How Many Calories Do You Burn Per Day?
Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the actual number of calories you burn daily based on your BMR and activity level.
What Is TDEE?
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total number of calories your body burns in a day including all activity. It combines your Basal Metabolic Rate (calories burned at complete rest) with the energy cost of daily movement, exercise, and digesting food. This is the number you need to know for any weight management goal.
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990), which research shows is the most accurate BMR formula for most adults, multiplied by a standard activity factor.
How to Use TDEE for Your Goals
Weight loss: Eat 500 calories below TDEE to lose ~1 lb/week, or 1,000 below for ~2 lbs/week. Never go below 1,200 (women) or 1,500 (men). Maintenance: Eat at your TDEE. Muscle gain: Eat 200-400 above TDEE with adequate protein (0.7-1g per pound of body weight) and strength training.
Why Activity Level Matters So Much
The difference between sedentary and very active can be 800-1,200 calories per day. A 175-pound male with a BMR of 1,800 burns about 2,160 calories sedentary vs. 3,105 calories if very active. This is why exercise dramatically increases how much you can eat while still losing weight.
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation was validated in a 2005 study as the most accurate predictive equation for BMR, within 10% for 82% of people tested — better than the older Harris-Benedict equation used by many other calculators.
