Frequently Asked Questions

To calculate your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), you don’t need to memorize any formulas or do manual calculations. You can easily calculate it by using our tool.

Here’s how you can calculate your TDEE step by step:

1. Enter your basic details
   Start by entering your age, gender, weight, and height. These details are used to understand your body’s basic energy needs.
2. Select your activity level
   Choose the activity level that best matches your daily routine:
   • Sedentary – little or no exercise
   • Lightly active – light exercise 1–3 days per week
   • Moderately active – moderate exercise 3–5 days per week
   • Very active – hard exercise 6–7 days per week
   • Extra active – very hard exercise and a physical job
3. Body Fat % (optional)
   You may enter your body fat percentage if you know it. This step is optional, but it helps improve accuracy.
4. The tool calculates your BMR automatically
   Once your details are entered, the tool first calculates your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).
   
   By default, it uses the Mifflin-St Jeor formula, which is widely considered accurate for most people. If you provide your body fat percentage, the tool automatically switches to the Katch-McArdle formula for more precise results.
5. Your activity level is applied
   Your selected activity level is applied using an activity multiplier.
   TDEE = BMR × Activity Multiplier
6. View your TDEE result
   The final number you see is your TDEE — the total calories your body burns in a day. The tool also shows TDEE values for all activity levels so you can easily compare them.

🔒 Privacy note:
None of your data is stored. All calculations are done directly in your browser.

Choosing the right activity level is very important because it directly affects your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). Your activity level reflects how much physical activity you do on a typical day.

Here’s how you can select your activity level:

• Sedentary (little or no exercise):
  Select this level if your daily routine involves minimal physical movement. This typically applies to office workers, students, or anyone who spends the majority of their day sitting at a desk or driving, without following a regular exercise regimen.
• Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week):
  Choose this option if you generally spend your day sitting but dedicate time to light physical activity 1 to 3 days per week. This includes activities like brisk walking, recreational swimming, yoga, or casual cycling where you break a light sweat.
• Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week):
  Pick this category if you maintain a consistent exercise schedule, working out 3 to 5 days per week. This involves moderate-intensity activities such as jogging, weight training, or dancing, where your heart rate stays elevated for at least 30 to 60 minutes per session.
• Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week):
  Select this if fitness is a major part of your daily life. You engage in vigorous exercise or high-intensity sports 6 to 7 days a week. This applies to individuals who perform heavy weightlifting, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), or competitive sports daily.
• Extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job):
  Reserve this option for the most physically demanding lifestyles. Select this only if you hold a labor-intensive job (e.g., construction, farming, roofing) and maintain a rigorous training schedule. This level primarily suits professional endurance athletes or those training twice a day.

💡 Tip: If unsure about your activity level, choose a slightly lower option. This helps avoid overestimating your calorie needs, because overestimating can lead to consuming more calories than your body actually burns.

Once you select your activity level in the tool, it automatically multiplies your BMR by the correct activity multiplier to calculate your TDEE.

TDEE calculators are generally accurate for estimating your daily calorie needs, but they do not provide an exact number.

They rely on scientifically proven formulas such as Mifflin-St Jeor and Katch-McArdle, which are widely used to estimate energy expenditure.

• Metabolic differences: Each person’s metabolism is unique, meaning two people with similar stats can burn calories differently.
• Body composition: Muscle mass, body fat percentage, and lean mass all affect how many calories your body burns.
• Activity variation: Daily movement, workout intensity, and lifestyle can change from day to day.

Because of these factors, TDEE calculators should be used as a starting point rather than an exact measurement.

The most accurate approach is to track your progress and adjust your calorie intake over time based on real results.

Determining your maintenance calories is the foundational step for any fitness goal. Simply put, "Maintenance Calories" represent the exact amount of energy your body requires to maintain its current weight without gaining or losing fat. In our tool, this value is identical to your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).

You can pinpoint your exact maintenance level by following this simple process:

1. Get Your Baseline:
   Enter your details in the form above. The result labeled "Maintenance" or "TDEE" is your estimated baseline.
2. The Real-World Test:
   Calculators give you a scientific estimate, but your body is unique. To verify the number, consume exactly that amount of calories daily for about two weeks.
3. Monitor Your Weight:
   Weigh yourself every morning on an empty stomach.
   • If your average weight remains stable, you have found your True Maintenance Calories.
   • If you lose weight, your actual maintenance level is slightly higher (add 100–200 calories).
   • If you gain weight, your actual maintenance level is slightly lower (subtract 100–200 calories).

