TDEE Calculator — Total Daily Energy Expenditure

General information: This article is information about food data. No dietitian or doctor has reviewed it, and it is not a substitute for their advice.

By NYUS Inc. · Updated 23 October 2026

Enter your stats and activity level to get an estimate of your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure): the calories that should keep your weight steady. The calculator also shows starting calorie targets that stay within the ICMR-NIN limits for weight loss. It is an adult calculator, so it asks for age 18 or over.

Track this in NYUS. Log your meals and workouts in NYUS; a weekly check-in adjusts your calories, macros and step goal from what you log.

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Calculate your TDEE

Sex Age (years) Weight (kg) Height (cm) Activity level

The Mifflin–St Jeor equation was derived on adults aged 19 to 78 (Mifflin et al., 1990); this form accepts 18 to 100, so results outside 19 to 78 are less certain.

Your TDEE and calorie targets

BMR — calories at complete rest

TDEE — maintenance calories

Deficit of 500 kcal a day (low end of the ICMR-NIN typical range)

Deficit of 750 kcal a day (top of the ICMR-NIN typical range)

Example surplus of +500 kcal a day (a rule of thumb, not an ICMR-NIN figure)

Starting estimates, not promises. The two deficit rows are never shown below 1,000 kcal or below 60% of your TDEE (the ICMR-NIN limits, explained below); if a limit applies, the row says so, and if your TDEE is already at or below that limit, no deficit is suggested. Adjust against your own weight trend.

What is TDEE?

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure: the energy your body uses over 24 hours, including resting metabolism, digestion, movement and exercise. A calculator can only estimate it; the real number is found from your own weight trend. Weight-loss diets work by lowering energy intake below energy use: in an 811-adult trial (Sacks et al., 2009), reduced-calorie diets gave clinically meaningful weight loss.

The number most people call “maintenance calories” is their TDEE.

How TDEE is calculated

The calculator first estimates your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) with the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, then multiplies by an activity factor.

Step 1 — BMR (Mifflin–St Jeor)

Men: 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5
Women: 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age − 161

The equation was derived from 498 healthy people aged 19 to 78 whose resting energy expenditure was measured by indirect calorimetry; it explained 71% of the variation (Mifflin et al., 1990). A systematic review (Frankenfield et al., 2005) of four common equations found Mifflin–St Jeor the most reliable, predicting resting metabolic rate within 10% of measured in more people than any other equation, but also noted noteworthy errors for individuals and that some age and ethnic groups were under-represented. The ICMR-NIN 2020 brief note on nutrient requirements for Indians (PDF p. 2) adds that the FAO/WHO/UNU BMR equations can overestimate BMR in Indians by 10-12%. We found no validation of Mifflin–St Jeor in Indian adults, so treat your result as a starting estimate.

Step 2 — Activity multiplier

Sedentary (desk job, no exercise): ×1.2
Lightly active (1–3 workouts/week): ×1.375
Moderately active (3–5 workouts/week): ×1.55
Active (6–7 workouts/week): ×1.725
Very active (intense daily training + physical job): ×1.9

These multipliers are conventions used by many calculators, and NYUS uses the same values; they are not from the Mifflin paper and not from ICMR-NIN. ICMR-NIN's own approach is total energy = BMR × physical activity level, and its 2020 note lowered the sedentary level for Indians from 1.53 to 1.40 because Indian studies found lower energy spent on activity. Its reference figures for sedentary adults are 2,110 kcal for a 65 kg man and 1,660 kcal for a 55 kg woman; compare your result with these as a sanity check, bearing in mind they are for those body weights.

How to use your TDEE

Your TDEE is a starting estimate, not a measurement. Our practical method for calibrating it from your real weight trend:

Weigh yourself each morning after using the bathroom, before eating. Average 7 days.
After 2–3 weeks, compare your weight average to your starting average.
If weight is not moving in the direction you expect, change your calorie intake by about 150 kcal and repeat.

