TDEE Calculator

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the total number of calories your body burns in a full day. It includes all the energy your body uses to keep you alive and functioning, from breathing and pumping blood to digesting food and moving throughout the day. Even when you’re resting, your body is still burning calories, and that’s all part of your TDEE.

TDEE is made up of three key components:

• Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR):
  BMR  is the energy your body needs to perform essential functions like breathing, circulation, and cell repair while at rest. BMR usually makes up 60–75% of your TDEE and depends on factors such as age, gender, weight, and body composition. It’s often compared to Resting Energy Expenditure (REE), though BMR provides a slightly more precise measure of metabolism.

• Activity Level:
  This includes all the calories you burn through movement, whether you’re working out, walking, or doing household chores. It can be divided into two parts:

  • Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT): Calories burned during intentional exercise like running or weight training, typically 5–15% of your TDEE.

  • Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): Calories burned during daily non-exercise tasks such as walking, typing, or even fidgeting, accounting for 15–30%+ of TDEE depending on your lifestyle.

• Thermic Effect of Food (TEF):
  This is the energy your body uses to digest, absorb, and process nutrients from food. TEF contributes about 8–15% of your TDEE. Protein requires the most energy to process (20–30% of its calories), followed by carbohydrates (5–10%), and fats (0–3%).

In simple terms, your TDEE represents your daily energy balance, the total number of calories you burn each day to maintain life and activity. Knowing your TDEE helps you plan how many calories to eat if you want to lose, gain, or maintain weight effectively.

Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is calculated by finding your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and multiplying it by an activity factor that represents how active you are throughout the day.

Here’s how it works:

1. Find your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate):
   This is the number of calories your body burns at rest to maintain basic functions like breathing, circulation, and cell repair. You can calculate BMR using formulas like Mifflin-St Jeor or Harris-Benedict equations.

2. Choose your activity level:
   Multiply your BMR by an activity multiplier that reflects your lifestyle:

   • Sedentary (little or no exercise): BMR × 1.2

   • Lightly active (light exercise 1–3 days/week): BMR × 1.375

   • Moderately active (exercise 3–5 days/week): BMR × 1.55

   • Very active (exercise 6–7 days/week): BMR × 1.725

   • Extra active (intense exercise or physical job): BMR × 1.9

3. Result:
   The final number is your TDEE , the total calories your body burns daily, combining rest and activity.

Once you know your TDEE:

• Eat below it to lose weight (calorie deficit).

• Eat above it to gain weight (calorie surplus).

• Eat at it to maintain your current weight.

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) measures how many calories your body burns in a day, including everything from resting and digesting food to walking or exercising. It helps you determine how much to eat based on your fitness goal: whether you want to lose weight, maintain it, or build muscle.

The formula for TDEE is:

TDEE = BMR × Activity Level

• BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) represents the calories your body needs at rest to maintain vital functions like breathing and circulation.

• Activity Level is a multiplier (usually between 1.2 and 1.9) based on how active you are.

For example:
If your BMR is 1,500 calories and your activity level is moderate (1.55),
your TDEE = 1,500 × 1.55 = 2,325 calories/day.
That means you’d burn around 2,325 calories daily.

BMI (Body Mass Index), on the other hand, is a simple measure of body size based on your weight and height. It gives a general idea of whether your weight is healthy for your height — but it doesn’t consider muscle mass, body composition, or activity level.

The formula for BMI is:

BMI = weight (kg) / [height (m)]²

For example:
If you weigh 70 kg and are 1.75 m tall,
your BMI = 70 / (1.75)² = 22.9, which falls in the healthy weight range.

Increasing your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) helps your body burn more calories throughout the day, making weight loss easier and more sustainable. Since TDEE is the total amount of energy your body uses daily, increasing it means your body will naturally burn more, even at rest.

Here are some effective ways to raise your TDEE:

• Build more muscle: Strength training increases muscle mass, which raises your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat, even when you’re not active.

• Stay physically active: Incorporate both structured workouts and daily movement like walking, climbing stairs, or stretching. These small actions boost Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT), a major part of TDEE.

• Do high-intensity workouts: High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) burns more calories in less time and increases your post-exercise calorie burn.

• Eat enough protein: Protein-rich foods have a higher Thermic Effect of Food (TEF), meaning your body uses more energy to digest them.

• Avoid long periods of sitting: Try standing, stretching, or walking every hour to keep your metabolism active.

• Stay hydrated: Drinking enough water supports metabolism and helps your body function efficiently.

• Get proper sleep: Quality rest helps regulate hormones that control metabolism and appetite.

In short, increasing your TDEE isn’t about drastic changes, it’s about building small, consistent habits that keep your body moving and your metabolism active.