tdee calculator
Your total daily energy expenditure, estimated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and an honest activity multiplier. A population estimate, marked as one.
x 1.55: three to five training sessions a week.
- estimated bmr
- 1,768 kcalwhat your body spends at rest
- activity multiplier
- x 1.55moderately active
Mifflin-St Jeor is a population equation; real people sit meaningfully above and below it. Eat near this number for two or three weeks, watch the scale trend, and adjust. The trend is the measurement; this is the starting point.
the five multipliers, honestly graded.
The activity multiplier is where most TDEE estimates go wrong, because a week gets graded by its best day. These are the standard five, with what each one actually looks like as a week.
| multiplier | a week that looks like | |
|---|---|---|
| sedentary | x 1.2 | a desk day and little formal exercise |
| lightly active | x 1.375 | one to three training sessions a week |
| moderately active | x 1.55 | three to five training sessions a week |
| very active | x 1.725 | six to seven hard sessions a week |
| athlete | x 1.9 | hard daily training or a physical job on top of it |
When two levels both feel true, pick the lower one and let two weeks of scale trend settle the argument.
an estimate is where tracking starts, not ends.
A TDEE figure is one honest guess at a moving target: it drifts as weight changes, training changes, and life changes. The useful version of this number is the one checked against reality, which is why the platform reads maintenance off the recorded trend instead of trusting any equation twice.
If the goal is fat loss, take this estimate to the calorie deficit calculator next; if it is hitting targets day to day, the macro calculator splits this number into protein, fat, and carbohydrate.
the honest answers.
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is what your body spends at complete rest: the cost of being alive. TDEE is that figure times an activity multiplier, covering training, walking, and everything else a day contains. You eat against TDEE; BMR is the floor underneath it.
How accurate is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation?
It is the equation most dietetics bodies reach for first, and it is still a population average. Individuals routinely land a few hundred kilocalories either side of it. Treat the output as a starting point, eat near it for two or three weeks, and let the scale trend correct it.
Which activity level should I pick?
One lower than your instinct. Most people grade their week by its best day, and training hours are a small slice of a week. If the trend says you are gaining on your supposed maintenance, the multiplier was too generous, not the equation broken.
more free tools
- one-rep max calculatorYour estimated 1RM from any set, with the three formulas the platform uses.
- macro calculatorA calorie target split into protein, fat, and carbs, priced at 4/4/9.
- protein calculatorA daily protein range by goal, never a false-precision decimal.
- body fat calculatorThe US Navy tape-measure estimate, marked as the rough proxy it is.
- calorie deficit calculatorAn intake target and an honest weekly rate; below-BMR plans are refused.
a calculator estimates once. the platform watches what actually happens.
Every number this page gives you is a starting point. Trainbase is where a coach and a client watch the real ones move: every set logged against a program, every reading on one honest scale, every estimate marked as an estimate. When the trend disagrees with the calculator, the trend wins.