Once you establish this number, you can confidently plan your diet to either lose fat (create a deficit) or build muscle (create a surplus).

If you are not losing weight despite being in a calorie deficit, there can be several common reasons.

• Hidden Calories (Tracking Errors):
  Studies show most people underestimate their food intake by 20-30%. We often forget to track "invisible" calories like cooking oils, sauces, salad dressings, bites while cooking, or liquid calories. These small additions quickly erase a deficit.
• Overestimating Activity Burn:
  You might have selected an activity level that is too high. If our calculator gave you a TDEE based on "Moderate Activity" but you actually fit the "Light Activity" description, you are likely eating at maintenance levels.
• Water Retention:
  High sodium intake, stress (cortisol), intense new workout routines, or hormonal cycles can cause your body to hold onto water. This water weight often masks the actual fat loss on the scale.
• The "Weekend Effect":
  You strictly follow your diet Monday through Friday but relax on the weekends. Two days of high-calorie eating can easily cancel out the deficit you created during the previous five days.

The Solution: Recalculate your TDEE using a lower activity level (e.g., switch from Moderate to Light), use a food scale to track everything you eat, and focus on your weekly average weight rather than daily fluctuations.

Although BMR and BMI sound similar and both relate to your health, they are completely different metrics serving distinct purposes. Here is the breakdown:

1. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) – The "Energy" Metric

BMR represents the number of calories your body burns while at complete rest to keep your vital organs functioning (like breathing and heart beating). We calculate this using the precise Mifflin-St Jeor formula. This number helps you understand your minimum energy needs before adding any physical activity.

2. BMI (Body Mass Index) – The "Status" Metric

BMI is a simple screening tool that evaluates your weight in relation to your height. We use the classic Adolphe Quetelet formula to calculate this. It categorizes you into groups like Underweight, Healthy Weight, Overweight, or Obese to assess potential health risks.
Note: BMI does not distinguish between muscle and fat. Therefore, a muscular athlete might classify as "Overweight" despite being very healthy.

In Short: BMI tells you if your weight is appropriate for your height, while BMR tells you how many calories you need to consume to function.

Your TDEE is not a permanent number; it evolves constantly as your body changes. A diet plan that worked for you a month ago might not work today because a smaller body requires less energy to function. We recommend recalculating your stats in the following scenarios:

• Significant Weight Change:
  Whenever you lose or gain 5 to 10 lbs (approx. 2–5 kg), your metabolic needs shift. You must recalculate to ensure you are still in the correct deficit or surplus range.
• Lifestyle Shifts:
  If your daily routine changes for example, you switch from a desk job to a waiter job, or you start a new intense workout program your "Activity Level" multiplier changes drastically.
• Hitting a Plateau:
  If your weight loss stalls for more than two weeks, it is often a sign that your metabolism has adapted. Input your current weight to find your new, adjusted calorie numbers.

General Rule: Treat this calculator as a monthly check-in tool. Revisit it every 3 to 4 weeks to keep your nutrition plan aligned with your current body composition.

You should base your calorie intake on your TDEE, not your BMR. Here is why and what you should target instead:

• To Maintain Weight (Eat TDEE):
  If you want to stay at your current weight, you must consume your TDEE calories. This is the amount of energy you burn in a full day, including all your activities.
• To Lose Weight (Eat Below TDEE, but Above BMR):
  To burn fat, you need a "Calorie Deficit." We recommend eating 300–500 calories less than your TDEE.
  Warning: Do not drop your calories all the way down to your BMR number. Your BMR represents the bare minimum energy required just to keep you alive (like being in a coma). Eating at this level is often too aggressive, leads to muscle loss, and crashes your energy levels.
• To Gain Muscle (Eat Above TDEE):
  To build size and strength, you need a "Calorie Surplus." Aim to eat 200–300 calories more than your TDEE.

