Free TDEE calculator
TDEE Calculator — Find Your Maintenance Calories
Your TDEE — Total Daily Energy Expenditure — is the number of calories you burn in a day. Eat that amount and your weight holds steady; eat less and you lose, more and you gain. It's the single most useful number in nutrition.
Enter your details below for an instant, accurate estimate using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the formula dietitians trust most.
Maintenance calories (TDEE)
2,633kcal/day
Eat this to stay the same weight at your activity level.
Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
1,699 kcal/day
Estimates only, based on the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. Your real numbers depend on genetics, training, and how your body adapts — which is exactly what WhispCal measures over time.
How TDEE is calculated
TDEE starts with your BMR (the calories you burn at rest) and multiplies it by an activity factor that reflects how much you move. We use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which research consistently ranks as the most accurate for the general population.
The activity multiplier matters more than people think — the gap between 'sedentary' and 'very active' can be 600+ calories a day. Be honest about your real week, not your best week.
- Sedentary (×1.2) — desk job, little exercise
- Lightly active (×1.375) — light exercise 1–3 days
- Moderately active (×1.55) — exercise 3–5 days
- Very active (×1.725) — hard exercise 6–7 days
- Athlete (×1.9) — twice-daily training or a physical job
Why your real TDEE drifts from the estimate
A calculator gives you a starting point, not a verdict. Your true TDEE shifts with adaptive thermogenesis — when you diet for weeks, your body quietly burns less to defend its weight. That's why progress stalls even when the math says it shouldn't.
The only way to know your real number is to measure it: track your intake and weight trend over time and back-calculate. That's exactly what WhispCal's Real Burn does automatically, so your target stays accurate as your metabolism adapts.
What to do with your TDEE
To lose fat, subtract 10–20% from your TDEE. To build muscle, add 5–15%. To maintain, eat at your TDEE. Then hold that intake steady for 2–3 weeks and watch your weight trend — not a single day's reading, which is mostly water.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good TDEE?
There's no 'good' or 'bad' TDEE — it simply reflects your size, age, sex, and activity. A larger, more active person naturally has a higher TDEE. What matters is eating relative to your number for your goal.
How accurate is this TDEE calculator?
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is accurate to within about 10% for most people. Your true figure depends on genetics, muscle mass, and metabolic adaptation — which is why measuring your real expenditure over time beats any one-time estimate.
Should I eat my TDEE on rest days?
Most people do best eating roughly the same amount every day rather than cycling. Your TDEE already averages in your activity. Consistency makes your weight trend far easier to read.
How is TDEE different from BMR?
BMR is what you'd burn lying in bed all day. TDEE is BMR plus everything else — moving, digesting, and exercising. TDEE is always the larger, more useful number for setting calorie goals.
Keep exploring
Let WhispCal do the math automatically
These numbers are a starting point. WhispCal measures how your body actually responds — logging food in 3 seconds by voice, photo, or barcode — and auto-adjusts your targets as your metabolism changes. Free on iOS and Android.
Free on iOS & Android