Accurate TDEE Calculator

Accurate TDEE Calculator

Total Daily Energy Expenditure

This may be the most accurate TDEE Calculator online. It's designed to help you work out how many calories you burn every day. TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure which is your BMR (or Basal Metabolic Rate) multiplied by your activity level. There are 5 levels of daily activity and 5 levels of exercise you can select which can accurately calculate within a margin of error how many calories you burn on an average day. TDEE calculations are the backbone of fat loss, muscle gain, and weight maintenance — ensure you are accurately calculating TDEE with our free TDEE Calculator.

When trying to lose weight or gain muscle you should use this TDEE Calculator regularly to maintain an accurate estimate of your daily calorie needs. As your weight increases or decreases, so too will the number of calories you need.

How is this different from BMR?

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the minimum amount of calories your body needs to stay alive at rest, whereas TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the amount of energy you burn doing your normal daily activities, including walking, working, and exercising. Your TDEE is, therefore, your BMR + activity.

BMR essentially just shows how many calories your body needs to be alive as if you were in a coma. TDEE is your total number of calories required in 24 hours. Try our BMR Calculator to discover your Basal Metabolic Rate.

How do you work out activity levels?

This tool breaks down activity levels into 2 parts: your job and your exercise. Each has 5 levels and when used together it can give you an accurate daily activity level. With exercise activity level from no exercising to exercising twice a day and job activity levels from sedentary such as a desk job to extremely active like a farmer, you'll be able to find a combination that suits your needs.

A fitness tracker will help you track more accurately how many calories you burn every day.

What formulas do you use to work out TDEE?

There are two formulas we use in this Total Daily Energy Expenditure Calculator: Mifflin-St Jeor and Katch-McArdle. If you include body fat percentage then the calculator uses the accurate Katch-McArdle formula. However, if you do not add your body fat percentage, then the calculator falls back to using the Mifflin-St Jeor formula (which is still very accurate).

Mifflin-St Jeor Formula

Male = ( ( 10 x Weight in KGs ) + ( 6.25 x Height in CMs ) - ( 5 x Age ) + 5 ) x Activity Level
Female = ( ( 10 x Weight in KGs ) + ( 6.25 x Height in CMs ) - ( 5 x Age ) - 161 ) x Activity Level

Katch-McArdle Formula

Male & Female = ( 370 + ( 21.6 x ( Weight in KGs - (Body Fat % x Weight in KGs) ) ) ) x Activity Level

These formulas give an estimation of the number of calories you burn every day. It's best to say that there is a margin of error of 10%, so regularly check and tweak to provide better results.

How do you calculate goals?

There are 3 goals available as part of our TDEE Calculator. Lose fat, maintain, and gain muscle. Each option alters the calorie output. Maintain is your TDEE calories as is, lose fat is 80% of your TDEE calories, and gain muscle is 120%.

What else does our free TDEE Calculator do?

This TDEE Calculator works out your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calories, BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) calories, a full calorie chart for all 25 activity level combinations, BMI (Body Mass Index) score, MMP (Maximum Muscular Potential) weight, and your Body Composition stats (Lean Mass vs Fat Mass).

TDEE Calculator and why calculating TDEE is important

The single most important reason for calculating TDEE is to do with accurately estimating how many calories your body requires depending on your body composition and daily activity levels. Once you have this number, then you can use it as the backbone for your training and nutrition goals.

Calculating TDEE for fat loss. If you are trying to reduce the amount of body fat then you will require a deficit against your TDEE calculation. For example, if your TDEE is 2,500 calories, then a 10% calorie deficit will mean that you need to roughly eat 2,250 calories a day to ensure you are in a caloric deficit. A deficit of between 10% to 20% is recommended for reducing body fat — too many calories cut will also mean muscle loss.

Calculating TDEE for muscle gain. Conversely, if you are trying to gain muscle then you will require a calorie surplus against your TDEE calculation. For example, if your TDEE is 2,500 calories, then a 10% calorie surplus will mean that you need to roughly eat 2,750 calories a day to ensure you are in a caloric surplus. A surplus of between 10% to 20% is recommended for muscle gain — too many extra calories will also mean fat gain.

Please also note that these TDEE calculator examples are when combining nutrition with resistance and cardio training for maximum benefit.

TDEE calculations are the backbone for fat loss, muscle gain, and weight maintenance. What is measured, can be improved.