TDEE Calculator
Calculate your maintenance calories in kg and cm or pounds and feet. Compare activity levels to see how much the estimate changes.
Your typical week
Count everyday movement as well as workouts. The activity factor already includes exercise.
Estimated maintenance calories
Resting energy × 1.375 (lightly active). This estimates a whole day, not just a workout.
| Activity | kcal / day |
|---|---|
| Mostly sitting | 1,941 |
| Lightly activeSelected | 2,224 |
| Moderately active | 2,507 |
| Very active | 2,790 |
| Athlete | 3,073 |
These are scenarios, not a confidence interval. Your actual needs can fall outside the estimates.
An estimate for healthy adults, not medical advice. If you're pregnant, under 18 or managing a health condition, check with your doctor.
The science
Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the energy you use over a whole day. It includes resting metabolism, everyday movement, exercise and digesting food. Maintenance calories are an estimate of the intake that would balance that expenditure.
First, we use the simplified Mifflin–St Jeor equation for resting energy: 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age in years, then +5 for the male equation or −161 for the female equation. This is often called BMR in calculators, although the original research measured resting energy expenditure.
Then we multiply resting energy by your selected activity factor. The five factors, 1.2 to 1.9, are broad planning assumptions, not individual measurements or accuracy guarantees from the Mifflin study. The comparison shows how much this choice matters.
Worked example: a 30-year-old man at 70 kg and 170 cm has estimated resting energy of 1,617.5 kcal/day. With the lightly active factor of 1.375, estimated maintenance is 2,224 kcal/day after rounding. Choosing moderately active instead gives 2,507 kcal/day. Neither number is a measured calorie burn.
Choose activity from your whole week, including your job and time spent sitting, not only your hardest workout. Exercise is already included in the activity estimate; adding a fitness watch's exercise calories on top can count it twice.
Use the result as a starting estimate, not an exact daily target. Real needs vary, and a short-term weight change does not establish your maintenance intake. For individual nutrition planning, discuss your activity, health and longer-term weight pattern with a registered dietitian.
Source: Mifflin et al. (1990) for resting energy; NIDDK for the scope and limitations of energy-planning tools. This calculator does not implement NIDDK's dynamic Body Weight Planner model.
TDEE Calculator: common questions
Quick answers about how to read your result.
TDEE estimates the energy you expend each day. Maintenance calories describe the intake that balances it over time. For planning, the two refer to the same approximate daily number.
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