Free TDEE Calculator

Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — how many calories your body burns per day, including BMR, activity, and the thermic effect of food. Free, no sign-up needed.

Age

Weight

Height

Activity Level

💻

Sedentary

Office job, no exercise

×1.2

🚶

Lightly Active

Light exercise 1-3 days/week

×1.375

🏃

Moderately Active

Moderate exercise 3-5 days/week

×1.55

🏋

Active

Hard exercise 6-7 days/week

×1.725

⚡

Very Active

Very intense exercise, physical job

×1.9

Body Fat %

Enables Katch-McArdle formula — more accurate for users with higher or lower than average body fat.

Your Results

BMR

—

kcal/day

Mifflin-St Jeor Formula

TDEE
—
kcal/day
BMR × activity

Your body burns approximately ~0 kcal/day just digesting food (TEF).

Effective TDEE: — kcal/day

See detailed TEF breakdown by macronutrient →

Macro Breakdown

Recommended daily macros based on your TDEE and activity level

—

Protein

—

Based on lean body mass

—

Carbs

—

Balanced macro split

200g

Ketogenic range — Under 50g net carbs per day puts most people into ketosis. Your body switches from glucose to fat as its primary fuel source.

—

Fat

—

Fills remaining calories

Calorie Targets for Weight Goals

Goal	Calories/day	Weekly Change

Track Your Real TDEE — Every Day, Automatically

This calculator gives you a starting point. The app tracks your actual TDEE daily using real data — food photos, Apple Watch calories, weight trends — and adjusts automatically.

What is TDEE?

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total number of calories your body burns in a single day. It’s the sum of three components:

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): The calories your body needs at complete rest to maintain basic functions — breathing, circulation, cell production. This accounts for 60-75% of your TDEE.
Physical Activity: All movement, from walking to the gym to fidgeting. This is the most variable component, ranging from 15-30% of TDEE.
TEF (Thermic Effect of Food): The energy cost of digesting, absorbing, and metabolizing your food. Typically 8-15% of calorie intake.

Knowing your TDEE is the foundation of any nutrition goal. To lose weight, eat below your TDEE. To gain weight or build muscle, eat above it. To maintain, match it.

How We Calculate BMR

By default we use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which research shows is the most accurate BMR formula for most people. If you enter your body fat percentage, we automatically switch to the Katch-McArdle formula, which uses lean body mass for better accuracy.

Mifflin-St Jeor (default):

Men: BMR = (10 × weight_kg) + (6.25 × height_cm) − (5 × age) + 5
Women: BMR = (10 × weight_kg) + (6.25 × height_cm) − (5 × age) − 161

Katch-McArdle (when body fat % is known):

LBM = weight_kg × (1 − body_fat / 100)
BMR = 370 + (21.6 × LBM)

Both formulas are well-established in sports science and clinical nutrition. For a detailed breakdown of how these formulas work in practice, see our step-by-step guide to TDEE calculation.

Activity Level Guide

The activity multiplier is the biggest source of error in any TDEE estimate. Here’s how to choose the right level:

Level	Multiplier	Who This Is For
Sedentary	1.2	Desk job, no structured exercise, minimal walking (<4,000 steps/day)
Lightly Active	1.375	Light exercise 1-3 days/week, or a moderately active job with some walking (4,000-7,000 steps/day)
Moderately Active	1.55	Moderate exercise 3-5 days/week, active lifestyle (7,000-10,000 steps/day)
Active	1.725	Hard exercise 6-7 days/week, or a physical job plus regular workouts
Very Active	1.9	Professional athlete, or physical labor job with daily intense training

Tip: When in doubt, choose one level lower than you think. Most people overestimate their activity. You can always adjust up if you’re losing weight too fast.

Why Body Fat Percentage Matters

Two people can weigh the same but have very different metabolic rates. A 90 kg person with 15% body fat has significantly more muscle (and a higher BMR) than a 90 kg person with 35% body fat.

The Mifflin-St Jeor formula can’t account for this — it only uses total weight. The Katch-McArdle formula solves this by calculating BMR from lean body mass (LBM = total weight minus fat). This makes it more accurate at the extremes: very lean athletes and people with higher body fat.

If you know your body fat percentage (from a DEXA scan, calipers, or a reliable estimate), enter it above for a more precise result.

What is TEF (Thermic Effect of Food)?

The Thermic Effect of Food is the energy your body spends digesting and processing nutrients. Different macronutrients have different thermic effects:

Protein: 20-30% of its calories are burned during digestion
Carbohydrates: 5-10% of calories
Fat: 0-5% of calories

This means a high-protein diet effectively burns more calories — even at the same total intake. This calculator estimates your TEF based on the recommended macro split and adds it to your TDEE for a more complete picture.

For a deeper dive into TEF and how it affects your calorie targets, read our detailed guide on TDEE calculation.

