Calorie Calculator (TDEE)
Estimate the calories you burn daily and the intake needed to lose, maintain or gain weight.
The calorie calculator estimates your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE): the calories you burn in a normal day including exercise. It starts from your BMR and applies an activity multiplier, then suggests calorie targets for losing, maintaining or gaining weight.
How to use the calculator
- Enter your gender, age, weight and height.
- Pick the activity level that best matches a typical week.
- Read your maintenance calories (TDEE).
- Use the −500 and +500 targets to lose or gain roughly half a kilogram a week.
How it is calculated
BMR uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. A daily deficit of about 500 kcal tends to produce roughly 0.5 kg of weight loss a week; a surplus of 500 kcal does the reverse.
Worked example
70 kg, 170 cm, age 30, male, lightly active
BMR ≈ 1,618 and activity factor = 1.375
TDEE ≈ 2,224 calories/day, so about 1,724 for weight loss and 2,724 for weight gain.
Who should use this calculator
- Anyone setting a calorie target for losing, maintaining or gaining weight, and wanting a sensible starting number.
- People who have lost weight and need to know their new maintenance level so the weight does not creep back.
- Athletes and gym-goers planning a lean bulk or a cut, where the size of the surplus or deficit matters.
- Anyone who has plateaued and wants to check whether their intake is still what they think it is.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Treating the estimate as exact. Formulas are within roughly 10% of true needs. Use the number for two to three weeks, then adjust based on what actually happens to your weight.
- Eating back exercised calories twice. If your activity level already includes training, adding the calories your watch reports on top of it double-counts the same work.
- Cutting too aggressively. A 1,000-calorie deficit feels productive for a fortnight and then produces hunger, poor sleep, muscle loss and a rebound. A 300–500 calorie deficit is sustainable.
- Underestimating portions. Oil, sauces, drinks and snacks are the usual culprits. Weighing food for a few weeks recalibrates your eye more than any app can.
- Ignoring protein. In a deficit, protein protects muscle and keeps you full. Cutting calories without raising protein intake is how people lose weight and feel worse.
Why the scale stops moving
Weight loss is rarely linear. In the first week it drops quickly because of water and glycogen, then flattens even though the plan is working. Later, a smaller body burns fewer calories, and unplanned movement — fidgeting, walking, standing — quietly falls as you eat less. Both effects shrink the deficit without changing anything you wrote down.
The fix is patience plus a small adjustment, not a crash diet. Give any plan two to three weeks, weigh yourself daily and take weekly averages, then trim around 100–200 calories or add a little activity if the trend is flat. Changing too much at once removes the ability to tell what actually worked.
Calorie terms explained
- TDEE
- The calories you burn in a normal day, including exercise. It is your maintenance level.
- Activity factor
- The multiplier applied to BMR, usually between 1.2 for sedentary and 1.9 for very active.
- Calorie deficit
- Eating less than your TDEE. Roughly a 500-calorie daily deficit produces about half a kilogram of loss a week.
- NEAT
- Non-exercise activity thermogenesis — the calories burned in everyday movement, which falls when you eat less.
- Maintenance calories
- The intake at which weight stays stable. It changes as your weight and activity change.
Reading the first month on the scale
Expect the first two weeks to move faster than the rest. Early loss is largely water and glycogen, which is why some plans appear to work brilliantly and then stall. Weigh yourself daily at the same time, on waking and after the toilet, then compare weekly averages rather than single readings. If the weekly average has not moved for three weeks and your intake is genuinely where you think it is, trim 100–200 calories or add a couple of walks. Change one thing at a time so you can tell what worked.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is a calorie calculator?
Estimates are typically within 10% of true needs, because formulas cannot capture individual metabolism, muscle mass or daily movement exactly. Use the number as a starting point, track your weight for 2–3 weeks and adjust.
How many calories should I cut to lose weight?
A deficit of 300–500 calories a day is sustainable for most people and gives around 0.25–0.5 kg of loss a week. Larger deficits risk muscle loss and rebound eating.
Do I need to count calories forever?
No. Counting is a learning tool to understand portion sizes and energy density. Many people move to simpler habits once they have a feel for their maintenance intake.