Mealiv
TDEE Calculator
Estimate how many calories your body burns in an average day — and what that means for losing, maintaining or gaining weight.
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Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure covers everything your body spends energy on: staying alive, digesting food, moving through the day, and any exercise on top. Enter your details below to estimate your BMR, your TDEE, and example targets for each goal.
The result is a starting point that reflects your body and your routine — not a number to obey. The page below explains how to test it against what actually happens to your weight.
Your estimated energy expenditure
What is TDEE?
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — an estimate of every calorie your body uses over 24 hours.
That includes keeping your heart beating, breathing, running your brain, holding your body temperature, digesting food, and everything you do on your feet, from walking to the kettle to a hard training session.
Eat about your TDEE and weight stays broadly stable. Eat consistently below it and you are in a calorie deficit, which produces weight loss. Eat consistently above it and you are in a surplus, which produces gain.
What are maintenance calories?
Your maintenance calories are what you would need to eat to stay the same weight, and in practice that is the same figure as your TDEE.
If your TDEE is 2,400: eating around 2,400 maintains, consistently under loses, consistently over gains.
“Consistently” is doing real work in that sentence. Your body responds to energy balance across days and weeks, not to each day in isolation — nothing resets at midnight. A heavy Saturday inside an ordinary week is not a problem, which is why weekly averages are a more useful lens than daily totals.
How is TDEE calculated?
1. Your basal metabolic rate
BMR is what your body would use at complete rest — circulation, breathing, temperature, cell repair. For most people it is the largest single share of daily energy use, typically 60–70%.
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, developed from measurements on 498 adults and still the standard for estimating resting energy:
Men: BMR = (10 × weight kg) + (6.25 × height cm) − (5 × age) + 5
Women: BMR = (10 × weight kg) + (6.25 × height cm) − (5 × age) − 161
2. An activity multiplier
BMR is then multiplied by a factor between 1.2 and 1.9 to account for movement and exercise:
TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier
The equation part is reliable. The multiplier part is a broad category doing a lot of work, which is why the result is an estimate rather than a measurement — and why the activity question matters more than any other input on this page.
BMR vs TDEE: what is the difference?
| Measure | What it represents | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| BMR | Calories used at complete rest | Understanding the baseline. Not an eating target. |
| TDEE | Total calories used across an average day | Setting a daily calorie target. |
| Maintenance | Intake that holds your weight steady | Effectively the same number as TDEE. |
The important practical point: do not eat to your BMR. It excludes walking, working, housework and every workout you do. Eating at BMR while living a normal life is a substantial and usually unintended deficit.
What makes up your TDEE?
Basal metabolism
The largest component for most people, and the one you have least direct control over.
Everyday movement (NEAT)
Walking around the house, standing at work, shopping, stairs, fidgeting. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis is the most variable component between people — two people can do the identical gym session and still differ by several hundred calories a day because one of them sits down for the other fifteen hours.
Planned exercise
Depends on type, intensity, duration, body weight and fitness. Usually a smaller share of the total than people expect.
Digestion
The thermic effect of food, roughly 10% of intake. Protein costs the most to process, which is one reason higher-protein diets help slightly with a deficit.
How to choose your activity level
This is the input most likely to make your result wrong, and the error almost always runs the same way: too high.
Sedentary (1.2)
Mainly seated job, little planned exercise, low daily step count.
Lightly active (1.375)
Light exercise one to three times a week, some walking, mostly desk-based otherwise.
Moderately active (1.55)
Regular training three to five times a week alongside a reasonably active routine.
Very active (1.725)
Hard training most days, or a physically demanding job plus regular exercise.
Extra active (1.9)
Endurance athletes, twice-daily training, or heavy physical work combined with frequent exercise. Genuinely uncommon.
Four gym sessions a week does not make someone very active if the other twenty hours of each day are spent sitting. When you are between two levels, take the lower one — an estimate that is slightly too low shows up quickly as unintended weight loss and is easy to correct, while one that is too high quietly stalls progress for months.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
It is an estimate, and the honest range of error is meaningful — a few hundred calories either way is entirely normal.
Your real expenditure is affected by muscle mass, body composition, genetics, how much you move outside training, sleep, illness, some medications, hormonal factors and recent weight change. None of that is visible to an equation using four numbers.
That does not make the estimate useless. It makes it a starting hypothesis, and the next section is how you test it.
How to test your estimated TDEE
- Weigh yourself most mornings, under the same conditions.
- Eat close to the estimate for two to four weeks.
- Track food and drink as consistently as you can manage — including oils, sauces and drinks.
- Compare your weekly average weight, not individual days.
- Adjust only if a clear trend appears across at least three weeks.
If the average holds steady, the estimate is close. If it falls, your real TDEE is higher than the number. If it rises, it is lower — or the tracking has gaps in it.
Daily swings come from water, salt, carbohydrate, digestion and hormones, and they are routinely larger than a week of genuine fat change. Reacting to a single weigh-in is the fastest way to talk yourself out of a plan that is working.
Using your TDEE for weight loss
Eat below your TDEE. How far below is the only real decision:
| TDEE | Deficit | Daily target | Roughly per week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 kcal | 300 kcal | 1,700 kcal | 0.3 kg |
| 2,300 kcal | 400 kcal | 1,900 kcal | 0.4 kg |
| 2,600 kcal | 500 kcal | 2,100 kcal | 0.5 kg |
| 3,000 kcal | 500 kcal | 2,500 kcal | 0.5 kg |
A moderate deficit is easier to hold than a severe one, and adherence is what decides the outcome. Do not default to the largest number you can tolerate on day one — a target that leaves you hungry, tired and training badly is one you will abandon. The calorie deficit calculator works this through properly, including how long a goal will take.
