TDEE Calculator

How to Use the TDEE Calculator

Pick your unit system, choose male or female, enter your age, height, and weight, then pick the activity level that honestly matches your week. The results update as you type. The goal dropdown highlights which of the three targets fits your plan: cut, maintain, or bulk.

Worked example: a 35-year-old man, 5'9" (175 cm), 165 lb (75 kg), moderately active. BMR = 10 × 75 + 6.25 × 175 - 5 × 35 + 5 = 750 + 1,093.75 - 175 + 5 = 1,674 cal/day. TDEE = 1,674 × 1.55 = 2,594 cal/day. His targets: cut at 2,075, maintain at 2,594, bulk at 2,854. His 20% cut deficit is about 519 cal/day, which works out to roughly 1 pound of fat loss per week.

What TDEE Actually Means

TDEE is the sum of everything your body burns in a day. The biggest piece is your BMR: the energy to keep you alive at rest, breathing, circulation, brain function, cell repair. On top of that sit three smaller buckets: exercise activity (planned workouts), NEAT (all the unplanned movement: walking, standing, fidgeting, housework), and the thermic effect of food (the energy spent digesting what you eat). Read our guide: what is TDEE.

The Activity Multipliers

The calculator multiplies your BMR by an activity factor. These are the standard multipliers, from the least to the most active:

Most people overestimate here. If you sit at a desk and train three times a week, moderately active is the honest pick. The extra active tier is for construction workers, farm labor, and two-a-day athletes, not just an enthusiastic gym schedule.

The Goal Targets, Explained

Cut: TDEE × 0.8. A 20% deficit is the standard sustainable cut. It is aggressive enough to see weekly progress and mild enough to preserve muscle and sanity. A deficit near 500 cal/day loses about a pound of fat per week.

Maintain: TDEE. Eat at your TDEE and your weight holds steady. This is also the right target when you are recomposing: training hard while eating at maintenance slowly trades fat for muscle, especially for beginners.

Bulk: TDEE × 1.1. A 10% surplus gives muscle-building fuel without piling on fat. Faster than this and most of the extra gain is fat, which you will just have to cut later. A surplus near 250 to 300 cal/day gains roughly half a pound per week, and you want most of it to be muscle.

What TDEE Misses

The formula estimates BMR from population averages, so expect the result to be off by 10 to 20% for any individual. It cannot see muscle mass (muscle burns more than fat at rest), genetics, thyroid and hormonal conditions, medications, or your NEAT, which varies wildly: two people with the same desk job can differ by 800 cal/day just from how much they move without thinking about it.

The fix is simple: use the number as a starting point, eat at the target for two to three weeks, and watch the scale. If weight moves the wrong way or too slowly, adjust by 100 to 200 calories and repeat. The calculator is a compass, not a GPS. Never eat below your BMR for long stretches without medical supervision; it is the floor your body needs to function.

Who Uses a TDEE Calculator

People starting a cut use it to find a deficit that is actually sustainable instead of starving on a random number. Lifters use the bulk target to gain muscle without excess fat. Athletes and coaches use it to fuel training blocks. Anyone maintaining after weight loss uses it to find the intake that keeps the scale still. Whatever the goal, the TDEE number replaces guesswork with a measurable starting point.