Want to see how different macro ratios change your TEF? Try our TEF Calculator for a per-macronutrient breakdown.

Using TDEE for Weight Loss

Weight loss comes down to consistently eating fewer calories than your TDEE. The size of your deficit determines the speed:

Mild deficit (275 kcal/day): ~0.25 kg/week. Sustainable long-term, minimal muscle loss, easy to maintain.
Moderate deficit (550 kcal/day): ~0.5 kg/week. The most commonly recommended rate. Good balance of progress and sustainability.
Aggressive deficit (825 kcal/day): ~0.75 kg/week. Faster results, but harder to maintain and higher risk of muscle loss.

Important safety limits: never go below 1,200 kcal/day (women) or 1,500 kcal/day (men) without medical supervision. Very low calorie diets can cause nutrient deficiencies, muscle loss, and metabolic adaptation.

The 1% rule: A safe rate of weight loss is about 0.5-1% of your body weight per week. For a 80 kg person, that’s 0.4-0.8 kg/week.

Beyond a Static Calculator

A TDEE calculator gives you a useful starting estimate, but your real TDEE changes every day. A rest day burns fewer calories than a workout day. A high-protein meal burns more through TEF than a high-fat meal. Stress, sleep, and temperature all play a role.

That’s why AI Food Coach calculates your TDEE dynamically every day, using real data:

Apple Watch / Health Connect: Real basal energy, active calories, steps, and workout data — not estimates from a formula.
AI food logging: Snap a photo of your food on a kitchen scale — AI reads the weight and calculates exact macros in seconds.
Automatic TEF: The app calculates your thermic effect of food from your actual macros consumed, not an estimate.
Weight trend analysis: Track your real weight changes over time to validate and adjust your targets.

The result is a TDEE that updates throughout the day as you eat, move, and exercise — far more accurate than any static calculator.

For the full scientific methodology behind our calculations, see our methodology and sources page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does TDEE stand for?

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It’s the total number of calories your body burns in a 24-hour period, combining your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), physical activity, and the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). Knowing your TDEE is essential for setting calorie targets for weight loss, gain, or maintenance.

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories your body burns at complete rest — just to keep your organs functioning, blood circulating, and cells alive. TDEE adds your physical activity and the energy cost of digesting food (TEF) on top of BMR. For most people, TDEE is 1.2 to 1.9 times their BMR, depending on activity level.

How accurate is a TDEE calculator?

A TDEE calculator gives you a solid estimate, typically within 10-15% of your actual expenditure. The main source of error is the activity multiplier — it’s hard to categorize your exact activity level into broad categories. For better accuracy, use a calculator that accounts for body fat percentage (Katch-McArdle formula) and track your real weight changes over 2-3 weeks to calibrate.

Should I use Mifflin-St Jeor or Katch-McArdle?

If you don’t know your body fat percentage, use Mifflin-St Jeor — it’s the most accurate formula for the general population. If you do know your body fat percentage (from a DEXA scan, calipers, or a reliable smart scale), use Katch-McArdle — it calculates BMR from lean body mass, making it more accurate for people who are particularly lean or carry more body fat than average.

How do I calculate TDEE for weight loss?

First, calculate your TDEE using this calculator. Then subtract 300-750 calories per day depending on how fast you want to lose weight. A 550 kcal daily deficit produces roughly 0.5 kg (1 lb) of fat loss per week. Never go below 1,200 calories (women) or 1,500 calories (men) without medical supervision.

How do I calculate my calorie deficit from TDEE?

Your calorie deficit is simply TDEE minus your daily calorie target. For weight loss, subtract 300-750 kcal from your TDEE. A 550 kcal deficit produces about 0.5 kg (1 lb) of fat loss per week. This TDEE calculator shows your deficit automatically when you enter a weekly weight loss goal. For ongoing accuracy, track your real weight — if you’re not losing at the expected rate, adjust the deficit.

Does TDEE change day to day?

Yes, significantly. Your TDEE varies based on how much you move, what you eat (high-protein meals burn more through TEF), sleep quality, stress levels, and even temperature. A static calculator gives you an average estimate. For day-to-day accuracy, AI Food Coach tracks your real TDEE using Apple Watch or Health Connect data — updated throughout the day.

Can Apple Watch measure real TDEE?

Apple Watch measures your Basal Energy (resting calories) and Active Energy (movement and exercise calories) throughout the day. Combined, these give you a real-time TDEE that’s far more accurate than any formula-based estimate. AI Food Coach reads both values and adds TEF estimation to show your complete energy expenditure.

What is the thermic effect of food (TEF)?

TEF is the energy your body uses to digest, absorb, and process the food you eat. It accounts for roughly 8-15% of your total calorie intake. Protein has the highest thermic effect (20-30% of its calories), followed by carbohydrates (5-10%), and fat (0-5%). High-protein diets effectively burn more calories through TEF alone — this calculator estimates your TEF and adds it to your TDEE.