What Is TDEE?

Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the total number of calories your body burns in a 24-hour period. It combines your Basal Metabolic Rate (the calories you burn at rest) with the energy you expend through physical activity, food digestion, and non-exercise movement throughout the day.

TDEE is the most important number for anyone trying to manage their weight. Whether your goal is fat loss, muscle gain, or maintenance, everything starts with knowing how many calories you burn each day.

How TDEE Is Calculated

TDEE consists of four components:

BMR (60-75%): Basal Metabolic Rate — the energy needed for basic life functions at rest.
TEF (8-15%): Thermic Effect of Food — the energy spent digesting and processing nutrients. Protein has the highest TEF (~20-30%), followed by carbs (~5-10%) and fat (~0-3%).
EAT (5-10%): Exercise Activity Thermogenesis — calories burned during intentional exercise sessions.
NEAT (15-30%): Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis — all other movement including walking, fidgeting, standing, and daily chores. NEAT is surprisingly variable and can differ by 2000+ calories between individuals.

Our calculator estimates your TDEE using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for BMR, multiplied by a validated activity factor:

Activity Level	Multiplier	Description
Sedentary	1.2	Desk job, little to no exercise
Lightly Active	1.375	Light exercise 1-3 days/week
Moderately Active	1.55	Moderate exercise 3-5 days/week
Very Active	1.725	Hard exercise 6-7 days/week
Extra Active	1.9	Very hard exercise + physical job

Using TDEE for Weight Loss

To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than your TDEE. A deficit of 500 calories per day results in approximately 0.45 kg (1 lb) of fat loss per week. For most people, a moderate deficit of 300-500 calories is sustainable and minimizes muscle loss.

The key is accuracy: most people overestimate their activity level and underestimate their calorie intake. If you are not sure about your activity level, start with "Lightly Active" and adjust based on real results over 2-3 weeks.

Using TDEE for Muscle Gain

Building muscle requires a calorie surplus — eating more than your TDEE. A modest surplus of 200-400 calories combined with adequate protein (1.6-2.2g per kg of body weight) and a structured resistance training program provides the optimal environment for lean muscle growth while minimizing fat gain.

Why Activity Level Matters

The difference between sedentary and extra active can be over 1000 calories per day. Choosing the wrong activity level is the biggest source of error in TDEE calculations. Be honest about your actual daily movement, not your ideal activity level. If you work a desk job and exercise 3 times per week, "Lightly Active" or "Moderately Active" is typically more accurate than "Very Active."

Adjusting Your TDEE Over Time

Your TDEE is not static. It changes as your weight, muscle mass, and activity level change. As you lose weight, your TDEE decreases because your body requires less energy to maintain a smaller frame. This is why weight loss often plateaus — you need to periodically recalculate and adjust your calorie target.

Next step: Know your TDEE? Use the Calorie Calculator to set a specific daily target, then the Macro Calculator to split it into protein, carbs, and fat.

Frequently Asked Questions

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the total number of calories you burn per day. It matters because it determines whether you gain, lose, or maintain weight. Eating above your TDEE leads to weight gain, eating below leads to weight loss, and eating at your TDEE maintains your current weight.

This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is the most validated formula for estimating BMR. Combined with activity multipliers, it provides estimates within 5-10% of actual TDEE for most people. For the most accurate results, use the calculator as a starting point and adjust based on real-world weight changes over 2-3 weeks.

Be conservative. Most people overestimate their activity level. If you work a desk job: Sedentary if you don't exercise regularly, Lightly Active if you exercise 1-3 times per week, Moderately Active if you do intense exercise 3-5 times per week. Reserve Very Active and Extra Active for people with physically demanding jobs or those who train twice daily.

BMR is the calories your body burns at complete rest — just to keep you alive. TDEE is your BMR plus all additional calorie expenditure from physical activity, food digestion, and daily movement. TDEE is always higher than BMR (typically 1.2x to 1.9x higher depending on your activity level).

A deficit of 300-500 calories below your TDEE is ideal for sustainable fat loss (about 0.3-0.5 kg per week). This rate preserves muscle mass and is less likely to trigger metabolic adaptation. Avoid deficits larger than 750-1000 calories unless medically supervised, as they increase the risk of muscle loss and nutrient deficiencies.

Yes. As you lose weight, your body requires fewer calories to function, so your TDEE decreases. For every kg of weight lost, TDEE drops by approximately 15-20 calories per day. Recalculate your TDEE every 4-6 weeks or after every 2-3 kg of weight change to ensure your calorie target stays accurate.

Not necessarily. Many people benefit from calorie cycling — eating more on training days (closer to TDEE or slightly above) and less on rest days (larger deficit). As long as your weekly average aligns with your goal, daily variation is perfectly fine and can help with performance and adherence.

NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) is the energy you burn through all daily movement that is not intentional exercise — walking, standing, fidgeting, household chores, etc. NEAT can vary by 2000+ calories per day between individuals and is often the biggest factor in why some people seem to eat more without gaining weight. Increasing your NEAT (e.g., walking more, taking stairs) can significantly boost your TDEE.

TDEE Calculator