Find out exactly how many calories you need each day — and how many to cut to lose fat, maintain weight, or build muscle. No guessing. Just your numbers.
Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the total number of calories your body burns in a day — factoring in your basal metabolic rate (the calories burned just to keep you alive) plus all physical activity. It’s your true maintenance number: eat at this level and your weight stays the same.
Understanding your TDEE is the foundation of any successful diet. Without it, you’re guessing. Too big a deficit and you lose muscle along with fat. Too small and progress stalls. The right deficit — typically 300-500 calories below your TDEE — gives you consistent fat loss without sacrificing muscle or energy.
The calculator above uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which research consistently shows is the most accurate formula for estimating BMR across different body types and ages.
Your TDEE result is a starting point, not a fixed number. Here’s how to apply it:
1. Track for 2 weeks. Log your food and weigh yourself daily (average the readings). If your weight isn’t moving in the direction you expect, adjust calories by 100-150 kcal up or down.
2. Hit your protein target first. Protein is the most important macro for body composition — it preserves muscle during a cut and supports growth during a bulk. Hit this number every day before worrying about carbs or fats.
3. Fill remaining calories with carbs and fats. The split between carbs and fats is flexible and personal. Some people feel better with more carbs, others with more fat. The calculator gives you a solid starting point but you can adjust.
4. Reassess every 4-6 weeks. As you lose or gain weight, your TDEE changes. Recalculate every month or whenever your weight changes by more than 3-4kg.
Several factors determine how many calories you burn each day:
Age: Metabolism naturally slows with age, typically by about 1-2% per decade after 30. This is partly due to hormonal changes and partly due to gradual muscle loss — which is why strength training becomes more important as you age.
Muscle mass: Muscle tissue burns roughly 3x more calories at rest than fat tissue. This is why two people with the same weight and height can have very different TDEEs — the person with more muscle burns significantly more calories doing nothing.
Activity level: This is the biggest variable and the one most people underestimate. A sedentary desk worker burns around 300-500 fewer calories per day than someone with an active job or who trains 5+ days per week.
Body weight: Heavier bodies require more energy to move and maintain. As you lose weight, your TDEE decreases, this is why calorie needs to be recalculated as you progress.