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TDEE Calculator (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

BMR × activity multiplier gives your total daily calorie burn and goal-based targets for losing, maintaining or gaining weight.

How it is calculated

The tool first estimates your basal metabolic rate (BMR) with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5 for men, with −161 instead of +5 for women. It then multiplies by an activity factor to get total daily energy expenditure: TDEE = BMR × activity. Typical factors range from about 1.2 for a sedentary day to 1.9 for very hard training. Weight loss and gain targets are simply TDEE − 500 and TDEE + 500 kcal, never below zero. All results are rounded to whole kcal per day. These are estimates; real needs differ from person to person.

Worked example

A 30-year-old man, 70 kg, 175 cm, activity factor 1.55. BMR = 10 × 70 + 6.25 × 175 − 5 × 30 + 5 = 700 + 1,093.75 − 150 + 5 = 1,648.75, rounded to 1,649 kcal/day. TDEE = 1,648.75 × 1.55 = 2,555.56, shown as 2,556 kcal/day. A 500 kcal deficit gives 2,056 kcal/day and a 500 kcal surplus gives 3,056 kcal/day.

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Common mistakes

  • Choosing a factor that is too high: counting a few workouts as a very active lifestyle inflates the TDEE.
  • Entering weight in pounds or height in inches; the formula needs kg and cm.
  • Eating exactly at BMR to lose weight, which is far below maintenance.
  • Treating the ±500 kcal targets as exact rather than as a starting point to adjust.

About this calculator

Total Daily Energy Expenditure takes the resting calorie baseline from a BMR estimate and multiplies it by an activity factor that reflects how much someone moves in a typical day, from mostly sedentary to intensely active. The result is an estimate of total calories burned across an entire day, including exercise, daily movement, and digestion, not just the resting portion.

People use this figure as the reference point for setting a calorie target, since eating above it tends to support weight gain and eating below it tends to support weight loss, at least as a rough starting estimate. It is a common first step before someone sets up a structured diet or training plan.

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