How to Calculate TDEE

TDEE is the total calories your body burns in a day including exercise and daily movement. Start with BMR, then apply an activity multiplier.

Step-by-step

1. Calculate BMR using Mifflin-St Jeor: 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + s (s = +5 men, −161 women).
2. Honestly assess your activity: sedentary desk job (1.2), light exercise 1–3 days (1.375), moderate 3–5 days (1.55), heavy 6–7 days (1.725), physical job plus training (1.9).
3. Multiply BMR by your activity factor to get TDEE.
4. Use TDEE as maintenance calories — eat this amount to maintain current weight.
5. Adjust by 300–500 kcal below TDEE for fat loss, or 250–500 above for muscle gain.
6. Recalculate every 4–6 weeks as body weight changes.

Tips and common mistakes

• Track weight for 2 weeks at calculated TDEE to verify accuracy
• NEAT (fidgeting, walking) varies widely between individuals
• Thermic effect of food adds ~10% on top of BMR

Open the TDEE Calculator to apply these steps with your own numbers instantly.

Frequently asked questions