What is TDEE?
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure: all the calories your body uses in a typical day. It has three main parts. Your basal metabolic rate keeps you alive at rest. The thermic effect of food is the energy used to digest what you eat. And activity, both deliberate exercise and all the standing, walking, fidgeting and carrying of ordinary life, makes up the rest. For most people BMR is the largest slice, which is why two people of very different sizes need very different amounts of food even on a quiet day.
TDEE matters because it is the reference line for energy balance. Eat close to your TDEE and weight is broadly stable. Eat below it consistently and the gap must come from body stores; eat above it and the surplus is stored. That model is simplified, because bodies adapt and measurements are imperfect, but it remains the most useful planning frame available. This calculator gives you an informed estimate to start from. It is for information only and is not medical advice.
How TDEE is calculated here
Men: BMR = 10 × kg + 6.25 × cm − 5 × age + 5. Women: the same formula ending in − 161 instead of +5. Multipliers run from 1.2 (sedentary) through 1.55 (moderate) to 1.9 (athlete or very physical work). The deep table below shows your TDEE at all five levels, so you can see how much the activity judgement alone can move the answer.
BMR versus TDEE: which number should you use?
Use BMR to understand your floor: the energy you would need even in bed all day, and a level you should not try to eat below without supervision. Use TDEE for real planning: meal targets, deficit or surplus goals and comparisons between weeks. Confusing the two is a common reason diets feel impossibly strict; eating at your BMR while living an active life is a large deficit in disguise. The weekly figure is also useful, because real life is uneven: a bigger meal at the weekend can be balanced across the week rather than ruining a single day.
Worked example
A 30-year-old man, 70 kg and 175 cm, has BMR = 1,648.75 kcal. With moderate activity (×1.55) his TDEE is 1,648.75 × 1.55 = about 2,556 kcal a day, which is about 17,889 kcal a week. Eating 500 kcal below TDEE gives a target near 2,056 kcal a day.
How to use this calculator
- Choose units and enter sex, age, weight and height.
- Select the activity level closest to your average week.
- Read your TDEE in the headline and your BMR in the breakdown.
- Note the weekly total and the plus and minus 500 kcal figures.
- Compare all five activity levels in the table below before settling on a target.
Why your real TDEE may differ
Activity multipliers are averages. A delivery driver and a desk worker who both train three times a week have very different daily movement, and step counts can change TDEE by hundreds of calories. Muscle mass, illness, recovery, some medicines and long dieting can also shift energy use. Wearables give another estimate, but their calorie figures are often optimistic.
The practical fix is feedback. Hold your intake roughly steady for three weeks, follow your average weight, and compare the change with what your TDEE predicted. Adjust by 100 to 200 kcal and repeat. That personal calibration beats any formula, including this one. If you have a health condition or concerns about your weight, discuss targets with a qualified professional. Information only, not medical advice.
Important note
For information only — not medical advice. This calculator uses standard published formulas to estimate values for general education and planning. It does not diagnose, treat, or replace the advice of a doctor or other qualified health professional. If you have a health concern, are pregnant, or are making decisions about treatment, medication, or a major diet or exercise change, please talk to a healthcare professional first.