TDEE & calorie calculator

Your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is roughly how many calories you burn in a day, training included. Enter your details and pick a goal. You'll see how many calories to eat to maintain, to lose fat, or to lean gain. No sign-up, nothing to submit.

How is TDEE calculated?

This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (Am J Clin Nutr, 1990) to estimate your basal metabolic rate, then multiplies it by an activity factor.

Men: BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5
Women: BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age − 161
TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier

BMR is what your body spends keeping you alive if you spent the whole day lying still: heart, brain, breathing, temperature, tissue repair. TDEE is that number plus everything else you do: walking to the car, standing at work, digesting food, and training. BMR is the floor. TDEE is the bill.

The multipliers scale BMR by how much of the day is spent moving: 1.2 sedentary, 1.375 light (1–3 sessions a week), 1.55 moderate (3–5), 1.725 active (6–7), and 1.9 for hard daily training or physical work. They already include your training, so pick the level that matches a typical week, not your best one.

How the calorie targets work

Maintenance is your TDEE. For fat loss the calculator takes 20% off, a moderate deficit. For lean gain it adds 10%, a small surplus. Every target is rounded to the nearest 10 kcal.

A percentage scales with you. A bigger, more active person gets a bigger gap in calories than a smaller, less active one, instead of everyone getting the same flat number.

Treat the number as a starting point. Eat close to it for two or three weeks, weigh yourself under the same conditions, and adjust by a small amount if the trend isn't going the way you want.

Worked example: a 30-year-old woman, 65 kg, 165 cm, moderate activity. BMR = 10 × 65 + 6.25 × 165 − 5 × 30 − 161 ≈ 1,370 kcal. TDEE = 1,370 × 1.55 ≈ 2,124 kcal. Maintenance is about 2,120 kcal, fat loss about 1,700 kcal (× 0.80), and lean gain about 2,340 kcal (× 1.10).

A calorie target only works with a training log

A number on its own tells you nothing about whether the diet is working. If your weight is drifting down and your sets are still going up, the deficit is the right size. If the weight moves but the lifts fall apart, it isn't. That's the comparison worth making, and it needs a written record of what you actually lifted. Twaka keeps that record in plain English. You type "3 sets of 10 at 60kg" and it holds the sets, weights and progress for you.

Questions people ask

Is TDEE the same as calories burned by exercise?

No. TDEE is everything you burn in a day: the energy your body uses at rest, the energy used digesting food, everyday movement like walking and fidgeting, and your training. Training is only one part of it, and often not the biggest. That's why your activity level changes the number but doesn't make up all of it.

Why does this calculator ask for my sex?

Mifflin-St Jeor uses a different constant for men (+5) and women (−161), which works out to about 166 kcal per day at the same weight, height and age. That gap is mostly a proxy for average differences in lean mass, since muscle burns more at rest than fat does. If your body composition is unusual for your sex, treat the estimate as a starting point and adjust from your own weight data.

How accurate is the Mifflin-St Jeor formula?

It's an estimate. Mifflin-St Jeor is a common equation for resting energy use, but no formula knows your body exactly. Use the number here as a starting point. Eat close to it for two or three weeks, watch how your weight trends, and adjust from there.

Should I eat back the calories I burn from exercise?

Not if you picked an activity level that already includes your training. You would be counting the same sessions twice. The multiplier bakes your usual weekly exercise into the number. Only add calories back if you did something well outside your normal week, like a long hike or a second session. Even then, watches and machines can overestimate what you burned.

How many calories should I eat to lose fat?

Start with the fat loss number above. It's your maintenance calories minus 20%, a moderate deficit. It's an estimate, so treat it as a starting point. Keep it steady for two or three weeks, watch your weight trend, and adjust by a small amount if nothing is moving. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or have a history of disordered eating, talk to a doctor or dietitian first.

What are my maintenance calories?

Your maintenance calories are your TDEE, the Maintenance number on this page. Eat around that amount and your weight should stay roughly steady. The formula can be off for any one person, so your own weight trend over a few weeks is the better guide.

How many calories should I eat to build muscle?

Start with the lean gain number above. It's your maintenance calories plus 10%, a small surplus. Pair it with steady training where your lifts go up over time. If the scale climbs quickly and your lifts don't, move back toward maintenance.