Find your maintenance calories (TDEE), then get daily targets to lose or gain weight. Set a goal weight and date, compare three BMR formulas and see your macros. Free, and your inputs stay in your browser.
Knowing your daily calorie needs is fundamental to achieving any fitness goal. Whether you want to lose weight, build muscle, or maintain your current physique, understanding how many calories your body needs each day is the first step toward success.
What is TDEE? TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure—the total number of calories your body burns in a day. It includes your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR, calories burned at rest) plus calories burned through daily activities and exercise. Your TDEE is unique to your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level.
Why calculate your calorie needs? Knowing your TDEE allows you to:
The science behind it: Your body burns calories constantly—even at rest. Your BMR accounts for 60-75% of daily calorie burn. Activity level multiplies your BMR to get TDEE. Someone sedentary might have a TDEE of 2,000 calories, while an active person of the same size might burn 2,800 calories daily. Understanding this helps you set realistic nutrition goals.
| Formula | BMR | TDEE |
|---|
Estimates only. Real needs vary by 10% or more between people, so adjust after 2 to 4 weeks of tracking. Not medical advice.
All three equations estimate your BMR (the calories you burn at rest). The calculator lets you choose one, and the "BMR by formula" table in the results shows all three side by side so you can see how much they differ.
| Formula | Inputs | Equation (weight in kg, height in cm) |
|---|---|---|
| Mifflin-St Jeor (1990) | Age, sex, height, weight | Men: 10W + 6.25H − 5A + 5 Women: 10W + 6.25H − 5A − 161 |
| Revised Harris-Benedict (1984) | Age, sex, height, weight | Men: 88.362 + 13.397W + 4.799H − 5.677A Women: 447.593 + 9.247W + 3.098H − 4.330A |
| Katch-McArdle | Lean body mass (needs body fat %) | 370 + 21.6 × lean mass (kg), where lean mass = weight × (1 − body fat %) |
TDEE = BMR × activity factor
Sedentary 1.2 · Lightly active 1.375 · Moderately active 1.55 · Very active 1.725 · Extremely active 1.9
No equation can see your genetics, hormones or muscle distribution, so treat any result as a starting point and adjust it using your real weight trend over two to four weeks.
These tables show estimated daily maintenance calories (TDEE) from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. They assume a 30-year-old, 175 cm (5'9") man and a 163 cm (5'4") woman. Height and age change the numbers, so use the calculator above for your own figure.
| Weight | Sedentary | Lightly active | Moderately active | Very active |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg (132 lb) | 1,859 | 2,130 | 2,401 | 2,672 |
| 70 kg (154 lb) | 1,979 | 2,267 | 2,556 | 2,844 |
| 80 kg (176 lb) | 2,099 | 2,405 | 2,711 | 3,017 |
| 90 kg (198 lb) | 2,219 | 2,542 | 2,866 | 3,189 |
| 100 kg (220 lb) | 2,339 | 2,680 | 3,021 | 3,362 |
| Weight | Sedentary | Lightly active | Moderately active | Very active |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 kg (110 lb) | 1,449 | 1,661 | 1,872 | 2,083 |
| 60 kg (132 lb) | 1,569 | 1,798 | 2,027 | 2,256 |
| 70 kg (154 lb) | 1,689 | 1,936 | 2,182 | 2,428 |
| 80 kg (176 lb) | 1,809 | 2,073 | 2,337 | 2,601 |
| 90 kg (198 lb) | 1,929 | 2,211 | 2,492 | 2,773 |
A calorie deficit is the gap between what you eat and what you burn. The usual rule of thumb is that about 3,500 kcal equals 1 lb of body weight (about 7,700 kcal per kg), so the size of your daily deficit sets how fast the scale moves.
| Daily deficit | Weekly change | Approx. loss per week | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 kcal | 1,750 kcal | 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) | Gentle, easiest to keep up |
| 500 kcal | 3,500 kcal | 1 lb (0.45 kg) | The common starting point |
| 750 kcal | 5,250 kcal | 1.5 lb (0.68 kg) | Fast, suits people with more to lose |
| 1,000 kcal | 7,000 kcal | 2 lb (0.91 kg) | Hard to sustain, can leave you under the usual minimum calories |
Daily deficit = pounds to lose × 3,500 ÷ number of days. This table shows the result for common goals.
| Weight to lose | In 8 weeks | In 12 weeks | In 16 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 lb (2.3 kg) | 313 kcal/day | 208 kcal/day | 156 kcal/day |
| 10 lb (4.5 kg) | 625 kcal/day | 417 kcal/day | 313 kcal/day |
| 15 lb (6.8 kg) | 938 kcal/day | 625 kcal/day | 469 kcal/day |
| 20 lb (9.1 kg) | 1,250 kcal/day | 833 kcal/day | 625 kcal/day |
Compare the deficit with your TDEE. If the daily deficit is more than about 25% of your maintenance calories, or the result would put you below 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men), choose a longer timeline. Losing more than about 1% of your body weight a week is generally considered too fast.
