TDEE calculator: how many calories you burn
Estimate how many calories you burn a day from sex, age, height, weight and activity. See the Mifflin-St Jeor math, a worked example and its limits.
How many calories do I burn a day?
You burn your basal metabolic rate times an activity factor, a total called TDEE. Estimate the basal rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation from sex, age, height and weight, then multiply by 1.2 if you mostly sit, up to 1.9 if you have a physical job and train daily. A 30-year-old woman, 168 cm and 68 kg, exercising 3–5 days a week burns about 2,200 kcal.
How to use the calculator
- Enter your bodyPick sex and units, then type your age, height and weight. A result appears once every field has a number.
- Choose your activity levelPick the line that matches a normal week, not your best one. Moderate means exercise 3–5 days a week.
- Read your TDEEThe big number is your maintenance estimate, rounded to the nearest 10 kcal. Under it are your BMR, a target for about 0.5 kg (1 lb) a week down, and a slow-gain target 10% above maintenance.
- Check it against the scaleEat close to that number for two weeks and weigh yourself a few times a week. If the average moves, adjust by 100–200 kcal and check again.
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure: everything you burn in a day. It has four parts. Your basal metabolic rate keeps you alive at rest. Digesting food costs about a tenth of what you eat. Exercise is the part you plan. Everything else, from walking to the bus to fidgeting at your desk, is non-exercise activity, or NEAT. No calculator can measure those parts. It estimates the total from your body size and a description of your week. The longer explainer is what TDEE is.
The formula
The calculator estimates your resting burn with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990), then multiplies it by an activity factor.
- Men: BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age + 5
- Women: BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age − 161
- Then: TDEE = BMR × activity factor
US units are converted first: pounds × 0.4536 for kilograms, inches × 2.54 for centimeters. The result is rounded to the nearest 10 kcal. The equation isn’t precise enough to earn the last digit.
| Activity level | What it means | Factor | Example TDEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | Desk job, little or no exercise | 1.2 | 1,700 kcal |
| Light | Exercise 1–3 days a week | 1.375 | 1,950 kcal |
| Moderate | Exercise 3–5 days a week | 1.55 | 2,200 kcal |
| Very active | Hard exercise 6–7 days a week | 1.725 | 2,450 kcal |
| Extra active | Physical job plus daily training | 1.9 | 2,700 kcal |
The example column is the calculator’s default person: a 30-year-old woman, 168 cm and 68 kg. Each step up the list adds about 250 kcal a day for her. Picking the right level matters as much as anything you type.
A worked example
Her BMR is 10 × 68 + 6.25 × 168 − 5 × 30 − 161, which is 680 + 1,050 − 150 − 161 = 1,419 kcal. She trains three or four times a week, so she picks Moderate: 1,419 × 1.55 = 2,199 kcal. The calculator shows 2,200.
The rows under the result follow from that. BMR reads 1,420. The line for about 0.5 kg a week down subtracts 550 kcal and reads 1,650. That 550 comes from the common planning figure of 7,700 kcal per kg of body fat, spread over seven days. Slow gain adds 10% and reads 2,420. In US units the default is 5 ft 6 in and 150 lb, which lands on the same 2,200. The down line then uses 1 lb a week, about 500 kcal, and reads 1,700.
How accurate is it?
The resting half is the more reliable one. Mifflin-St Jeor is the equation most dietitians reach for when nobody has measured you, and the BMR calculator sets it next to two others. It still misses for some people. Muscle burns more at rest than fat, so a lean, muscular body often burns more than the equation expects.
The bigger error is usually the activity factor. Five levels can’t describe every week, and people tend to rate themselves as more active than they are. An hour in the gym matters less than the other fifteen waking hours. Two people with the same workouts can differ by hundreds of calories a day in NEAT alone, from steps, standing and chores.
So treat the number as a starting estimate. The calculator’s own note says it plainly: track for two weeks and adjust to what the scale does.
What to do with your number
- To maintain: Eat close to your TDEE and watch your two-week average weight, not single days.
- To lose fat: Start a few hundred calories under it. The calorie deficit calculator turns a weekly pace into a daily target and warns you when it gets too low.
- To gain: Use the slow-gain row, 10% over maintenance, with enough protein and a lifting program.
The number only helps if you know what you actually eat. A macro tracker closes that loop. FORM sets its own calorie targets with the same Mifflin-St Jeor equation × an activity factor, and you log meals by photo, barcode or a line of text. If your two-week trend says the estimate is off, you edit the target.
FAQ
Is TDEE the same as maintenance calories?
Yes. TDEE is what you burn in a day, so eating that much keeps your weight roughly stable. Water and salt still move the scale from day to day.
Should I eat back the calories I burn exercising?
Not if your activity level already includes your training. The factor covers your workouts, so adding watch calories on top counts them twice.
Why is my TDEE different from what my watch says?
Wearables estimate active calories from heart rate and motion, and they can be off by a wide margin. The equation is an estimate too. Your weight trend over two to three weeks is the tiebreaker.
How often should I recalculate my TDEE?
When your weight changes by a few kilograms or your training changes. A lighter body burns less, so the old number slowly stops fitting.
Is this TDEE calculator free to use?
Yes. The calculator is free, runs in your browser and needs no sign-up.