How to Calculate Your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

TL;DR

• TDEE is the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including exercise and daily activity
• Calculate it by finding your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and multiplying by an activity factor
• Online calculators give estimates, not gospel. Use them as a starting point, then adjust based on real results
• Track your intake and weight for 2 to 3 weeks with Chowdown to find your true maintenance calories
• Knowing your TDEE is the foundation for setting any macro target, whether for fat loss, muscle gain, or maintenance

If you want to lose fat, build muscle, or simply understand your nutrition, you need to know one number: your TDEE. Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It’s the total number of calories your body burns in a day, and it’s the foundation for every macro tracking and calorie target you’ll ever set.

Eat below your TDEE and you lose weight. Eat above it and you gain weight. Eat at it and you maintain. Simple in principle, but getting the number right requires understanding what goes into it.

What Makes Up Your TDEE

Your TDEE is composed of four main components:

1. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): 60-70% of TDEE

This is the energy your body needs to keep you alive at complete rest. Breathing, circulating blood, maintaining body temperature, repairing cells. Even if you lay in bed all day doing absolutely nothing, your body would burn this many calories.

BMR is largely determined by:

• Body size: Larger bodies burn more energy at rest
• Muscle mass: Muscle is metabolically active. More muscle = higher BMR
• Age: BMR decreases roughly 1-2% per decade after your twenties
• Sex: Men typically have higher BMRs due to greater muscle mass

2. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT): 15-30% of TDEE

This is all the movement you do that isn’t deliberate exercise. Walking to the shop, fidgeting, standing at your desk, cooking dinner, cleaning the house. NEAT varies enormously between people and is one of the main reasons two people with similar BMRs can have very different TDEEs.

A desk worker who drives to work might burn 200 calories through NEAT. A tradesperson on their feet all day might burn 800+. This is often the most underestimated component of TDEE.

3. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF): 8-15% of TDEE

Your body uses energy to digest food. Different macronutrients have different thermic effects:

• Protein: 20-30% of calories consumed are burned during digestion
• Carbohydrates: 5-10%
• Fat: 0-3%

This is one reason high-protein diets have a slight metabolic advantage. More of the calories you eat go toward digestion rather than storage. For more on optimising protein intake, check our high-protein meals guide.

4. Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT): 5-10% of TDEE

Deliberate exercise: gym sessions, runs, sports, swimming. For most people, this is actually the smallest component of TDEE, despite getting the most attention.

A 30-minute jog might burn 250-350 calories. A weights session might burn 150-300. In the context of a 2,200-calorie TDEE, that’s a relatively small slice.

How to Calculate Your BMR

The most commonly used formula is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which research has shown to be the most accurate for the general population:

Men: BMR = (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) - (5 x age) + 5

Women: BMR = (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) - (5 x age) - 161

Example: 30-year-old man, 80kg, 178cm

BMR = (10 x 80) + (6.25 x 178) - (5 x 30) + 5 BMR = 800 + 1,112.5 - 150 + 5 BMR = 1,767 calories

Example: 35-year-old woman, 65kg, 165cm

BMR = (10 x 65) + (6.25 x 165) - (5 x 35) - 161 BMR = 650 + 1,031.25 - 175 - 161 BMR = 1,345 calories

From BMR to TDEE: Activity Multipliers

Once you have your BMR, multiply it by an activity factor to estimate your TDEE:

Activity Level	Description	Multiplier
Sedentary	Desk job, minimal exercise	BMR x 1.2
Lightly active	Light exercise 1-3 days/week	BMR x 1.375
Moderately active	Moderate exercise 3-5 days/week	BMR x 1.55
Very active	Hard exercise 6-7 days/week	BMR x 1.725
Extremely active	Very hard exercise + physical job	BMR x 1.9

Using Our Examples

30-year-old man, moderately active: TDEE = 1,767 x 1.55 = 2,739 calories

35-year-old woman, lightly active: TDEE = 1,345 x 1.375 = 1,849 calories

Why Calculator Estimates Are Just Starting Points

Here’s the important caveat: these formulas give you an estimate, not a precise measurement. They don’t account for:

• Individual metabolic variation (genetics, thyroid function)
• Exact NEAT levels (hugely variable between individuals)
• Muscle-to-fat ratio beyond what weight captures
• Adaptive thermogenesis from previous dieting
• Day-to-day variation in activity

Two people with identical stats can have TDEEs that differ by 200 to 400 calories. That’s significant when you’re trying to create a 500-calorie deficit.

