How Many Calories Do You Need to Maintain Your Weight?
Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure using the Mifflin-St Jeor formula. Get your BMR, maintenance calories, and weekly calorie budget.
Most adults overestimate their activity level by one category — which means eating 200–400 more calories than they think.
~2,500
average TDEE for adult males in kcal/day
~2,000
average TDEE for adult females in kcal/day
3,500
approximate calories in one pound of body fat
How to use your TDEE
Maintenance calories are your baseline
Your TDEE is the exact number of calories needed to maintain your current weight. This is your most important number for any diet goal. Eat 10–20% below for fat loss. Eat 5–10% above for muscle gain. Track relative to this — not some generic 2,000-calorie recommendation.
Activity level is the biggest variable
The activity multiplier can swing your TDEE by 500–1,000+ calories. Most people who sit at a desk all day and exercise 3× per week fall in the 1.375–1.55 range. Overestimating activity is the #1 reason calorie tracking 'doesn't work.'
TDEE changes as you lose weight
As you lose weight, your BMR decreases — you're burning fewer calories at rest. This is why weight loss often stalls after initial progress. Recalculate your TDEE every 4–6 weeks as your weight changes to keep your calorie targets accurate.
How the TDEE Calculator Works
BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor, male) = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5. Convert: kg = lbs ÷ 2.205, cm = inches × 2.54. TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier. Weekly calorie budget = TDEE × 7.
This calculator uses the male Mifflin-St Jeor formula with a default activity multiplier of 1.55 (moderately active). For women, subtract 166 from the result. For the most accurate results, use your weight and height in metric units and be honest about your true activity level.