TDEE Calculator

TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure, is an estimate of all the calories your body uses in a day: your resting metabolism plus movement, digestion, and exercise. This calculator estimates it from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and a published activity multiplier.

First the Mifflin-St Jeor equation estimates your resting calories from sex, age, height, and weight. For women it is 10 x kg + 6.25 x cm - 5 x age - 161; for men the final term is + 5. That resting estimate is then multiplied by an activity factor from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extra active).

There is no single number that fits everyone. GLP-1 medications lower appetite, so many people eat below their maintenance calories without counting. TDEE gives you the reference line, where your intake sits relative to maintenance, but an individualized target belongs with a clinician or registered dietitian, not a calculator.

It is a population estimate, not a measurement. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation predicts resting energy within roughly 10 percent for most adults, and activity multipliers add more uncertainty because everyday movement is hard to categorize. Use TDEE as a starting reference and adjust based on real results over several weeks.

Yes. The same resting estimate of about 1,500 calories becomes roughly 1,800 at the sedentary factor (x1.2), about 2,600 at very active (x1.725), and about 2,850 at extra active (x1.9). Because everyday activity is easy to over- or under-estimate, pick the level that reflects a typical week, not your best one.

BMR (or the resting estimate) is the energy your body would use at complete rest, and it usually makes up the majority of the day. TDEE is that resting estimate scaled up for everything else you do: moving, digesting, exercising. This calculator shows both numbers so you can see how much of the total is resting energy.

Weight loss generally involves eating below maintenance over time, but how far below, and whether counting is even the right approach for you, is individual. On a GLP-1, appetite often creates that gap on its own. Use TDEE to understand where your intake sits, and set any deficit with a clinician or registered dietitian.

The equation scales with body size: a lighter body uses fewer calories at rest and during movement. Recalculating every 10 to 15 pounds keeps the reference line honest, which is one reason a fixed calorie number from months ago slowly stops matching reality.

Count the workouts, not the job title. A desk job with exercise 1 to 3 days a week is lightly active (x1.375); 3 to 5 days is moderately active (x1.55). If you are between levels, pick the lower one; overestimating activity is the most common way these estimates run high.

For most healthy adults, yes. A systematic review comparing the common equations found Mifflin-St Jeor predicted measured resting energy within 10 percent more often than Harris-Benedict and the others. Both are still population estimates, so treat any result as a starting reference.

The commonly used arithmetic is about 500 calories a day below maintenance for roughly 1 pound a week, and about 1,000 for roughly 2 pounds. Real bodies are messier than the 3,500-calorie rule, and on a GLP-1 appetite often creates a gap without counting. Treat the math as orientation and set any deficit with a clinician or registered dietitian.

It includes exercise. The activity factor scales your resting estimate for everything in a typical week, workouts included, so adding gym calories on top would double-count them. If you want to see what your everyday movement burns on its own, the daily step calculator estimates that from your current steps.

They measure different slices. TDEE estimates the whole day: resting energy plus all movement and digestion. A watch's active-calorie figure is only the exercise slice on top of resting burn, so it should be much smaller than TDEE. Comparing the two directly usually just mixes the definitions.

MeAgain can log food, protein, fiber, and water beside weight and medication days, so you can see how real days compare to a maintenance reference over time. The app does not set a calorie target or decide what amount is right for you.