Welcome to our TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator.
This calculator will estimate how many calories you burn in a day based on your weight, height, age, and activity level.
In addition to telling you how many calories you need to maintain your weight and your BMR, it also tells you how many calories you should eat per day to lose weight or gain weight.
Keep scrolling to get the low-down on how the TDEE calculator works and what exactly the results mean.
TDEE Calculator
What Is TDEE?
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This means the amount of energy in calories your body burns per day from basic bodily functions and physical activity.
A calorie is just a way of measuring this energy. You may sometimes see calories written as kcals. This is short for kilocalories, the unit in which calories are measured.
Check out our TDEE guide for an in-depth explanation of Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
What Does Your Result Mean? – How Many Calories Should You eat Per day?
In order to maintain your current weight, you should consume the same amount of calories through food and drink as your body burns. This is known as your maintenance calories.
Increasing the level of exercise or physical activity in your day will increase your TDEE.
If you consume more calories than your TDEE, these excess calories are likely to be stored in the body as fat, leading to weight gain. In this instance, the difference between the calories you eat and the calories you burn is known as a calorie surplus.
On the other hand, if you consume fewer calories than your TDEE, then you are likely to lose weight, as the body uses stored fat for energy. In this instance, the difference between the calories you eat and the calories you burn is known as a calorie deficit.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends creating a caloric deficit of no more than 3,500-7,000 calories per week.
It is also very important to remember that not all calories are the same and that good health is dependent on the quality of the calories you consume. For example, consuming 2500kcals of processed unhealthy food is not equivalent to consuming the same number of calories through healthy, balanced meals.
Eating a low-calorie diet below the recommended range for adults (2000 kcal per day for men and 1800 kcal per day for women) can have some health risks. Talking to a doctor or dietitian can help determine how to lose weight in a healthy, balanced way.
No single number or metric can give an absolute measure of health. Rather than aiming for a specific number on a scale, the most important thing is to maintain a healthy active lifestyle and a healthy balanced diet.
Related: Weight Loss Guides
Related: Diet Guides
Related: Training Guides
How To Calculate TDEE?
TDEE is equivalent to the number of calories required to keep the body alive and functioning without moving, known as Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR, plus calories burned from all other activities.
Height, weight, and gender are all factors that affect TDEE. This is because taller and heavier people generally burn more calories per activity, and men tend to burn more calories per unit of body weight as on average they have more muscle.
Age is also considered in the calculation. This is because with aging people tend to lose muscle and have a greater percentage of body fat, resulting in fewer calories burned per unit of body weight.
When calculating TDEE, first, BMR is calculated.
Then, TDEE is estimated by multiplying BMR by an activity level factor, determined by whichever activity level the user has selected.
Formulas Used To Calculate TDEE
BMR Formulas
Activity Level Factors
To calculate TDEE, BMR is then multiplied by one following factors, based on whichever level of activity the user has selected:
- Sedentary (little to no exercise) = 1.2
- Lightly Active (light exercise 1-3 days per week) = 1.375
- Moderately Active (moderate exercise 3-5 days per week) = 1.55
- Very Active (hard exercise 6-7 days per week) = 1.725
- Extra Active (very hard exercise, training, or a physical job) = 1.9
TDEE Formula
For example, if an individual had a BMR of 1500 calories and their activity level was ‘Moderately Active’, then their TDEE would be 1500 multiplied by 1.55, which equates to 2325 calories.
These factors are similar to METs or Metabolic Equivalents, a metric of how much energy an activity uses. For example, an activity with a MET of 1.5 would use one and a half times the energy of resting per minute.
Related: What Is BMR: BMR Explained
What Is BMR And What Is RMR?
BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate and RMR stands for Resting Metabolic Rate.
BMR and RMR are similar but with a subtle difference.
Both measure the amount of energy your body needs to stay alive and perform basic functions such as breathing and digestion.
The key difference is that RMR also accounts for low-effort daily activities such as going to the bathroom, eating, short periods of walking, and sweating or shivering.
Consequently, RMR tends to be slightly higher than BMR, with a difference of around 10% according to some research.
In total, BMR tends to represent 70% of total calories burned within 24 hours, with RMR representing slightly more than this. However, the percentage of total calories burned represented by BMR or RMR depends on an individual’s level of activity.
Higher BMR and RMR are correlated with increased height and weight. BMR and RMR also tend to decrease with age, and men also tend to have a higher BMR/RMR.
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