TDEE Calculator
Find your total daily energy expenditure: how many calories you burn in a whole day, and so how much to eat to keep your weight steady.
How your TDEE is worked out
Start with what you burn at rest, add what moving and exercise burn, then add the energy used to digest food.
- 1
Your BMR
Mifflin–St Jeor
= 1,370 kcal - 2
Times activity
1,370 × 1.375
for light exercise - 3
Digestion (TEF)
about 10% of it,
≈ 188 kcal - 4
Your TDEE
= 1,884 kcal a day
13,189 a week
Read more: the formula, a worked example and the parts of TDEE
TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is everything you burn in 24 hours. It has four parts: your BMR (resting burn, usually the biggest part), NEAT (everyday moving: walking, standing, chores, fidgeting), exercise (planned workouts and sport), and TEF (the thermic effect of food: energy used to digest what you eat). Eat about your TDEE and your weight stays roughly the same, which is why it's also called maintenance calories.
Simple mode uses the usual method: BMR from Mifflin–St Jeor times an activity factor. In Advanced you can build it from the parts instead, from your daily steps and workouts, pick another BMR formula, and see training days and rest days separately. For BMR on its own, see the BMR calculator; to plan a goal weight with dates and targets, use the calorie calculator.
The formula
BMR (Mifflin–St Jeor) = 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age, then + 5 for men or − 161 for women
TDEE = BMR × activity factor
Or, from parts: TDEE = (BMR + steps × 0.0005 × weight in kg + exercise) ÷ (1 − TEF share)
Exercise a day = sessions a week × hours a session × (MET − 1) × weight in kg ÷ 7
Worked example
A 30-year-old woman who is 165 cm tall and weighs 65 kg, with light exercise 1 to 3 days a week. BMR = 10 × 65 + 6.25 × 165 − 5 × 30 − 161 = 650 + 1,031.25 − 150 − 161 = 1,370.25 kcal. TDEE = 1,370.25 × 1.375 = 1,884.09 kcal a day, about 1,884 kcal, or 1,884.09 × 7 = 13,188.66, about 13,189 kcal a week. In kJ that's 1,884.09 × 4.184 = about 7,883 kJ a day.
Inside that, digestion (TEF) is about 10%: 188 kcal. That leaves 1,884.09 − 1,370.25 − 188.41 = about 325 kcal for moving and exercise.
Built from parts instead, with 7,000 steps a day and three 45-minute weight sessions a week (MET 3.5): steps 7,000 × 0.0005 × 65 = 227.5 kcal; one session 0.75 h × (3.5 − 1) × 65 = 121.875 kcal, so 3 × 121.875 ÷ 7 = 52.23 kcal a day on average. TDEE = (1,370.25 + 227.5 + 52.23) ÷ 0.9 = 1,649.98 ÷ 0.9 = 1,833.31 kcal a day, of which TEF is 183.33 kcal. On a training day it's (1,370.25 + 227.5 + 121.875) ÷ 0.9 = 1,910.69 kcal; on a rest day (1,370.25 + 227.5) ÷ 0.9 = 1,775.28 kcal.
Activity levels
| Level | For example | Factor |
|---|---|---|
| Little or no exercise | Desk job, under about 5,000 steps a day, little or no exercise | × 1.2 |
| Light exercise 1–3 days a week | Desk job plus light exercise 1–3 days a week, or on your feet some of the day | × 1.375 |
| Moderate exercise 3–5 days a week | Exercise 3–5 days a week, or a job with lots of walking (teacher, nurse, shop work) | × 1.55 |
| Hard exercise 6–7 days a week | Hard exercise 6–7 days a week, or a job on your feet all day | × 1.725 |
| Very hard exercise or a physical job | Hard training twice a day, or heavy physical work (building, farming) | × 1.9 |
These are the same factors the calorie and BMR calculators use. Most people overestimate how active they are; if you're unsure between two levels, pick the lower one.
