What TDEE means
Total daily energy expenditure is every calorie you burn in 24 hours. Eat that amount and your weight stays roughly level. Eat less and you lose; eat more and you gain. It is the single most useful number for planning any diet.
TDEE has four parts: your basal metabolic rate, the energy used digesting food (about 10% of intake), planned exercise, and everything else you do on your feet, from walking to fidgeting. That last part, called NEAT, varies far more between people than most expect.
How to use the calculator
Enter sex, age, height and weight, then pick the activity level that matches a typical week, not your best week. The calculator works out your BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and multiplies it by your activity factor.
You get your TDEE plus a table showing what it would be at every activity level. That table is handy if your routine changes, for example on a deload week or when you start a new job with more walking.
The formula
TDEE = BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor) x activity multiplier
| Activity level | Multiplier | Looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | Desk job, little walking, no training |
| Lightly active | 1.375 | Training 1-3 days a week or a job with some walking |
| Moderately active | 1.55 | Training 3-5 days a week, 7,000-10,000 steps |
| Very active | 1.725 | Hard training 6-7 days a week or a physical job |
| Extra active | 1.9 | Physical labour plus training, or twice-daily sessions |
These multipliers come from long-standing nutrition practice rather than one precise study, which is exactly why calibrating against your own scale matters.
Most people overestimate their activity
An hour of lifting feels like a lot, but a typical session burns 200 to 400 kcal, and much of that time is rest between sets. If you train four times a week and sit at a desk the rest of the time, you are closer to lightly active than very active.
A good rule: if you are unsure between two levels, pick the lower one. Overestimating by one tier adds 250 to 350 kcal a day, which is enough to erase a whole fat-loss deficit.
Step count is a better guide than gym time. Under 5,000 steps is sedentary territory whatever you do in the gym; 10,000 or more usually justifies moderately active.
Calibrate it with 2-3 weeks of weigh-ins
Treat the calculator's number as a starting estimate, then let your body correct it.
- Eat close to your estimated TDEE every day for two to three weeks. Track intake as honestly as you can.
- Weigh yourself every morning under the same conditions and write it down.
- Compare the weekly average of week one with the last week. Ignore single days; water swings can be 1-2 kg.
- If the average rose, your TDEE is lower than estimated. If it fell, it is higher.
- Adjust using roughly 7,700 kcal per kg (3,500 per lb): a 0.5 kg weekly loss means you are about 550 kcal a day under maintenance.
After this, your number is based on what you actually burn, not on a population average.
Limitations
Prediction equations can be 10% off for an individual, and activity multipliers add more uncertainty on top. Medical conditions, some medications, and periods of heavy dieting can all lower expenditure. Pregnancy and breastfeeding raise needs and are not covered here.
TDEE also moves as you change. Lose 5 kg and it drops; take up running and it rises. Recalculate after any significant change in weight or routine.
Worked example
A 28-year-old man, 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) and 82 kg (181 lb), lifts four times a week and averages about 8,000 steps a day.
- BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor): 10 x 82 + 6.25 x 180 - 5 x 28 + 5 = 1,810 kcal
- Lightly active (1.375): 2,489 kcal
- Moderately active (1.55): 2,806 kcal
He is somewhere between the two tiers, so a sensible starting point is the lower figure of about 2,500 kcal. After three weeks of eating close to that, his weekly average weight has dropped by 0.3 kg (0.7 lb) in total, or about 0.1 kg a week. That works out to a daily deficit of roughly 110 kcal, so his real maintenance is close to 2,600 kcal.
That is the whole point of calibration. The calculator got him within about 4%, and two to three weeks of honest data closed the gap. From here he can set a cut or a lean bulk using a number that reflects his own body, not an average one.
What to do next
To turn maintenance into a goal, the calorie calculator gives targets for gentle and faster loss or gain, and the macro calculator splits them into protein, carbs and fat.
Want to raise your TDEE without eating less? More daily walking does more than most people think; our guide to cardio for fat loss compares the options, and the fat loss workout plan puts them into a week.
Frequently asked questions
Is TDEE the same as maintenance calories?
Yes. Your TDEE is the number of calories that keeps your weight stable, which is what people mean by maintenance.
Should I count my workouts separately?
No. The activity multiplier already includes exercise. Adding workout calories on top counts them twice and is a common reason diets stall.
Why is my weight not changing at my calculated TDEE?
If it is stable, the estimate was right. If it is moving, use two to three weeks of average weigh-ins to adjust: roughly 550 kcal a day for every 0.5 kg per week of change.
How often should I recalculate TDEE?
After every 4-5 kg (about 10 lb) of weight change, or whenever your activity changes for more than a couple of weeks.
Which activity level should a gym-goer choose?
Most people who lift 3-5 times a week with a desk job fit lightly or moderately active. Your daily step count is the best tiebreaker.
References
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;51(2):241-247
- Levine JA. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002;16(4):679-702
- Hall KD, Sacks G, Chandramohan D et al. Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight. Lancet. 2011;378(9793):826-837
Results are estimates for healthy adults and are not medical advice. See our medical disclaimer.
