🍽️ TDEE Calculator

Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) — the calories you burn in a typical day including activity — and see calorie targets for maintaining, losing or gaining weight.

Resting burn, multiplied by how you live

The calculator finds your resting rate with Mifflin-St Jeor, then scales it by the activity level you pick from the dropdown:

BMR  = (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) - (5 × age) + 5 (men) or - 161 (women)
TDEE = BMR × activity factor

1.2 sedentary   1.375 light   1.55 moderate   1.725 very   1.9 extreme

A 30-year-old man at 170 cm and 70 kg has a BMR of 1618 kcal. Moderately active (×1.55) that is 2507 kcal a day; sedentary it is 1941 and extremely active 3073. The dropdown alone swings the answer by over 1100 kcal, which makes it the input worth being honest about.

The loss and gain rows

A kilogram of body fat stores roughly 7,700 kcal, so losing 0.5 kg a week needs a deficit of 550 kcal a day and 0.25 kg a week needs 275. Those are exactly the offsets in the table: our 2507 kcal maintenance becomes 1957 for half a kilo a week.

"Moderately active" means 3-5 structured sessions a week, not a busy day at a desk. If in doubt pick one level lower, eat at that number for a fortnight, and let the scale correct you.

The 7,700 kcal rule is a straight line through something that curves. As you lose weight your TDEE falls with it, so a deficit that worked in month one stalls by month three - recalculate every 4-5 kg. Sustained intakes below about 1,500 kcal for men or 1,200 for women should involve a doctor or dietitian.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

Take your TDEE and subtract 500-550 kcal for about half a kilo a week. At a 2,507 kcal maintenance that is roughly 1,950 a day. Bigger deficits mostly cost you muscle and adherence, not extra fat.

What activity level should I pick?

Count deliberate exercise, not steps around the house. Nothing planned is sedentary; three to five gym or running sessions is moderate; 1.9 is for manual labour or two sessions a day, and almost nobody typing this belongs there.

Why am I not losing weight at my TDEE deficit?

Usually intake is under-counted - cooking oil, drinks and weekends are the usual culprits - or the activity level was set too high. Weigh food for a week before assuming your metabolism is the problem.