Exercise MET values
| Activity | MET | Extra kcal per hour at 70 kg |
|---|---|---|
| Yoga or stretching | 2.5 | 105 |
| Weight training (general) | 3.5 | 175 |
| Brisk walking (5.6 km/h, 3.5 mph) | 4.3 | 231 |
| Swimming laps (easy to moderate) | 5.8 | 336 |
| Weight training (hard) | 6 | 350 |
| Football, basketball (casual game) | 7 | 420 |
| Cycling (19–22 km/h, 12–14 mph) | 8 | 490 |
| Circuit training or HIIT (hard) | 8 | 490 |
| Running (9.7 km/h, 6 mph) | 9.8 | 616 |
MET (metabolic equivalent) compares an activity with sitting still: 1 MET is about 1 kcal per kg of body weight per hour. Values are from the Compendium of Physical Activities (2011). We count only the energy above rest (MET − 1), because your BMR already covers the resting part.
Rules of thumb used
- Steps: about 0.0005 kcal per kg of body weight per step, so about 35 kcal per 1,000 steps at 70 kg. Walking costs roughly 0.5 kcal per kg per km above rest, and a typical stride is about 1,300 steps a km. It's a rough rule: pace, hills and stride change it.
- TEF: about 10% of the calories you eat on a mixed diet; protein takes more energy to digest than carbs or fat. At maintenance you eat your TDEE, which is why the parts are divided by (1 − TEF share).
- Weight change: about 7,700 kcal per kg of body weight, so 0.25 kg a week is about 275 kcal a day and 0.5 kg a week about 550 kcal a day.
- Day types: we assume at most one session a day; more sessions than days are treated as doubles on the same days.
TDEE vs BMR
BMR is only the resting part. A target below your BMR is very low for most adults, so the rough targets on this page never go below it, or below 1,200 kcal a day for women and 1,500 for men. For a goal-weight plan, see the calorie calculator; for protein, carbs and fat, the macro calculator.
These are estimates for healthy adults. Real energy use can differ by 10% or more because of muscle mass, genetics, hormones, illness and medicines. Not suitable for pregnancy, breastfeeding, under-18s or medical decisions. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before making big changes to how you eat.
Common questions
What is TDEE?
TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is all the energy you burn in a day: your resting burn (BMR), everyday moving such as walking and standing, exercise, and the energy used to digest food. It's also called maintenance calories, because eating about this much keeps your weight steady. For a 30-year-old woman, 165 cm and 65 kg with light exercise, it's about 1,884 kcal a day.
What is the difference between TDEE and BMR?
BMR is what your body burns lying completely still all day. TDEE is BMR plus everything else you do. The usual way to estimate TDEE is BMR times an activity factor, from 1.2 for little or no exercise up to 1.9 for very hard exercise or a physical job. For most people, BMR is well over half of TDEE.
What is NEAT?
NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) is the energy you burn moving about outside planned exercise: walking, standing, housework, fidgeting. It varies a lot between people and is often bigger than exercise. This calculator estimates it from your daily steps with a rough rule of 0.0005 kcal per kg of body weight per step, about 35 kcal per 1,000 steps at 70 kg.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
It's a starting estimate, often within about 10% for most people, but your real number can be higher or lower. The best check is your own weight: eat close to your estimated TDEE for two or three weeks and track your average weight. If it stays steady, that's your maintenance; if it creeps up or down, adjust by 100 to 200 kcal.
Should I use my TDEE on rest days and training days?
You burn more on days you train. In Advanced, build your TDEE from parts to see a training-day figure, a rest-day figure and the weekly average. Many people simply eat the weekly average every day; others eat a little more on training days. Both work if your weekly total matches.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
Losing about 0.25 kg a week needs roughly 275 kcal a day below your TDEE, and 0.5 kg a week about 550 kcal below. This page shows those gentle targets but never suggests eating below your BMR or below 1,200 kcal a day for women and 1,500 for men, whichever is higher; if your TDEE is already at that level it suggests no cut at all. For a full plan with a goal weight and dates, use the calorie calculator, and talk to a doctor or dietitian before big changes.
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Made by Zulu Calculator, part of AlphaZulu LLC. Formulas are shown in full and rule figures are checked against official sources; see how we build calculators.