Free calculator
Calorie and TDEE calculator
Enter five numbers and see how many calories you burn in a day, plus targets to lose or hold weight.
What to do with your number
- Eat near the maintenance number for two weeks and watch your weight. If it holds, the estimate fits you.
- Do not go far below 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) without a clinician.
- Pair it with a sensible plan: see our weight loss guides.
Questions
What is TDEE?
Total daily energy expenditure is the number of calories you burn in a day, counting rest, daily movement and exercise.
How accurate is this calculator?
It is an estimate. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation was tested in healthy adults and can still be off by a few hundred calories for a given person. Track your weight for two weeks and adjust.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
A common starting point is 250 to 500 kcal below maintenance. Many clinicians advise against going below about 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) without medical supervision.
Is 3,500 calories really a pound of fat?
It is a rule of thumb. The NIH Body Weight Planner models weight change over time and shows that the loss slows as you lose weight, so treat the weekly numbers as rough.
Sources
- Mifflin MD et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr, 1990. PubMed
- NIDDK, NIH. Body Weight Planner. niddk.nih.gov/bwp