Your TDEE takes two steps to find: your resting burn, then your activity level. This guide shows both, with your own numbers, and then what to do with the result.
How to calculate your TDEE by hand
Step 1: Find your resting burn with the Mifflin–St Jeor equation
Use your weight in kilograms, your height in centimeters, and your age in years1.
- Male: 10 × weight + 6.25 × height − 5 × age + 5
- Female: 10 × weight + 6.25 × height − 5 × age − 161
Step 2: Multiply it by your activity level
Find your multiplier in the table in the next section.
In this example, step 1 is 10 × 83.9 + 6.25 × 177.8 − 5 × 32 + 5 = 1,795 kcal. Step 2 is 1,795 × 1.55 = 2,783 kcal a day.
To change pounds to kilograms, multiply by 0.4536. To change inches to centimeters, multiply by 2.54. Keep every digit until the end, then round once. If you round each step, your answer can be off by a few calories.
Activity levels and multipliers
Your activity level multiplies your resting burn. These are the five levels the Fit Shapes app uses. Many calculators use the same five numbers.
| Level | What it means | Multiplier | Your TDEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | Little or no exercise | 1.2 | 2,154 |
| Light | 1–2 workouts a week | 1.375 | 2,469 |
| Moderate | 3–4 workouts a week | 1.55 | 2,783 |
| High | 5–6 workouts a week | 1.725 | 3,097 |
| Athlete | Daily training or a physical job | 1.9 | 3,411 |
Count workouts of about 30 minutes or more. If your job keeps you on your feet all day, choose Athlete. If you are between two levels, choose the lower one first. Your weight trend over the next few weeks tells you if it was right.
The activity level is the largest guess in the formula. Two people with the same size and age can move very differently in a day: one walks to work and stands at a desk, the other drives and sits. A workout count does not see that. This is why the multiplier moves your number more than any other answer.
TDEE vs BMR
BMR is a part of your burn. TDEE is all of it.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| BMR | Basal metabolic rate. What you burn at complete rest, measured after a night’s sleep and an overnight fast. |
| RMR | Resting metabolic rate. What you burn at rest on a normal day. It is a little higher than BMR. The Mifflin–St Jeor equation estimates RMR. |
| TDEE | Total daily energy expenditure. Your resting burn, plus movement, plus digesting food. |
| Maintenance calories | The calories that keep your weight the same. The same number as your TDEE. |
This page calls BMR and RMR “resting burn”, as most calculators do. Your resting burn is the energy your body uses to stay alive: your heart, your lungs, your brain, and your other organs. For most people it is the largest part of the day. Movement is everything else you do, from workouts to walking to the kitchen.
Do not use your BMR as a calorie target. It is the floor of what you burn, not a goal. If you eat only your BMR, you eat 988 kcal a day under your TDEE.
How many calories to eat to lose weight
Take a daily amount off your TDEE. About 500 kcal a day less than your TDEE loses about 1 lb a week3.
| Pace | Daily deficit | Your target |
|---|---|---|
| Lose 0.5 lb a week | 250 | 2,533 |
| Lose 1 lb a week | 499 | 2,284 |
| Lose 1.5 lb a week | 748 | 2,034 |
| Lose 2 lb a week | 998 | 1,785 |
Fit Shapes never sets a target under 1,200 kcal a day, or under 60% of your TDEE. In this example, that minimum is 1,670 kcal. When a pace goes under it, the target stops at the minimum, and you lose more slowly. For a small body, the minimum can be more than you burn. Then ask a doctor or a registered dietitian for a target.
Fit Shapes suggests 0.5 to 1.5 lb a week. A slower pace takes longer, but it is easier to keep up, and it leaves more room for the foods you like. A faster pace is a larger gap every day.
How many calories to eat to gain weight
Add a daily amount to your TDEE. About 250 kcal a day more than your TDEE gains about 0.5 lb a week. In this example, that is about 3,032 kcal a day.
Fit Shapes suggests 0.25 to 0.75 lb a week. The number on this page does not know how you train. It only gives the energy for the pace you choose.
Why TDEE calculators give different numbers
They use different formulas and different activity numbers.
- Mifflin–St Jeor (1990)1: the formula on this page and in the Fit Shapes app.
- Harris–Benedict (1918, revised in 1984)4: an older formula that many calculators still use. The revised version, with weight in kilograms, height in centimeters, and age in years:
- Male: 88.362 + 13.397 × weight + 4.799 × height − 5.677 × age
- Female: 447.593 + 9.247 × weight + 3.098 × height − 4.330 × age
- Katch–McArdle: uses your lean body mass, so it needs your body fat percentage. A body fat number is often an estimate too, so the error moves to a different place.