Rule of Thumb: Treat your BMR as a "Floor" (minimum limit) and your TDEE as a "Ceiling" (maintenance limit). For safe weight loss, aim for a number somewhere in between.

Generally speaking, no, it is not safe to consistently eat below your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) without strict medical supervision.

Remember, your BMR is the absolute minimum amount of energy your body requires to perform basic life-sustaining functions—like breathing, circulating blood, and keeping your brain active. If you chronically consume fewer calories than your BMR, you force your body into a state of distress, leading to several negative consequences:

• Metabolic Adaptation (Starvation Mode):
  Your body is smart. When it senses a severe lack of fuel, it drastically slows down your metabolism to survive, making future weight loss much harder.
• Muscle Loss:
  Instead of burning fat, your body breaks down muscle tissue to get the energy it needs, leading to a "skinny-fat" look and physical weakness.
• Health Risks:
  Prolonged undereating causes nutrient deficiencies, hair loss, hormonal imbalances, and chronic fatigue.

Our Advice: Always aim to eat above your BMR. A safe calorie deficit comes from eating less than your TDEE, not less than your BMR.

Yes, absolutely. Muscle tissue is metabolically "expensive," meaning your body requires more energy to maintain muscle than it does to maintain fat.

Here is how muscle mass directly impacts your daily calorie burn:

• Higher Resting Burn:
  Muscle burns calories even when you are sleeping or sitting on the couch. While fat tissue sits dormant, muscle tissue actively consumes energy. Therefore, the more muscle you carry, the higher your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) becomes.
• Why "Weight" Can Be Misleading:
  Two people can weigh exactly 180 lbs, but if one has 10% body fat (muscular) and the other has 30% body fat, the muscular person will burn significantly more calories per day. Standard calculators often miss this nuance.
• How We Calculate It:
  This is exactly why we include an optional Body Fat % field in our tool. When you provide this data, our system automatically switches to the advanced Katch-McArdle formula. This formula ignores your total weight and calculates your metabolic rate based specifically on your Lean Body Mass, giving you credit for your hard-earned muscle.

The Takeaway: Building muscle is one of the most effective ways to permanently increase your TDEE, allowing you to eat more food while maintaining a lean physique.

To lose weight safely and effectively, you need to create a "Calorie Deficit"—meaning you must eat fewer calories than your body burns daily.

The scientific standard is simple: 1 pound of body fat equals approximately 3,500 calories. Based on this, here are the general guidelines for sustainable weight loss:

• Moderate Weight Loss (0.5 lb / week):
  Eat 250 calories less than your TDEE per day. This is a very sustainable pace and easiest to stick to.
• Standard Weight Loss (1 lb / week):
  Eat 500 calories less than your TDEE per day. This is the most recommended target for the majority of people.
• Aggressive Weight Loss (2 lbs / week):
  Eat 1,000 calories less than your TDEE per day.
  Caution: This is difficult to maintain and is only recommended for individuals with a higher body fat percentage. Ensure this number does not drop below your BMR.

How to do it: Simply take the TDEE number our calculator provides and subtract 500. This will set you on track to lose about 1 lb (0.45 kg) of pure fat per week without starving yourself.

To build new muscle tissue, your body requires extra energy. We call this a "Calorie Surplus." However, simply eating everything in sight (often called a "Dirty Bulk") usually leads to gaining more body fat than muscle.

For a smart, "Lean Bulk" approach, follow these guidelines:

• The "Sweet Spot" (Add 250–500 Calories):
  Take your TDEE number and add 250 to 500 calories to it. This amount provides enough fuel to repair and build muscle tissue without causing excessive fat gain.
  Example: If your TDEE is 2,500, aim to eat 2,750 to 3,000 calories daily.
• Why not eat more?
  The human body has a limit on how much muscle it can build in a day. Eating 1,000 extra calories won't build muscle faster; it will simply store the excess energy as body fat.
• The Critical Rule:
  A calorie surplus only builds muscle if you provide a stimulus. You must engage in resistance training (lifting weights) while eating this surplus. If you eat extra calories but do not exercise, you will gain fat, not muscle.

Strategy: Start with a surplus of +300 calories. Monitor your progress for 3 weeks. If you are gaining strength but your waistline stays the same, you are in the perfect zone.