TDEE Calculator

This calorie calculator estimates your BMR (calories burned at rest) using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, widely regarded as the most accurate predictive formula for resting energy expenditure in healthy adults. Multiplying it by your activity level gives your TDEE — the calories needed to maintain your current weight. Your goal (lose, stay the same, gain) then shifts that number up or down to build a recommended daily range.

The activity multiplier moves your result more than any other input here — one level up or down can shift your TDEE by 400–600 calories/day — so it's worth picking the one that actually matches your week, not the one that sounds the most flattering. Here's what each multiplier used above means in concrete terms:

Sedentary (×1.2) — little or no structured exercise, a desk job, and daily movement limited to normal errands. Working out once a week or less still falls here, not the level above it.

Light (×1.375) — structured exercise 1–3 days a week (gym sessions, runs, sports), layered on top of a mostly sedentary day job.

Moderate (×1.55) — structured exercise 3–5 days a week at real training intensity, not just casual walking. This is the most commonly over-selected level: "I try to work out most weeks" undershoots what 3–5 actual training sessions looks like.

Heavy Exercise (×1.725) — structured exercise 6–7 days a week, or a physically demanding job stacked on top of regular training.

Athlete (×1.9) — hard daily training combined with a physically demanding job, or two-a-day training sessions, the pattern typical of in-season competitive athletes. Very few people outside of that situation belong here.

When you're between two levels, pick the lower one. Overestimating activity is the most common reason a TDEE-based target doesn't match how someone's weight actually trends — it's easy to add calories back once you see the data, harder to explain away a stall.