TDEE Calculator

Your total daily energy expenditure is the calorie number every diet plan starts from. Enter your stats once; FitForge remembers them for the other calculators.

Units

Sex

Age

yrs

Bodyweight

Height

Activity level

Body fat % (optional, switches to Katch-McArdle)

Maintenance calories (TDEE)

2,740kcal / day

BMR 1,768 kcal × 1.55 activity (Mifflin-St Jeor)

Goal	Calories / day	Change
Aggressive cut	2,050	−25%
Cut	2,330	−15%
Maintain	2,740	–
Lean bulk	2,960	+8%
Bulk	3,150	+15%

Split this into macros →

Ask about your number

Get a plain-language answer that uses your TDEE and stats: how to adjust it, what to expect on a cut, how training days change things.

Where your calories actually go

TDEE is not one number your body "chooses". It is a stack of four very different costs. Pick an activity level and watch which layer grows: it is mostly everyday movement, not the gym.

BMR

NEAT

EAT

TEF

Basal metabolism 1,768 kcal · 65%
Keeping you alive at rest: brain, organs, breathing.
Everyday movement 419 kcal · 15%
Walking, standing, fidgeting, chores.
Planned exercise 279 kcal · 10%
Your training sessions.
Digesting food 274 kcal · 10%
About 10% of intake; higher on high-protein diets.

Even for a hard-training lifter, basal metabolism is usually more than half of the total. That is why a one-hour session "burns" less than people expect, and why daily step count moves maintenance more than an extra set of curls.

How this TDEE calculator works

First it estimates your basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990), which the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found to be the most accurate of the common formulas for adults. If you enter a body fat percentage, it switches to Katch-McArdle, which works from lean mass and suits lean, muscular people better.

That BMR is multiplied by an activity factor from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extremely active). The result is your maintenance intake. Cut and bulk targets are percentages of it, so they scale with your size instead of using a flat 500 kcal.

Every calorie in that number started as sunlight that a leaf trapped and stored as sugar; ahaboo walks you through how photosynthesis pulls that off, with narration and parts you can click.

Using TDEE to hit a goal

Fat loss: eat 15–20% below TDEE. That is roughly 0.5–1% of bodyweight a week, a pace most lifters can sustain while keeping strength.
Muscle gain: eat 5–10% above TDEE. Beyond that, extra weight is mostly fat for anyone past their first year of training.
Recomposition: eat near maintenance with high protein. It works best for beginners and people returning after a break.

Recheck your TDEE after every 4–5 kg (10 lb) of change. A lighter body burns less, so a deficit that worked at the start gets smaller over time.

Questions lifters ask

What is TDEE?

TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is the number of calories you burn in 24 hours: your basal metabolic rate plus the energy of daily movement, exercise and digesting food. Eating at your TDEE keeps your weight roughly stable.

How accurate is a TDEE calculator?

The Mifflin-St Jeor equation predicts resting metabolism within about 10% for most adults, and activity multipliers add more uncertainty. Treat the result as a starting point: eat at it for two to three weeks, track your weight, and adjust by 100 to 200 kcal if the scale trends up or down.

Which activity level should I pick?

Most people overestimate. If you lift three or four times a week but sit at a desk otherwise, "Moderately active" or even "Lightly active" is usually right. Save "Very active" for hard training six or seven days a week or a job on your feet.

Is maintenance calories the same as TDEE?

Yes. Maintenance calories is the everyday name for TDEE: the intake at which your bodyweight holds steady.

Should I eat back the calories from my workouts?

Not if you picked an activity level that already includes your training. The multiplier accounts for exercise; adding tracker-reported workout calories on top would count them twice.