Maintenance calories
Your TDEE estimates the intake needed to maintain current weight.
Estimate your total daily energy expenditure from BMR and activity level so you can understand maintenance calories.
TDEE uses your BMR and selected activity level.
Your TDEE estimates the intake needed to maintain current weight.
Eat below TDEE for fat loss or above it for muscle gain.
This free TDEE calculator estimates BMR, then applies the selected activity multiplier. The result is your maintenance calorie estimate — ideal as a TDEE calculator for weight loss or muscle gain planning.
Choose the activity level that matches your normal week, then use TDEE to set calorie or macro targets.
Do not pick an activity level for your best week. Use your typical routine and adjust after tracking real progress.
The total daily energy expenditure formula starts with BMR, then multiplies it by an activity factor to estimate maintenance calories. This highlights the key difference between TDEE and BMR: BMR covers resting energy, while TDEE adds all daily movement. The standard activity multipliers are Sedentary (1.2), Light (1.375), Moderate (1.55), Active (1.725), and Very Active (1.9). These multipliers grew out of earlier Harris-Benedict work from 1919 and are often paired with newer Mifflin-St Jeor BMR estimates from 1990.
For a quick example, if your BMR is 1,800 calories and you train at a moderate level, TDEE = 1,800 × 1.55 = 2,790 calories per day. That makes a tdee calculator for weight loss useful because it gives you a maintenance anchor before you create a calorie deficit. The same logic helps with tdee for muscle gain: you first estimate maintenance, then add a small surplus. The better your activity choice matches real life, the more accurately your result reflects actual daily energy needs.
TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier (1.2, 1.375, 1.55, 1.725, or 1.9)
If BMR is 1,800 and activity is moderate, TDEE = 1,800 × 1.55 = 2,790 calories per day.
TDEE estimates build on Harris-Benedict activity concepts from 1919 and are commonly paired with the revised Mifflin-St Jeor BMR method from 1990.