Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the number of calories your body uses in a day. It combines the energy needed to keep you alive at rest with the energy you spend moving, training, and digesting food. Knowing it matters because it turns vague eating targets into a starting number you can test: eat near it to hold your weight, above it to gain, and below it to lose. This calculator estimates TDEE from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for basal metabolic rate (BMR), multiplied by an activity factor that reflects how much you move across the whole day, not just in the gym. You enter your sex, age, height, and weight, then pick the activity tier that best matches your typical week. The result is a daily calorie estimate, plus editable bulk and cut targets built around it. Treat every number here as a starting point. Real bodies vary, activity varies, and food labels carry their own margin of error. Track your weight and your intake for two to four weeks, then adjust the target based on what actually happens, rather than trusting any single formula to be exact.
TDEE Calculator
Your maintenance calories from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation — then bulk / cut framing.
| Goal | Daily calories |
|---|---|
| Maintain | — |
| Lean bulk (default +250–500) | — |
| Cut (default −300–500) | — |
Estimates only — see our Disclaimer. Not medical advice.
Method: Mifflin-St Jeor BMR × activity multiplier. The ±10% band reflects self-reported activity — treat the number as a starting estimate, then adjust from real-world weight trend over 2–3 weeks. For macros from this TDEE, use the Macro Calculator. Limitation: Mifflin–St Jeor uses a binary male/female term — it was validated on sex-binary samples and may be less accurate outside them.
Estimates only — see our Disclaimer.
How it works
- Enter your details. Sex, age, height, and weight feed the BMR equation.
- BMR from Mifflin-St Jeor. The calculator estimates basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: for men, 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age + 5; for women, 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age − 161.
- Pick an activity tier. TDEE is BMR multiplied by an activity factor. The tiers run from sedentary (1.2) through light (1.375), moderate (1.55), very active (1.725), and extra active (1.9). Pick the tier that matches your whole week — work, walking, and training together — not your hardest day.
- Read the estimate. The headline result is your estimated maintenance calories: the intake at which your weight should stay roughly stable.
- Adjust the bulk and cut targets. The calculator shows editable surplus and deficit targets around maintenance. Changing the surplus or deficit updates the targets, so you can model a small surplus for gaining or a modest deficit for losing before you commit to either.
This calculator does not prescribe a diet. It gives you numbers to test, and the test is what happens to your weight, training, and recovery over several weeks.
Limitations — read before you use the number
- TDEE is an estimate, not a measurement. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is a population average. Two people with the same height, weight, and age can burn different amounts.
- Activity factors are coarse. A single multiplier cannot capture shift work, rest days, a hard training block, or a week spent mostly sitting. If your weeks vary, your true TDEE varies too.
- Body composition is not in the equation. Muscle uses more energy than fat at rest, so two people at the same body weight can have different BMRs. The calculator does not ask for body-fat percentage, and that is a real source of error.
- Food and tracking add their own error. Labels are rounded, portions are estimated, and cooking changes what you absorb. A target that looks precise on screen is still approximate on the plate.
- Not for every situation. This calculator is for general, healthy adults. It is not designed for pregnancy, medical conditions, medication effects, or disordered eating, and it is not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.
If your weight does not move in the expected direction after two to four weeks of consistent tracking, adjust the target by a small amount and keep tracking, rather than jumping to a large surplus or deficit.
Frequently asked questions
What is TDEE?
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure: the total calories your body uses in a day. It is your basal metabolic rate (BMR) — the energy used to keep you alive at rest — plus the energy spent on activity, training, digestion, and everyday movement.
How accurate is this TDEE calculator?
It is a reasonable starting point, not an exact measurement. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation and the standard activity factors are averages, so individual results commonly land within roughly 10 to 20 percent of the estimate. The reliable check is tracking: if your weight holds steady at the estimated maintenance intake, the estimate is close for you.
Which activity level should I pick?
Pick the tier that describes your average week, not your best day. A desk job with three gym sessions is usually light to moderate, not very active. A physical job plus regular training is usually very active. When you are between two tiers, start with the lower one and adjust upward if your weight falls faster than expected.
What are the bulk and cut targets?
They are editable targets above and below estimated maintenance. A bulk target adds a surplus for gaining weight; a cut target subtracts a deficit for losing weight. The calculator lets you change the size of the surplus or deficit, because the right size depends on your goals, your training, and how your body responds.
Why does this calculator disagree with another TDEE calculator?
Different calculators use different BMR equations, different activity-factor tables, or different rounding, and small input differences (for example, weight in pounds versus kilograms) shift the result. Disagreement of a few hundred calories between tools is normal. Pick one estimate, track against it, and adjust from your own data.
How often should I recalculate my TDEE?
Recalculate when something meaningful changes: a weight change of several kilograms, a new job, a different training volume, or a new phase of gaining or losing. Recalculating every week from normal day-to-day weight fluctuation adds noise, not accuracy.
- Macro Calculator — split your TDEE estimate into protein, carbohydrate, and fat targets.
- FFMI Calculator — body-composition context for your calorie targets.
- Barloadr home — browse the full set of calculators.