TDEE Calculator (Total Daily Energy Expenditure from BMR)
Total daily energy expenditure from your BMR and activity level, with the working, all five levels side by side and the FAO/WHO activity bands.
Inputs
| Activity level | Factor | TDEE kcal/day |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | 2,040 |
| Light | 1.375 | 2,338 |
| Moderate | 1.55 | 2,635 |
| Active | 1.725 | 2,933 |
| Very active | 1.9 | 3,230 |
- Activity factor
- × 1.55
- Working
- 1,700 × 1.55 = 2,635 kcal
- On the FAO/WHO/UNU scale
- FAO sedentary or light (1.40–1.69)
- To lose about 0.5 kg (1 lb) a week
- 2,135 kcal/day (500 below)
- Per hour, averaged over the day
- 110 kcal
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- Two lines of HTML, unlimited views
- Shows a small CalculateEveryday bar, with a credit link under the calculator
What each TDEE input means
- BMR (kcal/day)
- Your basal metabolic rate in kcal a day. If you don't have one, the BMR calculator works it out from weight, height, age and sex by Mifflin-St Jeor; the maintenance-calories page does both steps at once.
- Activity level
- Pick by a typical week, not your best one. Sedentary means a desk job and little walking; light, exercise one to three days; moderate, three to five; active, hard exercise most days; very active, a physical job or training twice a day.
TDEE formula
TDEE = BMR × activity factor (1.2 sedentary, 1.375 light, 1.55 moderate, 1.725 active, 1.9 very active)
Total daily energy expenditure is everything you burn in a day: the resting cost of keeping the body running (basal metabolic rate, BMR), plus moving, working, exercising and digesting. Nutrition science writes it as BMR multiplied by a physical activity level, or PAL — the FAO/WHO/UNU expert report on human energy requirements uses exactly that product to set energy needs, and gives its own bands: 1.40–1.69 for sedentary or light lifestyles, 1.70–1.99 for active ones and 2.00–2.40 for vigorous ones. Most calculators, including this one, use a finer five-step ladder from 1.2 (desk-bound, almost no walking) to 1.9 (hard training or a physical job), whose lower steps sit below the FAO's lowest band. Enter a BMR — from the BMR calculator, a lab test or a fitness tracker — and pick the level that matches a typical week. The answer is the calories that would hold your weight steady, and the table shows the same BMR at every level so you can see how much the choice matters.
TDEE worked example
A BMR of 1,700 kcal a day at the moderate level (exercise three to five days a week): 1,700 × 1.55 = 2,635 kcal a day. That factor falls in the FAO's 'sedentary or light' band of 1.40–1.69, which is a reminder that three workouts a week on top of a desk job is still a fairly light day overall. Eating about 500 kcal less, 2,135 a day, is the usual starting point for losing roughly half a kilo a week.
More TDEE examples
A smaller adult with a BMR of 1,400 who exercises once or twice a week: 1,400 × 1.375 = 1,925 kcal/day. Moving up one level to moderate would add 245 kcal, and dropping to sedentary would take away the same — about the calories in a small meal either way.
Where the TDEE calculator can give the wrong answer
- The activity factor moves the answer more than anything else: from sedentary to very active is a 58% increase on the same BMR. People tend to overrate their activity, so if weight creeps up on the number you chose, the level below is probably closer.
- The 1.2–1.9 ladder and the FAO bands do not line up exactly. FAO's lowest band starts at 1.40, so its 'sedentary' adult burns more than this ladder's 'sedentary' one; the page shows where your factor falls on the FAO scale so the difference is visible.
- TDEE is only as good as the BMR you enter. A BMR estimated from an equation can be 10% off for an individual, and that error carries straight through the multiplication.
- Exercise calories are already inside the factor. Adding a watch's workout calories on top of a 'moderate' TDEE counts the same exercise twice.
- TDEE falls as weight falls, because a lighter body has a lower BMR. Recalculate after every few kilograms lost rather than holding one number for months.
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TDEE reference table
| Lifestyle | PAL range | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary or light activity | 1.40–1.69 | Office work, travel by car, little exercise |
| Active or moderately active | 1.70–1.99 | Construction work, or an hour of running or cycling a day |
| Vigorous or vigorously active | 2.00–2.40 | Non-mechanised farm work, or two hours of swimming a day |
TDEE FAQ
- Multiply your BMR by an activity factor. With a BMR of 1,500: × 1.2 = 1,800 if sedentary, × 1.55 = 2,325 if you exercise three to five days a week, × 1.9 = 2,850 if very active. If you don't know your BMR, the Mifflin-St Jeor equation on the BMR page estimates it from weight, height, age and sex.
- Choose based on a typical week, not your best week. Sedentary = desk job with little exercise; light = exercise one to three days; moderate = regular workouts three to five days; active = hard exercise six or seven days; very active = a physical job plus training, or training twice a day.
- Yes. Both mean the calories that keep your weight where it is. This page starts from a BMR you already have; the maintenance-calories calculator starts from your measurements and works the BMR out first. With the same inputs they give the same number.
- Yes — eating below your TDEE loses weight over time. A 500 kcal daily gap is the common starting point and works out at about half a kilo or one pound a week early on, inside the CDC's 1 to 2 pounds a week. The calorie-deficit calculator shows how that slows over the following months.
- Trackers estimate activity from steps and heart rate and add it to their own BMR estimate, so they measure your actual day rather than assuming a category. Neither is exact. If the two disagree by a lot, the tracker's average over a few weeks is usually the better guide to your real activity level.