Using your TDEE to maintain weight
Aim for an average intake near your TDEE. The average is the point — someone maintaining at 2,300 might eat 2,150, 2,400, 2,250 and 2,400 across four days and be exactly on target.
Thinking in weeks rather than days makes maintenance far more livable, and it is closer to how the body actually works.
Using your TDEE for muscle gain
Muscle needs progressive resistance training, enough protein, recovery, and a little more energy than you use.
| TDEE | Surplus | Daily target |
|---|---|---|
| 2,000 kcal | 200 kcal | 2,200 kcal |
| 2,400 kcal | 250 kcal | 2,650 kcal |
| 2,800 kcal | 300 kcal | 3,100 kcal |
A bigger surplus does not build muscle faster; past a certain point the extra simply becomes fat. Muscle accrues slowly whatever you eat, so a modest surplus and patience beats an aggressive one and a longer cut afterwards. Pair it with a protein target from the protein calculator.
Does your TDEE change?
Yes, and this catches people out. It moves with your weight, your muscle mass, your activity, your job, your training volume and your age.
A heavier body costs more to move, so as you lose weight your TDEE falls and the deficit you originally set gradually closes. That is the usual explanation for a plateau three or four months in — not a broken metabolism, just a target that was right for a heavier person. Recalculate after a meaningful weight change or a change in routine.
Why two people the same size can differ
Height, weight, age and sex explain a lot, but not everything. Two people with identical measurements can differ by several hundred calories a day because of muscle mass, daily step count, occupation, training intensity, movement habits and ordinary metabolic variation.
One works at a desk and trains for an hour; the other is on their feet all day. Same equation, same inputs, genuinely different needs. It is the clearest argument for treating the output as a starting estimate rather than a prescription.
Should you add exercise calories on top?
Usually not. If you chose “moderately active” because you train several times a week, that training is already inside the multiplier — adding it again counts it twice.
Genuinely exceptional days are the exception: a marathon, a long hike, a tournament, an unusually physical working day. Even then, treat watch and machine figures with suspicion. They tend to overstate, and a generous estimate can close a day's deficit on its own.
Common mistakes
Choosing too high an activity level
The single most common error, and it inflates every number that follows.
Judging activity by workouts alone
Total daily movement matters as much as training. An hour in the gym does not offset fifteen hours of sitting.
Treating the result as exact
It is a hypothesis. Your weight trend is the evidence.
Forgetting drinks, oils and sauces
Incomplete tracking makes a perfectly good TDEE estimate look wrong.
Changing the target too fast
Water weight masks the trend for a fortnight. Give it three weeks before adjusting.
Confusing BMR with maintenance
BMR is rest only. Eating to it by accident is a large unintended deficit.
Turning your TDEE into an eating plan
Knowing your body uses roughly 2,350 calories a day is useful. Deciding what to eat within that — while getting enough protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals — is the harder part, and the part that determines whether any of it lasts.
Mealiv builds meal plans around your calorie target, generates meals that fit your preferences, tracks calories and macros as you log, monitors fibre and micronutrients, turns plans into shopping lists, and adjusts when your goals change.
How this is calculated
BMR is estimated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has identified as the most reliable of the common predictive equations for resting energy expenditure in healthy adults. TDEE is BMR multiplied by an activity factor between 1.2 (sedentary) and 1.9 (extra active). The weight-loss figure applies a 500 kcal deficit, held at a 1,200 kcal floor; the weight-gain figure applies a 250 kcal surplus. All values are estimates for healthy adults and are not a substitute for individual assessment.
TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What does TDEE stand for?
Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total calories your body uses across an average day, including resting metabolism, everyday movement, exercise and digestion.
Is TDEE the same as maintenance calories?
For practical purposes, yes. Eating approximately your TDEE should keep your weight stable over time.
Is TDEE the same as BMR?
No. BMR is rest only; TDEE adds movement, exercise and digestion, so it is always higher. Do not use BMR as an eating target — doing so creates a large unintended deficit.
How many calories below my TDEE should I eat to lose weight?
Around 500 a day suits most adults, giving roughly 0.5 kg a week. The right figure depends on your size, activity and how long you intend to sustain it. The calorie deficit calculator works it out properly.
How many calories above my TDEE should I eat to gain muscle?
A modest surplus of 200–300 calories is a sensible starting point. Watch strength, weight and body composition over several weeks before changing it — a bigger surplus adds fat rather than speed.
Why am I gaining weight while eating at my calculated TDEE?
Most likely the activity level was set too high, intake is being underestimated, or the gain is temporary water retention. It may also simply be that your real TDEE is lower than the estimate, which is exactly what the testing method above is for.
Why am I losing weight while eating at my TDEE?
Your real expenditure is probably higher than estimated — commonly because you move more outside training than your chosen activity level assumes.
How often should I recalculate my TDEE?
After a meaningful change in weight, activity or lifestyle; otherwise every few months. A lighter body burns less, so the number drifts as you lose.
Can a smartwatch calculate my TDEE?
Wearables are useful for spotting activity patterns, but their calorie figures are estimates and generally overstate expenditure. Check them against your actual weight trend.
Can I use my TDEE without counting calories?
Yes. Plenty of people use it as a rough frame and manage intake through portions and food choices. Tracking for a few weeks does help you find out whether the estimate is right for you.
Turn your calorie target into meals
Build meal plans around your TDEE, track what you eat and watch the trend over months with Mealiv.
Start planning freeImportant information
This calculator provides a general estimate for healthy adults and is not a medical assessment. Energy needs during pregnancy, breastfeeding, adolescence, illness, recovery from an eating disorder, or treatment for certain medical conditions may require specialist guidance. Speak with a GP, registered dietitian or other qualified healthcare professional before making significant dietary changes.