TDEE Calculator
Plug in your stats and activity level. See your TDEE (total daily burn) with its weekly total, BMR and BMI cards, and ready-made cut / maintain / lean-bulk calorie targets. Add an optional body fat % to switch the engine to Katch-McArdle. The sensitivity table shows how the answer shifts at neighboring activity levels — a real range, not a single confident number.
Calorie targets from this TDEE
The cut pace assumes ≈ 3,500 kcal per lb of fat. These are starting points, not prescriptions — adjust against 2–3 weeks of scale data.
Sensitivity — what if my activity guess is off?
Activity multipliers are estimates. Your real number could be ±10% from any preset. Here's the same BMR at neighboring multipliers (your selected level is highlighted):
| Level | Mult | TDEE |
|---|
Translate TDEE into a calorie + macro target → Macro calculator.
The activity multiplier is the squishy part
Of the inputs to TDEE, four are objective (age, sex, weight, height) and one is fuzzy (activity level). Most people overestimate. "I work out 4 times a week" sounds like "moderate" — but if those workouts are 30-minute light cardio, a "light" multiplier is more honest.
Three calibration questions:
- Daily steps under 7,500? Your baseline is sedentary regardless of workouts. Don't double-count exercise as if you walked 10K steps too.
- Workouts under 45 minutes? They count for less than you think. Drop a level.
- Desk job? Even with 4× weekly workouts, you're probably "moderate" not "active." Active is for people doing 60+ minutes of real intensity 6–7 days a week.
How to test if your TDEE is right
The honest way: track calories at your computed TDEE for 2–3 weeks. Weigh yourself daily, average the week. If your weight is stable, your TDEE estimate is right. If you're losing 0.5 kg a week, your real TDEE is ~500 cal/day higher than the estimate. If you're gaining 0.5 kg a week, your real TDEE is ~500 cal/day lower.
This is more reliable than any formula. Formulas predict populations; your body has its own number.
Related
- BMR calculator — the input to TDEE
- Macro calculator — TDEE → cut/maintain/bulk targets
- BMI calculator
- Health hub
FAQ
What's the formula?
TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier. The BMR side uses Mifflin-St Jeor (the modern standard); the activity side is one of five preset multipliers ranging from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (very active). If you enter an optional body fat %, the BMR side switches to Katch-McArdle — 370 + 21.6 × lean mass (kg) — which keys off lean body mass and is more representative for lean or muscular people. The dashboard notes which engine is in use.
What do the cut / maintain / lean bulk targets mean?
They're your TDEE shifted by a daily calorie delta. Cut is TDEE − 500 — at ≈ 3,500 kcal per lb of fat, that's roughly 1 lb/week of loss. Maintain is TDEE itself. Lean bulk is TDEE + 250–300, a pace that keeps most of the surplus going to muscle rather than fat. If the cut target drops below ~1,500 kcal/day for men or ~1,200 for women, the tool flags it — deficits that deep are hard to fuel adequately and usually worth running past a professional.
Why does the dashboard also show BMI and a weekly total?
The weekly line (TDEE × 7) is the number that actually matters for planning — daily intake can bounce around as long as the weekly average lands. BMI is shown as a quick context stat with its category word, since weight goals usually start from 'where am I now?'. It's a population screening statistic, not a diagnosis — see the BMI calculator for the full caveats.
How accurate is this?
±10% for an individual. The biggest source of error is the activity multiplier — most people overestimate their activity level. If you're unsure between two levels, pick the lower one and adjust based on whether you're losing or gaining weight at the resulting calorie target.
Why are there sensitivity ranges?
Because the activity multiplier is the squishiest part of the equation. The 'sensitivity' table shows your TDEE at every preset multiplier, side by side. If your computed TDEE shifts by 400+ calories when you move one level up or down, you can read that as 'be conservative; my real number is somewhere in this range.'
How does this differ from a Fitbit / Apple Watch estimate?
Wearables measure your actual energy expenditure (more or less) using heart rate + accelerometer data. The Mifflin × activity approach is a model that estimates expenditure from your body and lifestyle. They typically agree within 10–15%; if your wearable says 2,800 cal/day and this tool says 2,400, the truth is probably between them. Use both.