This is why the real work happens after the calculation.

Finding Your True TDEE (The Practical Method)

The most accurate way to find your TDEE is to track your food intake and your weight over 2 to 3 weeks and let the data tell you.

Step 1: Calculate Your Estimated TDEE

Use the formula above or any online TDEE calculator. This gives you a starting point.

Step 2: Eat at That Level for 2-3 Weeks

Track everything you eat using Chowdown. Be as consistent and accurate as possible during this calibration period.

Step 3: Track Your Weight Daily

Weigh yourself each morning, after using the toilet, before eating. Same conditions every day. Ignore daily fluctuations and look at the weekly average.

Step 4: Assess

• Weight stable over 2-3 weeks? You’ve found your maintenance. Your TDEE estimate was roughly correct.
• Losing weight? Your TDEE is higher than your estimated intake. Add 200 to 300 calories.
• Gaining weight? Your TDEE is lower than estimated. Reduce by 200 to 300 calories.

Step 5: Adjust and Repeat

Fine-tune until your weight stabilises. That stable weight is your maintenance calories, your true TDEE.

This method takes patience, but it gives you a personalised, accurate number that no formula can match. If you’ve been struggling with a weight loss plateau, this calibration process often reveals whether your TDEE estimate was off.

Setting Targets from Your TDEE

Once you know your TDEE, setting macro targets becomes straightforward:

Fat Loss

Subtract 300 to 500 calories from your TDEE. A 500-calorie daily deficit theoretically produces about 0.5kg of fat loss per week. Don’t go below a 700-calorie deficit unless supervised by a professional.

For more on this, read our calorie deficit explained guide.

Muscle Gain

Add 200 to 300 calories above your TDEE. A modest surplus supports muscle growth without excessive fat gain. Going higher (500+) leads to faster muscle gain but more fat gain alongside it.

Maintenance

Eat at your TDEE. This is useful between diet phases, for body recomposition, or if you simply want to maintain your current physique.

For more on body recomposition, check out our body recomposition guide.

Setting Macros Within Your Calorie Target

1. Protein first: 1.6 to 2.2g per kg bodyweight (see our protein guide)
2. Fat: 0.7 to 1.2g per kg bodyweight
3. Carbs: Remaining calories divided by 4

This gives you gram targets for each macro that fit within your calorie budget. For a deeper dive into this process, our macro tracker starter kit walks through setting up your first macro plan step by step.

Common TDEE Mistakes

Overestimating Activity Level

Most people who exercise 3 to 4 times a week and have a desk job should select “lightly active,” not “moderately active.” The multiplier difference is significant (1.375 vs 1.55), which could mean overestimating TDEE by 200+ calories.

When in doubt, choose the lower activity level and adjust upward if needed.

Not Accounting for NEAT Changes

When you diet, your NEAT often decreases unconsciously. You move less, fidget less, take fewer steps. This can reduce your TDEE by 100 to 300 calories without you realising it. It’s one of the body’s adaptive responses to calorie restriction.

This is why weight loss often slows after a few weeks even on the same calorie intake. Your TDEE has decreased.

Using a Single Calculation Forever

Your TDEE changes as your weight changes, as your activity changes, and as you age. Recalculate every 2 to 3 months, or whenever your progress stalls.

Trusting Fitness Tracker Burns

Smartwatches and fitness trackers consistently overestimate calorie burn by 30 to 90%. Don’t add exercise calories from your watch to your daily allowance. Use TDEE calculations that already factor in your general activity level.

Quick Reference

For a quick estimate without doing the maths:

• Sedentary person: Bodyweight in kg x 26 to 28 = approximate TDEE
• Moderately active person: Bodyweight in kg x 31 to 33 = approximate TDEE
• Very active person: Bodyweight in kg x 35 to 37 = approximate TDEE

These are rough shortcuts. The full calculation is more accurate, and real-world tracking is the most accurate of all.

The Bottom Line

Your TDEE is the single most important number in nutrition planning. Get it wrong and everything built on top of it (your deficit, your macro targets, your meal plan) will be off.

Use the formula to get a starting estimate. Then track your food with Chowdown, monitor your weight, and let real-world data refine the number. Within 2 to 3 weeks, you’ll have a personalised TDEE that’s far more accurate than any calculator.

From there, whether you want to lose fat, build muscle, or maintain your weight, you’ll have the foundation to set macros that actually work. Use our free macro calculator to turn your TDEE into a complete macro plan based on your goals.