TDEE calculator

TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure, is the number of calories your body burns in a whole day. It covers everything: keeping your heart, lungs and brain working, digesting food, and every bit of movement, from a workout to walking around the house.

First we estimate the calories you burn at rest (your BMR) with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age, then + 5 for men or − 161 for women. If you enter your body fat, we use the Katch-McArdle equation instead: 370 + 21.6 × lean mass in kg. We then multiply your BMR by your activity level: 1.2 for sedentary, 1.375 for light, 1.55 for moderate, 1.725 for very active and 1.9 for extremely active.

Most of it, about 60% to 75%, is your BMR: the energy your body needs at rest. Everyday movement like walking, standing and fidgeting (called NEAT) usually adds 15% to 30% or more, and planned exercise adds around 5% to 15%. The rest, roughly 8% to 15%, goes on digesting food. Protein takes the most energy to digest, and fat the least.

Eating about as many calories as your TDEE keeps your weight steady. Eating less than it, or moving more, puts you in a calorie deficit, and your body makes up the difference from stored energy. A deficit of about 500 calories a day works out to roughly 1 lb a week, and 1,000 a day to about 2 lbs.

Move more through the day: take the stairs, walk while on calls, or park further away. Regular exercise helps too, and strength training builds muscle, which raises the calories you burn at rest. Eating enough protein and staying hydrated can also nudge your TDEE up a little.

BMR is the calories you burn at rest, and TDEE is your BMR plus everything you burn by moving and digesting food. BMI is different: it compares your weight with your height to place you in a weight range. BMI does not tell you how many calories you need, and it does not account for muscle or body fat.