TDEE Calculator
Work out how many calories your body actually burns in a day — resting, moving, and training — then see the target that matches your goal.
Your resting burn is multiplied by ×1.375 for lightly active days. Eat around 1,965 calories and your weight should hold steady.
| Goal | Calories/day | Expected change |
|---|---|---|
| Lose fat (moderate cut) | 1,465 | ≈ 1 lb (0.45 kg) a week |
| Maintain | 1,965 | Weight holds steady |
| Lean gain | 2,265 | ≈ 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) a week |
How this calculator works
The calculation happens in two steps. First it estimates your basal metabolic rate — the calories you would burn lying still for 24 hours — using the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, the formula most dietitians reach for because it outperformed the older Harris–Benedict equation in validation studies:
- Men:
10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5 - Women:
10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age − 161
Second, it multiplies that resting figure by an activity factor to get your total daily energy expenditure. The factors are the standard clinical set:
| Activity level | Multiplier | Looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | ×1.2 | Desk job, no deliberate exercise |
| Lightly active | ×1.375 | Walking or light training 1–3 days a week |
| Moderately active | ×1.55 | Real training 3–5 days a week |
| Very active | ×1.725 | Hard training 6–7 days a week |
| Extremely active | ×1.9 | Physical job or twice-daily sessions |
What to do with the number
Your TDEE is the pivot point. Eat at it to maintain, below it to lose, above it to gain. The table in the calculator applies the two most common adjustments: a 500-calorie deficit, which works out to roughly a pound of fat a week, and a 300-calorie surplus, which supports muscle gain without much excess fat. If a pound a week feels aggressive, the calorie deficit calculator lets you dial the pace down and shows the timeline that comes with it.
Calories tell you how much; they do not tell you what. Once you have a target, split it into protein, carbs, and fat with the macro calculator — protein in particular is what protects muscle while you are eating less.
Why the estimate drifts — and how to correct it
No equation can see your thyroid, your NEAT (the fidgeting, pacing, and stair-climbing that varies enormously between people), or how much you actually moved this week. Expect the calculator to be close, not exact. The fix is simple and takes about three weeks:
- Eat at the calculated target and log honestly every day.
- Weigh yourself at the same time each morning and average by week.
- Compare week three to week one. Weight falling faster than planned? Add 100–150 calories. Not moving at all? Subtract the same.
After one correction cycle you have something better than any calculator: your real maintenance number, measured on your own body.
Making the target stick
The gap between a calculated target and an achieved one is almost always logging accuracy. Self-reported intake research consistently finds people undercount by 20–40%, which is enough to erase an entire deficit. Two things close that gap: knowing the calories in the foods you eat most — our calorie database has per-100 g and per-serving numbers for common staples like chicken breast and oatmeal — and using a method fast enough that you do not skip meals when life gets busy. If weighing everything is where you fall off, our guide to counting calories without a scale covers the estimation methods that hold up.
A number is only useful if you hit it
Cibo turns your TDEE into a daily habit. Snap a photo of the plate and the calories and macros are logged in seconds, so you can see whether you are really hitting the target above.
Download on theApp StoreFrequently asked
What is TDEE?
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — every calorie your body burns in 24 hours. It combines your resting metabolic rate, the energy cost of digesting food, deliberate exercise, and all the incidental movement in between. Eat at your TDEE and your weight holds steady; eat under it and you lose.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
The Mifflin–St Jeor equation predicts resting metabolic rate within about 10% for most adults, and the activity multiplier is the bigger source of error because people routinely overestimate how active they are. Treat the result as a starting point: track your intake and weight for two to three weeks, then adjust the number based on what actually happened on the scale.
Which activity level should I pick?
Pick the one that matches a typical week, not your best week. Most people with a desk job and two or three gym sessions belong at 'lightly active' rather than 'moderately active'. If you are unsure, choose the lower option — it is easier to add calories back once the trend is clear than to explain a stall.
Why is my TDEE different from my friend's at the same weight?
Height, age, sex, and body composition all move the number. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, so two people at the same weight can differ by a few hundred calories a day. Age matters too — resting burn declines gradually, which is why the equation subtracts five calories per year.
Should I eat back the calories I burn from exercise?
Not if you chose an activity level that already includes your training. The multiplier in this calculator bakes exercise into the number, so adding your workout calories on top would count them twice. Only eat back exercise calories if you set your activity to sedentary and log workouts separately.
Not medical advice. Cibo is a nutrition-awareness tool, not a medical device. Read the full disclaimer.