TDEE Calculator for Maintenance, Cutting and Bulking Calories
Fill in the form and this TDEE calculator shows your maintenance calories in kcal a day, with your BMR and the calories 500 below (Cutting calories) and 500 above (Bulking calories). TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure, the calories you burn in a day including exercise. The result is an estimate, it works in kg and cm or lb and feet and inches, and nothing you enter is uploaded.
How to use the TDEE calculator
There is no submit button. The result at the top changes with every edit as you work down the form:
- Units: choose Metric (kg, cm) or Imperial (lb, ft/in). It starts from your region and remembers your choice.
- Biological sex: Female or Male. The BMR formula uses it.
- Age: whole years, from 15 to 120.
- Weight and Height: in imperial, height is two boxes, Feet and Inches.
- Body fat % (optional): leave it empty for the standard formula, or enter 1 to 60 to switch formulas.
- Activity level: choose the button that fits your usual week, exercise included. Moderate is selected to begin with.
Until every field holds a usable value the result asks you to fill in every field below. Then it shows Maintenance calories (TDEE) as the big number in kcal / day, followed by BMR, Cutting calories and Bulking calories, and a line saying which BMR formula was used.
What the TDEE results mean
- Maintenance calories (TDEE): the estimate of what you burn in a day. Eating about this much should hold your weight roughly steady.
- BMR: the calories your body uses at complete rest, before any activity is counted.
- Cutting calories: your TDEE minus 500 kcal, a common rule-of-thumb starting point for eating less than you burn.
- Bulking calories: your TDEE plus 500 kcal, a common starting point for eating more than you burn.
The 500 kcal step is a convention, not advice tailored to you, and there is no slider to change it. If a cutting target would come out at zero or below, the calculator shows no result rather than a meaningless number.
BMR 1,649 kcal, TDEE 2,556 kcal
Cutting 2,056 kcal, Bulking 3,056 kcal
How TDEE is calculated
The calculation has two steps, and the numbers are rounded to whole kcal at the end:
- BMR from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age + 5 for men, or − 161 for women. Pounds and feet and inches are converted to kg and cm first.
- TDEE = BMR × the activity multiplier for the level you chose.
| Activity level | What it means | Multiplier | Example man's TDEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | Desk job, little or no exercise | ×1.2 | 1,979 kcal |
| Light | Light exercise 1 to 3 days a week | ×1.375 | 2,267 kcal |
| Moderate | Moderate exercise 3 to 5 days a week | ×1.55 | 2,556 kcal |
| Active | Hard exercise 6 to 7 days a week | ×1.725 | 2,844 kcal |
| Very active | Hard daily exercise or a physical job | ×1.9 | 3,133 kcal |
The last column uses the same man as above (BMR 1,649), so you can see how much the activity level alone moves the answer. That is why it pays to choose honestly.
TDEE calculator with body fat percentage
When Body fat % holds a value from 1 to 60, the calculator replaces Mifflin-St Jeor with the Katch-McArdle formula: BMR = 370 + 21.6 × lean body mass in kg, where lean mass is your weight times (1 − body fat ÷ 100). Age, sex and height no longer affect the BMR, because lean mass stands in for them. The activity multiplier still applies. Clear the box to return to Mifflin-St Jeor.
| Same man, Moderate activity | BMR | TDEE |
|---|---|---|
| No body fat entered (Mifflin-St Jeor) | 1,649 kcal | 2,556 kcal |
| Body fat 20% (Katch-McArdle) | 1,580 kcal | 2,448 kcal |
Neither is a measurement. Katch-McArdle is only as good as the body fat figure behind it, and body fat estimates are rough themselves. If you do not know your number, the body fat calculator can give an estimate.
TDEE vs BMR
BMR is the resting part of your energy use; TDEE adds the movement, exercise and digestion on top. Use TDEE when you want a daily calorie figure to plan around, and BMR when you only want the resting baseline. This page shows both. For the BMR on its own, open the BMR calculator; to turn a calorie target into grams of protein, carbs and fat, use the macro calculator.
This is an estimate from a standard equation, not medical, nutrition or dietary advice. It does not know your health, medications, pregnancy or growth stage. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before making big changes to what you eat.
Frequently asked questions
What is TDEE?
TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure: the calories your body uses in a full day, counting rest, everyday movement, exercise and digesting food. It is the number people call their maintenance calories, because eating about that much each day should keep your weight roughly steady. This calculator estimates it from your age, sex, weight, height and activity level.
How is TDEE calculated?
In two steps. First your BMR is estimated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age, then + 5 for men or − 161 for women. Then the BMR is multiplied by an activity factor from 1.2 (Sedentary) to 1.9 (Very active). A 30-year-old man at 70 kg and 175 cm with Moderate activity gets a BMR of 1,649 and a TDEE of 2,556 kcal a day.
What is the difference between TDEE and BMR?
BMR is what your body burns at complete rest. TDEE is BMR plus everything you do on top of it, so it is always the larger number. In the example above, 1,649 kcal is the BMR and 2,556 kcal is the TDEE. The calculator shows both: BMR sits under the big Maintenance calories (TDEE) figure. If you only need the resting number, the BMR calculator gives it on its own.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
It is an estimate, not a measurement. The equation is built from averages, and two people with the same age, weight, height and activity level can burn noticeably different amounts. Treat the result as a starting point: eat near it for a few weeks, watch how your weight trend moves, and adjust from what actually happens. It is general information, not medical or dietary advice.
How many calories under my TDEE should I eat to lose weight?
A common rule of thumb is about 500 kcal a day below maintenance, and that is the figure shown as Cutting calories (TDEE minus 500). It is a convention, not a prescription: the right size of deficit depends on you, and this calculator does not set one for you. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are under 18, ask a doctor or dietitian before changing how much you eat.
Is there a TDEE calculator with body fat percentage?
Yes. Enter a value from 1 to 60 in the optional Body fat % box and the BMR switches from Mifflin-St Jeor to the Katch-McArdle formula: 370 + 21.6 × lean mass in kg, where lean mass is your weight minus the fat share. The line under the result tells you which formula was used. Katch-McArdle can suit lean or muscular people better, but it is only as good as the body fat figure you give it.
How do I choose my activity level for TDEE?
Pick the button that matches a normal week, exercise included, not your best week. Sedentary (×1.2) is a desk job with little or no exercise; Light (×1.375) is 1 to 3 days of light exercise; Moderate (×1.55) is 3 to 5 days; Active (×1.725) is hard exercise 6 to 7 days; Very active (×1.9) is hard daily exercise or a physical job. If you are between two, choose the lower one, since people tend to overestimate how active they are.
Is there a TDEE calculator for women?
Yes, the same calculator covers both. Choose Female under Biological sex and the Mifflin-St Jeor equation subtracts 161 instead of adding 5, which is why the same age, weight and height give a lower BMR. For example, a 30-year-old woman at 60 kg and 165 cm with Light activity gets a BMR of 1,320 and a TDEE of 1,815 kcal a day.
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