Our reading: this loop uses your own data, so it corrects errors in the formula and in your activity choice. See our full guide on how many calories to eat to lose weight in India for a worked example.

How far below TDEE?

The ICMR-NIN Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 (DGI 2024) give the limits the two deficit rows follow. ICMR-NIN says that weight reduction should be gradual, that weight-reduction diets should not be less than 1,000 kcal a day and should provide all nutrients, that a reduction of half a kilogram of body weight per week is considered safe, and that approaches of rapid weight loss should be avoided. It describes typical energy-deficient weight-loss diets as a 500 to 750 kcal a day deficit, and says the protective effect of higher-protein diets on muscle mass is compromised if the energy deficit is more than 40% of daily energy needs, so it advises not to go beyond that. The calculator therefore never shows a deficit row below 1,000 kcal or below 60% of your TDEE. For eating-window plans, see intermittent fasting and your calorie target.

The rule of thumb that 500 kcal a day is half a kilogram a week is not exact: a modelling study in the Lancet, which includes energy expenditure adaptations during weight loss, found that body weight responds slowly to a change in energy intake (half-time about 1 year) (Hall et al., 2011). We found no ICMR-NIN figure for weight gain, so the +500 kcal row is only an example of a surplus.

Protein while you eat less

ICMR-NIN says that consuming higher amounts of protein (15% of energy from protein) may be important during typical energy-deficient weight-loss diets (a 500 to 750 kcal a day deficit) to preserve muscle mass. A meta-analysis of 24 trials found that high-protein energy-restricted diets gave modestly greater fat-mass loss and preserved a little more fat-free mass than standard-protein diets (Wycherley et al., 2012). For sources, see our high-protein Indian foods guide; if you want your macro split calculated alongside your calories, use the macro calculator.

A note on health

This calculator is for healthy adults. If you have diabetes, thyroid or kidney disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, take regular medicines, or are under 18, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing how much you eat.

Let NYUS track your TDEE — 30-day free trial, then plans from ₹499 for one month, paid once, no auto-renewal

NYUS is an AI diet and workout coach. NYUS estimates your BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (or Katch-McArdle if you enter a body-fat percentage), then multiplies it by an activity factor based on your activity level to estimate your daily calories burned (TDEE). You can log foods by search or barcode against 8,900+ foods with calories and macros, and a weekly check-in adjusts your calories, macros and step goal once enough is logged. It gives general information, not medical advice. The 30-day trial is the full app and needs no card; after it, plans start at ₹499 for one month, paid once, with no auto-renewal.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR is the energy your body uses at complete rest. TDEE is your estimated total daily energy use including movement and exercise, calculated as BMR multiplied by an activity factor. You set a weight-loss target off TDEE, not BMR.

How accurate is a TDEE calculator?

A systematic review of four common equations found the Mifflin-St Jeor equation the most reliable, predicting resting metabolic rate within 10% of measured in more people than any other equation, but with noteworthy errors for individuals. ICMR-NIN notes that the FAO/WHO/UNU BMR equations can overestimate BMR in Indians by 10-12%, and we found no validation of Mifflin-St Jeor in Indian adults. Our practical reading: treat the result as a starting estimate and correct it from 2 to 3 weeks of your own weight trend.

Should I eat exactly at my TDEE to maintain weight?

Our practical reading: eating at your calculated TDEE is a starting point, not a guarantee. Track your weight trend over 2 to 3 weeks (daily weigh-ins averaged weekly) and change your intake by about 150 kcal if your weight is consistently moving in a direction you do not want.

How many calories below my TDEE should I eat to lose weight?

ICMR-NIN describes typical energy-deficient weight-loss diets as a 500 to 750 kcal a day deficit, says weight-reduction diets should not be less than 1,000 kcal a day, says half a kilogram a week is considered safe, and advises not to go beyond a 40% deficit of daily energy needs. The calculator follows those limits. Ask your doctor or a registered dietitian if you are unsure.