If you’re trying to lose fat, gain muscle, or simply maintain your weight, one number should guide your plan: your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
TDEE represents the number of calories your body burns in a day — including everything from your workouts and daily activity to digestion and rest.
Use our free TDEE Calculator below to find out exactly how many calories your body needs each day based on your age, gender, height, weight, and activity level.
🔢 What Is TDEE?
TDEE = BMR + Activity
- BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): The number of calories your body burns at rest
- Activity Level: Calories burned through exercise, walking, work, etc.
Together, this gives you the total energy your body uses in a 24-hour period.
Knowing your TDEE helps you determine how many calories to eat whether you’re:
- 🧨 Trying to lose fat (eat below TDEE)
- 💪 Building muscle (eat slightly above TDEE)
- ⚖️ Maintaining weight (match your TDEE)
🎯 Use the TDEE Calculator
👉 Enter your details below to get your results:
TDEE Calculator
📊 Sample Activity Levels Explained
| Activity Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Sedentary | Little to no exercise, desk job |
| Lightly Active | Light exercise 1–3 days/week |
| Moderately Active | Moderate exercise 3–5 days/week |
| Very Active | Hard exercise 6–7 days/week |
| Extra Active | Intense daily exercise or physical job |
🧠 What To Do With Your TDEE
Once you have your TDEE, here’s how to set your calorie goals:
| Goal | Formula | Example (TDEE = 2,400) |
|---|---|---|
| Fat Loss | TDEE – 10–25% (or 250–750 kcal) | ~1,800–2,100 kcal/day |
| Muscle Gain | TDEE + 5–15% | ~2,500–2,750 kcal/day |
| Maintenance | TDEE × 1 | 2,400 kcal/day |
Combine this with our Calorie Deficit Calculator to fine-tune your fat loss plan!
✅ Final Thoughts
Your fitness journey doesn’t need to be built on guesswork. Calculating your TDEE puts you in control by giving you a clear number to guide your nutrition, workouts, and overall strategy.
🎯 Once you know your TDEE:
- Use it to plan your daily meals
- Adjust it monthly as your weight or activity level changes
- Pair it with our workout and calorie tools to stay on track
John is the founder of MySlimTools — part coder, part calorie nerd, and full-time fan of simple, no-fluff weight loss tools. With a background in web development and a lifelong interest in fitness, John built this site to answer the age-old question: “How many calories should I actually be eating?”
When he’s not optimizing PHP code or fine-tuning a calculator, you can find him lifting weights, dodging carbs, or pretending broccoli tastes like fries — and he’s almost convinced (but cauliflower is still playing a different sport).
His motto? “If it’s not simple, it won’t stick — whether it’s code or a diet.”