TDEECalculator

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It is the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the energy used to digest food (thermic effect of food), and all physical activity — from walking to the kitchen to intense gym sessions.

TDEE calculators give a good estimate, typically within 10–15% of your actual expenditure. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation used here is the most validated formula for the general population. Individual variation in metabolism, body composition, hormones, and non-exercise activity (NEAT) means real-world results vary. Treat the number as a starting point and adjust every 2–3 weeks based on actual scale changes.

Yes. To lose body fat, you need to eat fewer calories than your TDEE — this creates an energy deficit. A deficit of roughly 500 kcal/day leads to approximately 0.5 kg of fat loss per week. Going much lower than 750 kcal/day below TDEE risks muscle loss, nutrient deficiencies, and metabolic adaptation, so most guidelines recommend a moderate deficit paired with adequate protein and resistance training.

Yes, and it does so in two ways. Exercise directly burns calories during the activity itself, and intense training raises your resting metabolism slightly in the hours afterwards through a process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). When you move more habitually — taking stairs, fidgeting, walking — this non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) can add several hundred extra calories to your daily expenditure.

"Metabolism" usually refers specifically to your basal metabolic rate — the calories burned at complete rest. TDEE is broader: it is BMR multiplied by an activity factor to account for everything you actually do throughout the day. Someone with the same BMR but a more active lifestyle will have a higher TDEE.

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories your body needs just to keep you alive at complete rest — breathing, circulating blood, and maintaining organ function. TDEE builds on that by adding the calories used for physical activity, digestion, and daily movement. For most people, TDEE is 20–90% higher than BMR depending on activity level.

A moderate calorie surplus of 200–500 kcal above your TDEE is the most common recommendation for muscle gain. This gives your body the extra energy and nutrients needed to build new tissue without adding excessive body fat. Higher surpluses lead to faster fat gain without proportionally faster muscle gain, especially past the beginner stage.

Yes. As your body weight decreases, your BMR drops because you have less mass to maintain. This means your TDEE also falls over time. Recalculate every 4–6 weeks during a weight-loss phase — or whenever you lose around 5 kg — to keep your deficit accurate and avoid plateaus.

Absolutely. Eating at your TDEE — your maintenance calories — keeps your weight stable over time. This is a useful baseline before cutting or bulking, or as a long-term strategy after reaching your goal weight. Because real-world intake and activity vary day to day, aim to hit your maintenance target over a week rather than stressing about hitting it perfectly every single day.

On average, males have more lean muscle mass than females of the same height and weight. Muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue, so males typically have a higher BMR and therefore a higher TDEE. Hormonal differences also play a role. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation accounts for this with a constant in the formula.