TDEE calculator
Enter your details and activity level to see how many calories you burn in a day and where to set intake for slow, steady weight change.
- Basal metabolic rateCalories a day at complete rest1,392
- Activity multiplier (light)1.375
- Lose about 0.5 lb a week1,664
- Lose about 1 lb a week1,414
- Gain about 0.5 lb a week2,164
How to use it
- Enter your age, sex, height and weight in whichever units you use.
- Pick the activity level that honestly describes a typical week. Most people with desk jobs who exercise a few times are 'light'.
- Read your maintenance calories, and the targets for losing or gaining about half a pound to a pound a week.
Worked example
A 35-year-old woman, 5 ft 6 in, 150 lb, lightly active.
68.04 kg and 167.64 cm. BMR = 10 × 68.04 + 6.25 × 167.64 − 5 × 35 − 161 = 1,392 calories. × 1.375 = 1,914 calories a day to maintain; about 1,414 to lose a pound a week.
How it's calculated
Basal metabolic rate (Mifflin-St Jeor, 1990):
men: BMR = 10 × kg + 6.25 × cm − 5 × age + 5
women: BMR = 10 × kg + 6.25 × cm − 5 × age − 161
TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier (1.2 sedentary to 1.9 very active)
A pound of body fat is roughly 3,500 calories, so a 500-calorie daily deficit is about a pound a week. Both figures are rounded to whole calories.
FAQ
How accurate is this?
Mifflin-St Jeor is the most accurate of the common formulas for most adults, but it's still within about 10% for most people and further off for the very lean or very heavy. Treat the number as a starting point, track your weight for two or three weeks, and adjust by 100 to 200 calories.
Which activity level am I?
People overestimate. A gym session three times a week on top of a desk job is 'light', not 'moderate'. 'Active' means training hard most days or a job on your feet all day; 'very active' is a physical job plus serious training.
Is 1,200 calories the minimum?
It's the usual floor for unsupervised dieting for women, 1,500 for men, because it's hard to get enough protein and micronutrients below it. If your target drops under that, aim for a slower loss.
Does it account for muscle mass?
Not directly; it uses total weight. Very muscular people burn more than the formula suggests and may prefer the Katch-McArdle formula, which uses lean mass, if they know their body-fat percentage.