TDEE calculator — maintenance calories
Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the number of calories you burn in a full day — your resting metabolism plus every bit of movement, exercise and digestion. It is your maintenance calorie level: eat that amount and your weight holds steady. This is the single most useful number for planning a diet, which is why every cut or bulk target is defined relative to it.
How it works
The tool first computes your BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (10 × kg + 6.25 × cm − 5 × age, then +5 for men or −161 for women), converting imperial inputs to metric first. It then multiplies BMR by an activity factor from 1.2 to 1.9 to get TDEE. Cutting and bulking targets are simply TDEE − 500 and TDEE + 500 kcal.
Worked example
A 30-year-old man, 178 cm, 75 kg, moderately active:
- BMR = 10×75 + 6.25×178 − 5×30 + 5 = 1,718 kcal
- TDEE = 1,718 × 1.55 = 2,663 kcal/day (maintenance)
- Cut ≈ 2,163 kcal/day · Bulk ≈ 3,163 kcal/day
| Activity level | Multiplier | TDEE for 1,718 BMR |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | 2,062 |
| Lightly active | 1.375 | 2,362 |
| Moderately active | 1.55 | 2,663 |
| Very active | 1.725 | 2,964 |
| Extra active | 1.9 | 3,264 |
Choosing the right activity level
The activity multiplier is where most people go wrong. The instinct is to pick the level that sounds aspirational rather than honest about average weekly activity. A useful rule: pick the level you could honestly sustain for the next three months, not your best week.
- Sedentary (1.2): Desk job, no intentional exercise. Walking to the car, occasional strolling.
- Lightly active (1.375): Light exercise 1–3 days per week, or an active job without formal exercise.
- Moderately active (1.55): Structured exercise 3–5 days per week at moderate intensity. This is where most regular gym-goers belong.
- Very active (1.725): Hard training 6–7 days per week, or a physically demanding job plus moderate exercise.
- Extra active (1.9): Athletes in training twice per day, or heavy manual labor combined with regular training. This level is genuinely rare.
The most common error is choosing “very active” when “moderately active” is accurate. Overstating activity inflates the TDEE estimate, which is why people following a “maintenance” intake sometimes still gain weight.
Using TDEE to cut or bulk
Cutting (fat loss): Eat at TDEE minus a deficit. A 500 kcal/day deficit is the standard starting point, theoretically producing about 0.45 kg (1 lb) of fat loss per week. Larger deficits lose weight faster but risk muscle loss and are harder to sustain. For most people a 20% deficit (TDEE × 0.80) balances speed and sustainability.
Bulking (muscle gain): Eat at TDEE plus a surplus. 300–500 kcal/day above maintenance is a common “lean bulk” range that supports muscle growth while minimizing fat gain. Higher surpluses add size faster but accumulate more fat alongside the muscle.
Maintenance recomposition: Training hard while eating at TDEE can slowly shift body composition (more muscle, less fat) over months, particularly for beginners. Progress is slower than dedicated cutting or bulking phases.
A practical approach is to eat at the estimated maintenance for 2–3 weeks and track your weight. If it drifts upward, reduce by 100–200 kcal. If it falls, increase. The formula gives a starting point; actual weight trend is the calibration.
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