TDEE Calculator (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

How many calories do you burn per day? More than zero. Less than you hope.

Use this free TDEE calculator to estimate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the calories your body burns in a full day, including the part where you sit still and think about lunch. Enter weight, height, and age to get a sedentary-baseline TDEE in kcal.

TDEE is the number every diet plan secretly depends on. Eat below it and you lose weight; eat above it and you gain; eat exactly at it and you maintain, which nobody has ever done for more than a week. We compute it with the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, the one nutrition researchers actually use.

What This TDEE Calculator Does

• Estimates your BMR (calories at complete rest) with the Mifflin–St Jeor formula
• Multiplies by a sedentary activity factor (1.2) to give a realistic desk-life TDEE
• Gives you the starting number for a calorie deficit (fat loss) or surplus (muscle gain)
• Works in pounds and inches; metric conversions are in the how-to below

How to Use the TDEE Calculator

Inputs:

• Weight — in pounds (kg × 2.205)
• Height — in inches (cm ÷ 2.54)
• Age — in years, the real one

Steps:

1. Enter weight, height, and age
2. Click Calculate to see your sedentary TDEE
3. If you actually exercise, multiply the result: ×1.15 for light activity (1–3 days/week), ×1.29 for moderate (3–5 days), ×1.44 for heavy (6–7 days). Be honest — "I walk to the fridge" is sedentary.
4. Subtract 300–500 kcal for steady fat loss, add 200–300 for lean gain

How the Calculation Works

BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5 TDEE = BMR × 1.2 (sedentary)

• This is the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, shown to be the most accurate of the common BMR formulas for the general population
• The +5 is the male constant; the female constant is −161. If you are female, subtract about 166 kcal from the result (or ~200 after the activity multiplier)
• Activity multipliers: 1.2 sedentary · 1.375 light · 1.55 moderate · 1.725 very active · 1.9 athlete/physical job

Worked Example: 180 lb, 5'10", 35 years old

1. 180 lb ÷ 2.2 = 81.8 kg · 70 in × 2.54 = 177.8 cm
2. BMR = 10 × 81.8 + 6.25 × 177.8 − 5 × 35 + 5 = 818 + 1,111 − 175 + 5 = 1,759 kcal
3. TDEE (sedentary) = 1,759 × 1.2 = 2,111 kcal/day
4. That is roughly one large pizza. Which is either encouraging or devastating depending on how you read it.

Tips (From People Who Have Made These Mistakes)

• Every formula is an estimate with ±10% error. Track your weight for 2–3 weeks at a fixed intake and adjust — your body is the final calculator
• Do not stack "I exercised" onto the moderate multiplier and then also eat back the calories your watch reports. Watches are optimists
• TDEE drops as you lose weight. Recalculate every 10 lb or so

Frequently Asked Questions

Mini Roast Disclaimer

We roast the number, not you. Your metabolism is not "broken." It is doing exactly what the equation says, which is the disappointing part.

Reality Check

TDEE formulas are population averages. Genetics, hormones, medication, sleep, and how fidgety you are can shift your real burn by hundreds of calories. Use the number as a starting point, measure for a few weeks, and let the scale correct the math.