Energy expenditure

Calories Burned Calculator

Your TDEE is the calories you burn per day. We separate it into BMR (resting), activity (NEAT + exercise), and thermic effect of food.

Most adults burn between 1,800 and 3,200 calories per day. About 60–70% is Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), what your body burns at rest. Another 20–30% is physical activity. The remaining 10% is thermic effect of food (digestion).

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Your daily target

· cal/day

Enter your details and click Calculate

  • BMR · cal/day at rest
  • BMI ·  
  • Lean body mass · kg

Pick your goal

Macros at maintenance

30% protein · 40% carbs · 30% fat

Advanced metrics

Numbers are estimates. Eat at your target for 2 to 3 weeks, track weight, and adjust by ±100 cal/day if it does not match your real maintenance. See how accurate is TDEE?

Show advanced metrics 12 metrics · 7 formulas · 2D macro selector · life-stage

All metrics

Calculate above to populate the full metric table.

All 7 BMR formulas (side-by-side)

Mifflin–St Jeor · Harris–Benedict (revised) · Katch–McArdle · Cunningham · Average · Simple multiplier · Custom

TDEE across activity levels

See how much your TDEE changes between sedentary and athlete. Highlighted bar is your current selection.

Macros: 2D selector

Goal × carb-split matrix: Cut / Maintain / Bulk × Low / Moderate / High carb.

Life-stage adjustments

Luteal phase · Pregnancy (T1/T2/T3) · Breastfeeding · Perimenopause · PCOS

The three components of daily calorie burn

  • BMR (60–70%): Energy your body uses to keep you alive at rest, heart, brain, organs, cell maintenance
  • NEAT + exercise (20–30%): All physical activity, walking, fidgeting, structured workouts
  • TEF (10%): Thermic effect of food, energy your body uses to digest meals (protein ~25%, carbs ~7%, fat ~3%)

The breakdown shifts with activity level. Sedentary individuals are closer to 70/20/10. Athletes can flip to 50/40/10 or even more activity-dominant.

Frequently asked questions

How accurate are calorie-burn estimates from fitness trackers?
Studies put wrist-worn devices at ±20–40% off true expenditure during exercise. They're useful for tracking relative changes, less so for absolute calorie targets. Use your TDEE as the anchor and trackers as relative indicators.
Do I burn more calories when I weigh more?
Yes. BMR scales with body mass (especially lean mass). A 200 lb person burns more at rest than a 150 lb person, all else equal. This is why TDEE drops as you lose weight, and why you may need to recalculate every 10–15 lb of change.
Does muscle burn more calories than fat at rest?
Per kg, muscle burns 13 kcal/day at rest and fat burns 4.5 kcal/day. The difference matters at extremes but is usually overstated. The bigger metabolic effect of muscle is during and after exercise.