The activity numbers also differ from site to site. So two calculators can give two different numbers for the same person, and neither is a measurement. Pick one, use it for a few weeks, and let your weight trend correct it.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
Of the common formulas, Mifflin–St Jeor, the one on this page, is the most reliable. In a 2005 review of the four formulas most used by dietitians, it came within 10% of measured resting burn more often than the others, and its errors had the narrowest range2. The same review notes that older adults and some ethnic groups were not well represented in the studies behind these formulas.
In this example, 10% is about 278 kcal a day, either way. And that is only the resting part. The activity level is a second guess on top of it, and it is often the larger one.
So use the result as a first guess. Then measure.
How to calculate your maintenance calories from your log
A formula estimates your TDEE. Your own log and your scale can measure it. You need two to four weeks of both.
- Log everything you eat, every day, as well as you can. Days you skip make the math worse, not better.
- Weigh yourself most mornings, after the bathroom and before you eat. Your weight jumps from day to day with water, salt, and food, so one weigh-in tells you little. Use the average of each week.
- At the end, compare the weeks. Take your average daily calories. Then add or take away the energy of the weight you lost or gained.
A pound of body fat holds about 3,500 kcal3. If you lost 2 lb in 14 days, that is about 7,000 kcal, or 500 a day. If you ate an average of 2,100 kcal a day, your TDEE was about 2,100 + 500 = 2,600 kcal a day.
Two to four weeks is enough to see a trend under the day-to-day noise. A longer window is steadier. Fit Shapes does this math for you each week from your log and your trend weight, and moves your target to match.
Why your TDEE drops as you lose weight
A smaller body burns less. In the formula, each kilogram you lose takes 10 kcal a day off your resting burn, and more off your TDEE, because your activity level multiplies it. So the same daily target makes a smaller gap as the weeks go on.
This is why the 3,500 kcal rule works over a few weeks, but not over a year. Over months, a fixed target loses less weight than the rule predicts, because your burn falls as your weight falls5. It is not a sign that something is wrong. It is the math of a smaller body.
How your age, sex, and size change your TDEE
The formula changes your resting burn by a fixed amount for each answer1:
- Weight: each kilogram adds 10 kcal.
- Height: each centimeter adds 6.25 kcal.
- Age: each year takes away 5 kcal. Ten years takes away 50 kcal of resting burn. At your activity level, that is about 78 kcal less TDEE.
- Sex: at the same size and age, the formula gives a woman 166 kcal less resting burn than a man. At your activity level, that is about 257 kcal less TDEE.
These are averages from the people in the study. Your own body can burn more or less than the average for your size.
TDEE for women
The formula is the same for women, with − 161 in place of + 5 at the end. To see a woman’s numbers, choose female in the sentence at the top. Every number in this guide changes to match.
When to recalculate your TDEE
Recalculate after a large change in your weight, such as 10 lb (5 kg), or when your activity changes for more than a few weeks: a new job, a new training plan, an injury.
A calculator can only update its guess. To find your real number, measure it, as in the section on your log above.
Questions
Is TDEE the same as maintenance calories?
Yes. Your TDEE is what you burn in a day. When you eat that much, your weight stays about the same, so it is also called your maintenance calories.
Should I eat back the calories I burn when I exercise?
Not with this number. Your activity level already counts your usual workouts. If you add them again, you count them twice.
What is a normal TDEE?
It depends on your size, age, sex, and activity. Take the average US adult in the CDC’s latest survey, at age 40. For a woman of 5 ft 3.5 in and 172 lb, this formula gives about 1,700 kcal a day with little exercise, and about 2,200 with 3–4 workouts a week. For a man of 5 ft 9 in and 199 lb, it gives about 2,150 and about 2,800.
Does this calculator save what I type?
No. The math runs in your browser. Nothing you type leaves this page, and nothing is stored.
Can I use this calculator if I am pregnant or breastfeeding?
No. Pregnancy and breastfeeding change how much energy you need, and this formula does not count that. Ask your doctor or a registered dietitian.
Can a teenager use this calculator?
No. It is for adults 18 and older. For a younger person, ask a doctor or a registered dietitian.
Sources
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, Scott BJ, Daugherty SA, Koh YO. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;51(2):241–247. doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/51.2.241
- Frankenfield D, Roth-Yousey L, Compher C. Comparison of predictive equations for resting metabolic rate in healthy nonobese and obese adults: a systematic review. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105(5):775–789. doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2005.02.005
- Wishnofsky M. Caloric equivalents of gained or lost weight. Am J Clin Nutr. 1958;6(5):542–546. doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/6.5.542
- Harris JA, Benedict FG. A biometric study of human basal metabolism. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1918;4(12):370–373. Revised in: Roza AM, Shizgal HM. The Harris Benedict equation reevaluated. Am J Clin Nutr. 1984;40(1):168–182. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.4.12.370
- Hall KD, Sacks G, Chandramohan D, et al. Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight. Lancet. 2011;378(9793):826–837. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60812-X
- National Center for Health Statistics. FastStats: Body measurements. Adults 20 and older, August 2021–August 2023. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/body-measurements.htm