR or Calorie Calculator

The three pages share one body and one set of activity factors. Pick the one that answers your question.

  • BMR Calculator — You want the energy used at complete rest, compared across three published equations.
  • Calorie Calculator — You want daily calorie targets for losing, holding or gaining weight, with a macro split.
  • Macro Calculator — You want your daily calories split into grams of protein, fat and carbohydrate.

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