What is TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)?

TDEE is the total number of calories your body burns in a day. It includes your BMR (resting calories), NEAT (daily movement), and exercise calories.

What are maintenance calories?

Maintenance calories are your estimated daily calories needed to maintain your current body weight, which typically matches your TDEE.

How accurate is a TDEE calculator?

A calculator provides an estimate. Real-world accuracy improves by tracking weight and average calorie intake for 2–4 weeks and adjusting based on trends.

Is NEAT different from exercise?

Yes. NEAT is non-exercise activity (walking, standing, chores, fidgeting). Exercise is intentional training (gym, running, sports).

Should I use body fat percentage for TDEE?

If you have a reasonable body fat estimate, it can improve your BMR estimate because it accounts for lean body mass. If unsure, leave it blank and use the standard equation.

Free TDEE Calculator — Total Daily Energy Expenditure & Maintenance Calories

🧾 Enter Your Details

Provide the basics, then choose lifestyle activity and (optionally) exercise. You can also add body fat % to estimate BMR from lean mass.

Unit System

Biological Sex (required for standard BMR)

Tip: If you enter body fat %, the tool can estimate BMR from lean mass (less dependent on sex).

Age (years)

Please enter a valid age (13–90).

Height (cm)

Please enter a valid height (120–230 cm).

Weight (kg)

Please enter a valid weight (30–250 kg).

Body Fat % (optional, improves accuracy)

If you don’t know your body fat %, leave it blank. The calculator will use the standard BMR equation.

Please enter a valid body fat % (3–60).

Daily Lifestyle Activity (excluding workouts)

This multiplier estimates daily non-exercise movement (NEAT) + routine activity above BMR. Your workouts are added separately below.

Exercise (optional)

Minutes/day

Enter valid minutes (0–300).

Intensity

Exercise calories are estimated with a standard MET-based equation using your body weight. Leave minutes empty if you prefer “lifestyle-only” TDEE.

UX tip: results also update automatically after you press Calculate or change a field.

Results & Insights

Your TDEE estimate updates dynamically and includes a clear breakdown.

👈 Enter your details, then click Calculate to estimate TDEE

Required: age + height + weight. Optional: body fat %, exercise.

🔥 Your TDEE (Calories Burned / Day) Maintenance: —

—kcal/day

TDEE is your estimated daily energy burn based on resting metabolism, lifestyle movement (NEAT), and exercise.

📌 Daily Burn Breakdown

See where your daily calorie burn is coming from (BMR + NEAT + Exercise).

🛌 BMR (Resting) — kcal

—%

🚶 NEAT + Routine Activity — kcal

—%

🏋️ Exercise — kcal

—%

Total (TDEE) — kcal/day

Weekly burn — kcal/week

Monthly burn (avg) — kcal/month

🎯 Maintenance Calories & Goal Targets

—

Quick guidance: fat loss often starts with a 10–20% deficit; lean gain often starts with a 5–10% surplus.

⚙️ How the Calculator Interpreted Your Inputs

BMR method: —

Lifestyle multiplier (excluding workouts) —

Exercise estimate used —

NEAT + routine estimate —

Tip: If your real-world weight trend doesn’t match maintenance, adjust by ~100–200 kcal/day and reassess after 2 weeks.

📉 Activity Level Comparison Slider

Drag to preview how maintenance calories change across different lifestyles. This is a “what-if” view (it won’t change your saved selection unless you apply it).

Preview: —

Sedentary Light Moderate Very Extreme

💡 Small Tip (High ROI)

One simple next step to make your TDEE estimate more useful in real life.

Tip: —

⚠️ Disclaimer: This tool provides an estimate, not a medical diagnosis. Calorie burn varies with genetics, muscle mass, sleep, stress, medications, and tracking accuracy. For performance goals or medical conditions, consider consulting a qualified professional.

📌 High-converting takeaway

Maintenance calories are a strategy — not just a number

A strong TDEE estimate helps you plan cutting, bulking, or recomposition with fewer guesswork cycles. This calculator is built to be practical: you get a daily burn breakdown, weekly/monthly totals, and a slider to visualize how activity changes your maintenance.

What Is a TDEE Calculator?

A TDEE calculator estimates your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total calories you burn per day. Most people use TDEE to find maintenance calories (how many calories keep weight stable), then adjust up or down for weight gain or fat loss.

Unlike “one-number” tools, this page also shows a clear daily breakdown: BMR (resting burn), NEAT (daily movement), and exercise calories so you can understand what’s driving your results.

What Makes Up Your Daily Calorie Burn?

1) BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)

Your BMR is the energy your body uses at rest to keep you alive (breathing, circulation, temperature regulation). It’s usually the largest part of your daily calorie burn.

2) NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

NEAT includes movement that isn’t structured training: walking between rooms, standing, chores, commuting, steps, and fidgeting. For many people, NEAT is the difference-maker between “stuck” and steady progress.

3) Exercise

Exercise is intentional training (gym, running, sports). Some people overestimate it — that’s why this tool uses a standard MET method and lets you keep exercise optional.

4) Why weekly/monthly totals matter

Your body responds to averages over time. Looking at weekly and monthly burn helps you plan realistic calorie targets and avoid day-to-day noise.

How to Use This TDEE Calculator (Best Practice)

Enter age, height, and weight in metric or imperial.
(Optional) Add body fat % if you have a decent estimate (it can improve BMR accuracy).
Select lifestyle activity (excluding workouts) so NEAT doesn’t get double-counted.
(Optional) Add exercise minutes + intensity if you want workouts included.
Use the activity slider to compare maintenance calories across lifestyles.

How to Make Your TDEE Estimate More Accurate

A calculator is an excellent starting point — but your “true TDEE” is the one that matches your real-world trend. If your weight is stable for 2–4 weeks at a consistent intake, that intake is close to maintenance.

If weight decreases faster than expected: you’re likely below your true maintenance (or under-tracking intake).
If weight increases: you’re likely above your true maintenance (or NEAT dropped due to fatigue/dieting).
Best adjustment rule: change targets by 100–200 kcal/day, then reassess after ~2 weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions (TDEE)

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total number of calories you burn per day from resting metabolism (BMR), daily movement (NEAT), and exercise.

Usually yes. In practice, “maintenance calories” is the daily calorie intake that keeps your weight stable, which typically matches your TDEE (on average over time).

You can accidentally double-count. This calculator uses a lifestyle multiplier that excludes workouts, then adds exercise separately, making the breakdown clearer and easier to adjust.

Steps are one part of NEAT. NEAT also includes standing time, chores, commuting, and general day-to-day movement. Many plateaus happen because NEAT drops during dieting or stress.

It can improve the BMR estimate by using lean body mass. If your body fat % is a rough guess, leaving it blank is often better than entering an inaccurate number.