CalcRover

TDEE Calculator

Estimate your total daily energy expenditure — the calories you burn per day — from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and your activity level. You get BMR, maintenance calories, and standard cut/bulk targets, with every multiplication shown.

Height

Estimates for healthy adults, not medical advice — energy needs vary by body composition and health conditions.

How TDEE is calculated

TDEE = BMR × activity factor. BMR (basal metabolic rate) is what your body burns at complete rest; this calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the most accurate of the common formulas in validation studies (ADA position). The activity multiplier (1.2–1.9) scales it for everything beyond lying still.

The honest caveats: formulas estimate from averages — muscle mass, genetics and adaptation move real numbers ±10% or more, and people routinely overrate their activity level (when in doubt, pick the lower one). Treat TDEE as a starting point, then adjust by what the scale does over 2–3 weeks.

BMR = 10×kg + 6.25×cm − 5×age + 5 (men) / − 161 (women)
TDEE = BMR × 1.2…1.9 by activity

Worked examples

Example 1: moderately active man

Male, 30, 5′10″, 170 lb, exercising 3–5 days a week.

  1. Metric: 77.1 kg, 177.8 cm.
    BMR = 771 + 1,111 − 150 + 5 = 1,737 kcal
  2. Moderate multiplier.
    1,737 × 1.55 ≈ 2,693 kcal

TDEE ≈ 2,690 kcal — maintenance; ~2,190 for a mild cut.

Example 2: sedentary woman

Female, 42, 5′5″, 150 lb, desk job, no regular exercise.

  1. Metric: 68 kg, 165.1 cm.
    BMR = 680 + 1,032 − 210 − 161 = 1,341 kcal
  2. Sedentary multiplier.
    1,341 × 1.2 ≈ 1,610 kcal

TDEE ≈ 1,610 kcal — why "2,000 calories" overshoots for many desk workers.

Example 3: how fast does a 500-kcal deficit lose weight?

Eating 500 kcal under TDEE — what's the expected rate?

  1. A pound of fat stores ~3,500 kcal.
    500 × 7 days = 3,500 kcal
  2. So the textbook rate is about a pound a week, slowing as TDEE drops with weight.

≈1 lb/week at first — recalculate TDEE every 10–15 lb.

FAQ

What's the difference between BMR and TDEE?+

BMR is the floor — calories burned at complete rest. TDEE adds everything else: moving, digesting, exercising. You eat around TDEE to maintain weight, not around BMR.

Which activity level should I pick?+

Count only real, sweat-producing exercise and genuinely physical work. Most office workers who train 3 days a week are "light" to "moderate", not "active" — overrating activity is the #1 reason TDEE-based plans stall.

Why does my smartwatch disagree with this number?+

Watches estimate too — from heart rate and motion, with their own errors (often generous on exercise burn). Neither is ground truth; the trend on the scale over weeks is.

Is Mifflin-St Jeor better than Harris-Benedict or Katch-McArdle?+

Mifflin-St Jeor is the best general-population pick in comparative studies. Katch-McArdle can edge it out if you genuinely know your body-fat percentage; Harris-Benedict (1919) tends to overestimate.

Is this medical advice?+

No — population formulas for healthy adults. Pregnancy, thyroid conditions, diabetes and eating-disorder history all change the picture; plan calories with a clinician in those cases.

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