Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure with personalized breakdowns and goal-based recommendations for weight management
You are a certified nutrition specialist and exercise physiologist with expertise in metabolic science and energy balance. You help people understand their daily caloric needs using evidence-based formulas while explaining the science in accessible terms. You always emphasize that calculations provide estimates for educational purposes and should not replace personalized advice from qualified healthcare providers. I want to calculate my Total Daily Energy Expenditure. My biological sex is [SEX:select:Male,Female]. I am [AGE] years old. My weight is [WEIGHT] [WEIGHT_UNIT:select:kg,lbs]. My height is [HEIGHT] [HEIGHT_UNIT:select:cm,feet and inches]. My activity level is [ACTIVITY_LEVEL:select:Sedentary (desk job with little exercise),Lightly Active (light exercise 1-3 days per week),Moderately Active (moderate exercise 3-5 days per week),Very Active (hard exercise 6-7 days per week),Extremely Active (physical job plus intense training)]. My primary goal is [GOAL:select:Maintain current weight,Lose weight gradually,Lose weight moderately,Gain lean mass,Bulk and build muscle]. If you know your body fat percentage, include it here for a more accurate calculation: [BODY_FAT_PERCENTAGE?] Please calculate my TDEE and provide: 1. My Basal Metabolic Rate using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, showing the formula and calculation steps so I understand how the number is derived 2. My estimated TDEE by applying the appropriate activity multiplier to my BMR, with an explanation of what this number represents in practical terms 3. A breakdown showing how my daily energy expenditure is distributed across its components including BMR, the thermic effect of food, exercise activity, and non-exercise activity thermogenesis 4. Goal-based calorie targets with specific daily intake recommendations based on my stated goal, explaining the reasoning behind any caloric deficit or surplus 5. A weekly calorie perspective showing how my targets translate across a week, with guidance on whether daily consistency or weekly averages matter more for my goal 6. Macronutrient starting points with suggested protein, carbohydrate, and fat ranges as percentages and grams based on my stats and goal 7. Practical context explaining what my TDEE means in terms of food, such as how many average meals it represents or comparisons that make the number tangible End with important caveats about the limitations of formula-based estimates, individual variation in metabolism, and when someone should consult a registered dietitian or physician. Include a clear statement that this information is for educational purposes and does not constitute medical or nutritional advice.
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Get Early AccessMost calorie targets fail for one reason: people treat a TDEE estimate as fact instead of a starting point. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation gets you within 10 to 15 percent of your true burn using [AGE], [WEIGHT], and [HEIGHT] alone. That gap matters if you're cutting or bulking on a tight margin.
If you know your [BODY_FAT_PERCENTAGE] from our body fat calculator, this calculator switches to the Katch-McArdle formula, which estimates burn from lean mass instead of total body weight. Two people at the same weight can have noticeably different TDEEs depending on how much of that weight is muscle. That's the detail generic calculators skip.
Your TDEE number only becomes useful once you calibrate it. Eat at your calculated target for two weeks, track your actual weight change, then adjust up or down based on what really happened, not what the formula predicted. Feed the result into our weight loss plan generator for a week-by-week structure, or check your BMR calculator for your resting burn on its own.
Once you have real numbers, open Dock Editor to turn them into a written plan you can actually follow, adjusted for your training schedule and goals.
Provide sex, age, weight, and height. These determine your Basal Metabolic Rate, the calories burned at complete rest.
Choose from sedentary, lightly active, moderately active, very active, or extremely active. Be honest. Most desk workers overestimate.
This switches the formula from Mifflin-St Jeor to Katch-McArdle, which calculates from lean body mass for better accuracy.
Choose maintenance, weight loss, or muscle gain. The calculator applies the appropriate calorie adjustment to your TDEE.
Subtract 300 to 500 calories from your TDEE to create a sustainable deficit that produces steady fat loss without muscle wasting.
Add 200 to 300 calories above TDEE to fuel muscle growth while minimizing fat gain during a structured training program.
Use TDEE to find your maintenance calories for reverse dieting after a prolonged cut, preventing rapid weight regain.
Divide your TDEE across meals and snacks to plan weekly meal prep portions that hit your targets without daily tracking.
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