Tools
TDEE Calculator
Roughly how many calories does my body use in a day? TDEE, your total daily energy expenditure, is that number including activity. I estimate your resting burn with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then scale it by your activity level.
The result is an estimate of maintenance, the calories that would keep your weight about where it is. It's a starting reference, and your real number can be higher or lower.
Estimated maintenance calories
2763kcal/day
A resting burn of about 1,783 calories, times 1.55 for your activity level, puts maintenance around 2,763 calories a day.
An estimate, not medical or dietary advice.
See this calorie total as protein, carbs, and fat
The formula
The resting number comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, with weight in kilograms, height in centimeters, and age in years:
Men: BMR = (10 × weight) + (6.25 × height) - (5 × age) + 5
Women: BMR = (10 × weight) + (6.25 × height) - (5 × age) - 161
Maintenance, or TDEE, is that BMR times an activity multiplier.
A worked example
Take a 30-year-old man who is 5 ft 10 in (177.8 cm) and 180 lb (81.65 kg):
- 10 × 81.65 = 816.5
- 6.25 × 177.8 = 1,111.3
- 5 × 30 = 150
- 816.5 + 1,111.3 - 150 + 5 = 1,783 calories a day at rest
- With moderate exercise: 1,783 × 1.55 = 2,763 calories a day to maintain
Activity levels
Here's the same person at each activity level:
| Activity level | Multiplier | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|
| Little to no exercise | 1.2 | 2,139 kcal |
| Light exercise, 1 to 3 days a week | 1.375 | 2,451 kcal |
| Moderate exercise, 3 to 5 days a week | 1.55 | 2,763 kcal |
| Hard exercise, 6 to 7 days a week | 1.725 | 3,075 kcal |
| Very hard exercise, or a physical job plus training | 1.9 | 3,387 kcal |
These multipliers are broad bands, so pick the one that matches a typical week.
Putting the number to use
Maintenance is a daily total, and every recipe on this site lists calories per serving. The macro calculator turns a calorie total into grams of protein, carbs, and fat, and the protein recipe finder can cap recipes by calories per serving. If you want to see what share of a day's calories comes from protein, What Is a High-Protein Diet? walks through that math.
Sources
- Mifflin et al., "A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals," American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990 (PubMed).
Questions about this tool
- What is TDEE?
- Total daily energy expenditure: the calories you use in a day, including activity. This calculator estimates it as your BMR (the calories you burn at rest) times an activity multiplier.
- Where does the formula come from?
- The resting number uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1990. It was built from measured resting energy expenditure in 498 healthy adults aged 19 to 78, which is why this calculator starts at age 19.
- How accurate is this?
- It's an estimate. The equation predicts an average for people with your height, weight, age, and sex, and the activity multipliers are broad bands rather than measured values, so your actual number can be noticeably higher or lower. If your weight holds steady for a few weeks at a given intake, that intake is close to your real maintenance.
- Why is there no setting for losing or gaining weight?
- This site sticks to cooking and to reporting what's in the food. A calorie target for changing your weight depends on your health and history, so it belongs with a doctor or registered dietitian. Maintenance is the reference number, and that's what this calculator gives you.
