TDEE Calculator.

TDEE and maintenance calories: what is the difference?

TDEE means total daily energy expenditure: resting energy plus the energy used in daily movement, exercise and digestion. Maintenance calories describe food intake that approximately balances that expenditure over time. This maintenance calorie calculator estimates the starting point; it does not measure calories burned today.

Trying to decide how many calories to eat? Begin with maintenance, then choose a goal. The guide to total daily energy expenditure explains why an estimate and a food target are different numbers.

Four terms often describe daily expenditure: BMR for resting needs, NEAT for movement outside planned exercise, TEF for food processing and EAT for exercise. This calculator does not measure those components separately. Its resting-versus-activity graphic is a simplified model, not four measured percentages.

A worked TDEE calculation, with activity levels

Using the female Mifflin coefficient, age 30, 65 kg and 168 cm gives 1,389 kcal/day at rest. Multiply by light activity, 1.375, to get about 1,910 kcal/day. The table changes only activity, keeping the same body measurements.

Choose the row that represents your whole week, including your job, walking and training. A seated workday with several gym visits does not automatically mean very high activity. Read how to choose a TDEE activity level if you are between categories.

Scroll the table sideways if it does not fit. With the table focused, use the arrow keys.

Body fat, formula choice and metric or imperial units

Without a body-fat value, automatic mode uses Mifflin–St Jeor. Supplying body fat switches it to Katch–McArdle. An uncertain body-fat estimate can make the extra input less useful; leaving it blank is better than treating the example as your measurement.

Kilograms and centimetres or pounds and inches are converted before calculation. For example, 5 ft 9 in is entered as 69 inches, not 5.9. Keep the unit selector consistent with your measurements. For resting-energy assumptions, compare the four available formulas rather than choosing whichever returns the largest food allowance.

Use maintenance for weight loss, gain or macro planning

Maintenance leaves estimated TDEE unchanged. The loss options subtract 10%, 15% or 20%; the gain option adds 10%. These are planning choices, not a personalised prescription. The calorie deficit calculator shows what the loss percentages mean and when output is withheld.

The result also divides energy into protein, fat and carbohydrate. For a separate body-weight-based range and portions across three, four or five meals, use the daily protein calculator. Macro grams are nutrient amounts, not food weights.

How to check whether your maintenance estimate fits

Do not judge maintenance from one weigh-in or one day of eating. Water changes and incomplete food records can hide the underlying trend. The weight and calorie tracker can compare a complete 21-day record with the formula estimate.

This adult tool does not cover children, pregnancy, breastfeeding or clinical nutrition care. A useful starting estimate still needs context; the TDEE accuracy guide explains what the calculator cannot tell you.