Key facts
- Made up of BMR, activity, exercise, and the cost of digesting food.
- Your maintenance calories — eat at it to keep weight stable.
- Estimated from gender, age, weight, height, and activity level.
- Eat below it to lose fat, above it to gain.
TDEE is the single most useful number in nutrition because it is your baseline. It tells you how many calories keep your weight stable, which is the reference point for every goal: eat below it to lose fat, above it to gain muscle.
It has four parts: your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR, the energy to keep you alive at rest), the thermic effect of food (digestion), exercise activity, and non-exercise activity (NEAT) like walking and fidgeting. BMR is the largest chunk for most people.
Calculators estimate TDEE by predicting BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and multiplying by an activity factor. The result is an estimate — use it as a starting point and adjust based on how your weight actually trends over a few weeks.
Frequently asked questions
How is TDEE calculated?
A calculator estimates your BMR from gender, age, weight, and height using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then multiplies it by an activity factor (1.2 sedentary up to 1.9 very active) to produce your TDEE.
Is the TDEE estimate accurate?
It is a close estimate for most people, but individual metabolism varies. Treat it as a starting point and refine it by tracking your weight and intake over 2–3 weeks.
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