Free · No sign-up · Dietitian-grade formulas
The TDEE calculator that turns your body into a daily calorie budget.
Most calorie advice is generic. Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is not. Enter five numbers and get the exact kcal you burn in a day — then a fat-loss, maintenance and muscle-gain target you can actually eat to.
- Mifflin-St Jeor + Katch-McArdle
- Macros pre-split
- Results in ~20 seconds
Mifflin St Jeor
Default equation, swaps to Katch-McArdle with body fat.
±10% accuracy
Typical margin for adults. Verify over 2–3 weeks.
5 activity tiers
From desk-bound to two-a-day training.
20s to a result
No email gate. Nothing saved. Just the number.
How it works
From five inputs to a number you can eat to
- 01
Tell us about you
Age, sex, height, weight and how active a normal week looks. Body fat is optional but sharpens the result.
- 02
We run the maths
Mifflin-St Jeor estimates your resting burn, then an activity multiplier scales it to a full day. Katch-McArdle kicks in if you know your body fat.
- 03
Pick a direction
Your TDEE becomes three targets — a fat-loss number, a maintenance number and a lean-gain number — with macros already split.
Try it now
What TDEE is made of
Your body spends calories in four places
TDEE is a sum, not a single thing. Knowing the parts tells you which levers you can actually pull.
Resting metabolism (BMR)
Breathing, circulation, cell repair and body temperature. You burn this asleep. It is the floor every other number is built on.
Everyday movement (NEAT)
Steps, chores, fidgeting, standing. Wildly different between people — this is where a “fast metabolism” usually hides.
Digesting food (TEF)
Breaking food down costs energy. Protein is the most expensive to digest, which is one reason it helps a diet feel easier.
Workouts (EAT)
Deliberate training. Smaller than most people expect — a tough hour in the gym is rarely more than a tenth of the day.
Add the four together and you have your TDEE — the daily budget every goal starts from.
Under the hood
Three equations. We pick the right one for you.
Every TDEE calculator starts with a BMR formula. They do not all agree. Here is why we default to Mifflin-St Jeor and when we quietly switch.
Calculate with the best fitMifflin-St Jeor
Best for
Almost everyone
Accuracy
±10%
Recommended by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The most reliable general-population equation.
Katch-McArdle
Best for
Lean or muscular people
Accuracy
±5% when lean
Ignores sex and age entirely and works from lean mass — great if you have a trustworthy body-fat reading.
Harris-Benedict
Best for
Historical comparison
Accuracy
±15%
The 1919 original, revised in 1984. Tends to overshoot by about 5% versus Mifflin, so we do not use it by default.
Specialised TDEE calculators
Same engine, tuned to your situation
Pick the one closest to you — each opens a dedicated guide with the calculator tuned for that situation.
By goal
By lifestyle
Pick a direction
Three ways to use your number
Run the calculator and these cards fill in with your personal targets.
Lose fat
— —kcal / day
−500 kcal / day
A moderate deficit that protects muscle and keeps hunger manageable. Aim for 0.25–0.5 kg a week; pair with 1.6–2.2 g protein per kg.
Get my numberMaintain
— —kcal / day
±0 kcal / day
Hold your weight, recover from a diet, or build the habit of tracking without pressure. The best place to learn what your body actually needs.
Get my numberBuild muscle
— —kcal / day
+300 kcal / day
A small surplus fuels training and recovery without a thick layer of fat. Expect 0.25 kg a week; more than that is mostly not muscle.
Get my numberMake it stick
The formula gets you close. These habits get you exact.
No calculator knows your NEAT, your sleep or how honestly you log. Four habits close the gap between estimate and reality.
Recalculate every 4–6 weeks
Lose 5 kg and your TDEE drops too. Plateaus are often just an outdated number.
Judge by weekly averages
Daily weight swings 1–2 kg on water alone. Compare 7-day means, not mornings.
Weigh food, don’t eyeball
A “cup” of rice can be 150 or 220 kcal. Grams remove the guesswork from the input side.
Nudge, don’t slash
No change after two honest weeks? Move intake by 100–200 kcal. Big cuts overshoot.
TDEE cluster
Guides that make the number usable
Activity levels, NEAT, maintenance, plateaus, and how to verify the estimate — linked so you can move through the topic without leaving the site.
Cluster guides will appear here as each article is published.
FAQ
Straight answers about TDEE
The questions people ask before they trust the number. Short, honest, no filler.
Ask something elseTDEE — Total Daily Energy Expenditure — is the total number of calories your body burns in 24 hours: resting metabolism, digestion, everyday movement and exercise combined. It is the single most useful number in nutrition because every goal is defined relative to it. Eat below it to lose fat, at it to maintain, above it to gain.
Two minutes, one number
Stop guessing your calories. Calculate your TDEE and eat with intent.
Free, private and built on the formulas dietitians use. Your result stays on your screen — we never see it.
- Activity-aware
- Body-fat aware
- 20-second result
- Macros included