Start with your TDEE (maintenance calories), then subtract 250 to 500 kcal for steady loss of roughly 0.5 to 1 lb (0.25 to 0.5 kg) a week. If your TDEE is 2,200 kcal, that means about 1,700 to 1,950 kcal a day. Many guidelines treat 1,200 kcal (women) and 1,500 kcal (men) as the lowest level to use without medical supervision.
About 500 kcal a day. One pound of body weight is commonly estimated at 3,500 kcal, so 500 kcal × 7 days = 3,500 kcal. In metric terms, 1 kg is about 7,700 kcal, so losing 1 kg a week needs roughly 1,100 kcal a day, which is too aggressive for many people.
A calorie deficit means eating fewer calories than you burn. If your TDEE is 2,300 kcal and you eat 1,800 kcal, your deficit is 500 kcal a day. A moderate deficit of 10 to 25% of maintenance is easier to sustain and protects muscle better than a crash diet.
BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the energy you burn at rest. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is BMR multiplied by an activity factor, so it includes walking, work and exercise. TDEE is the number that matters for weight management. For example, a BMR of 1,500 kcal can mean a TDEE of about 2,300 kcal at moderate activity.
Subtract your goal weight from your current weight, multiply by 3,500 (per pound) and divide by the number of days. Losing 10 lb in 10 weeks needs 35,000 ÷ 70 = 500 kcal a day below maintenance. Enter a goal weight and the number of weeks in the calculator above and it does the sum, with a warning if the pace is too fast.
For most adults, 1,200 kcal is very low and hard to keep up. It is often cited as a minimum for women and 1,500 kcal for men, and only under medical or dietitian supervision. A smaller deficit over a longer time is safer and easier to maintain.
Aim for a small surplus of about 250 to 500 kcal above maintenance, together with strength training and enough protein (roughly 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg of body weight). A larger surplus mostly adds body fat rather than extra muscle.
Mifflin-St Jeor is the usual default because it has been validated in studies of healthy adults. Revised Harris-Benedict is an older equation that often gives a slightly higher result. Katch-McArdle uses lean body mass, so it can suit very lean or muscular people if you know your body fat percentage. The calculator shows all three so you can compare.
It gives an estimate, not a measurement. In validation studies the Mifflin-St Jeor equation predicted resting energy use within 10% for most adults, but not for everyone. Use the result as a starting point, track your weight for 2 to 4 weeks, and adjust by 100 to 200 kcal if the trend does not match your goal.
Common reasons are underestimating how much you eat (portion sizes and cooking oils add up), overestimating activity, water-weight swings that hide fat loss for a week or two, and the fact that your needs fall as you lose weight. Track carefully for two weeks, then reduce intake by 100 to 200 kcal if your average weight has not moved.
Recalculate every 10 to 15 lb (4.5 to 7 kg) of weight change, or when your activity changes a lot. Someone who weighs 150 lb burns fewer calories than they did at 180 lb, so old targets drift out of date.
It is a reasonable starting point, not a rule. Set protein first (about 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg if you lift weights), keep fat at about 20 to 35% of calories, and fill the rest with carbohydrates based on how you feel and train. The calculator offers a higher-protein and a lower-carb split too.
Yes. Some people eat a little more on training days and a little less on rest days, as long as the weekly average matches their target. Keeping calories steady is also fine, so choose whichever is easier to stick to.
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Profile: 30-year-old man, 180 lb (81.6 kg), 5'10" (177.8 cm), desk job with little exercise (factor 1.2).
Results (Mifflin-St Jeor): BMR 1,783 kcal, TDEE 2,139 kcal. A 500 kcal deficit gives 1,639 kcal a day, about 1 lb (0.45 kg) of loss a week. On a 30/40/30 split that is 123 g protein, 164 g carbs and 55 g fat.
Profile: 25-year-old woman, 140 lb (63.5 kg), 5'6" (167.6 cm), hard training 6 days a week (factor 1.725).
Results (Mifflin-St Jeor): BMR 1,397 kcal, TDEE 2,409 kcal. A lean-gain surplus of 250 kcal gives 2,659 kcal a day. On a 30/40/30 split that is 199 g protein, 266 g carbs and 89 g fat.
Profile: 35-year-old woman, 170 lb, 5'5", moderately active (factor 1.55), goal weight 150 lb.
Plan: BMR 1,467 kcal, TDEE 2,274 kcal. Losing 20 lb takes about 70,000 kcal (20 × 3,500), which over 140 days is a 500 kcal daily deficit, so the target is 1,774 kcal a day. That is 1 lb a week, about 0.6% of body weight, inside the commonly suggested limit of 1% a week. Because your needs fall as you lose weight, recalculate every 10 lb or so.