TDEE Calculator for All Ages

This TDEE calculator estimates the number of calories you burn each day. It uses your age, height, weight, and sex, and shows results for four activity levels. The calculation uses the energy equations from the National Academies' Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy (2023), which were derived from Doubly Labeled Water (DLW) studies. Unlike BMR-based equations such as Harris-Benedict and Mifflin-St Jeor, they were derived from energy expenditure measured in people going about their normal lives rather than in controlled lab settings.

This calculator works for all ages including children, toddlers and infants. Once you know your number, you can use it to set calorie targets for weight loss, weight gain, or maintenance. For a deeper breakdown of your calorie needs by macronutrient, try our Macro Calculator.

What Is Your TDEE?

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It represents the total number of calories your body uses in a 24-hour period. This includes every metabolic process and physical movement. Your TDEE is the sum of several components: your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the thermic effect of food (energy used to digest what you eat), non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), and the calories you burn through deliberate exercise.

Your body needs energy to keep essential functions running. These include breathing, blood circulation, nervous system activity, temperature regulation, and the continuous creation and replacement of body tissues. This energy comes from breaking down the chemical bonds in food through oxidation. The three primary macronutrients that supply this energy are carbohydrates and protein (about 4 calories per gram each), and fat (about 9 calories per gram). You can calculate the right balance for your goals with our Macro Calculator.

When you eat the same number of calories as you burn, your weight stays the same. This is called energy balance. Eating more than your TDEE creates a positive energy balance, so most of the excess is stored as body fat. Eating fewer calories than your TDEE creates a negative energy balance. This prompts your body to use stored fat as fuel, leading to weight loss. To estimate how much weight you can realistically lose, try our Calorie Deficit Calculator.

Knowing your TDEE is essential for building a meal plan that matches your energy needs. Whether you aim to build muscle, enhance endurance, lose fat, or maintain your current physique, your TDEE provides a baseline for planning.

Who the Calculator Covers

Your TDEE is how many calories you burn in a day. To keep your weight the same, eat about that many. Infants, children, and teens need more, so their results include an allowance for growth. This total, TDEE plus growth, is their Estimated Energy Requirement (EER).

The equations work for people of all weights, including those with overweight or obesity. This calculator applies them to:

1. Adults 19 and older with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 18.5 or more.
2. Children and teens aged 3 to 18 at or above the 5th BMI percentile.
3. Infants and toddlers from birth through age 2 (under 36 months), using their sex, length, and weight.

The equations themselves also cover people who are underweight, but this calculator does not estimate their needs. For an adult or child who is underweight, a calorie target should be set with a healthcare provider.

TDEE Formula Comparison

Most TDEE calculators rely on one of several BMR equations, all developed using indirect calorimetry, which measures energy expenditure in controlled lab settings. The most common are Mifflin-St Jeor, widely considered the best general-purpose adult formula; Harris-Benedict, originally published in 1919 and revised in 1984; and Cunningham, which predicts from lean body mass and so needs your body fat percentage. Its 1991 version is the formula widely known as Katch-McArdle, after the exercise physiology textbook that popularized it, while an earlier 1980 version is often used for athletes.

This calculator takes a distinct approach. It applies the National Academies' 2023 equations derived from Doubly Labeled Water (DLW) studies. The DLW method is considered the gold standard for measuring total energy expenditure. Rather than confining subjects to a lab, DLW studies monitor energy use as participants follow their typical routines over one to three weeks, making the equations more representative of real-world calorie expenditure. The 2023 equations were built from a larger and more diverse DLW database than the 2005 ones, and they span a broader age range, including infants, toddlers, children, and adults, while the equations above target only adults.

How Many Calories Do I Burn per Day?

The number of calories you burn in a day depends on your body size, age, sex, and how active you are. As a general reference, the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans estimated that most adults need somewhere between 1,600 and 3,000 calories per day, with women typically at the lower end. The current 2025–2030 edition no longer gives ranges and points to individual calculations instead:

• Sedentary adults (desk job, minimal exercise) typically burn 1,600–2,000 calories per day for women and 2,000–2,600 for men.
• Moderately active adults (daily activities plus walking about 1.5–3 miles a day at 3–4 mph) typically burn 1,800–2,200 calories per day for women and 2,200–2,800 for men.
• Very active adults (intense training or physically demanding job) can burn roughly 2,400–3,000+ calories per day for women and 3,000–3,500+ for men. The Dietary Guidelines' ranges stop at an "active" level, so these figures are rough estimates.

These ranges are broad because individual metabolism varies significantly. Factors like muscle mass, hormonal balance, sleep quality, and even ambient temperature all influence how much energy your body uses. That is why a personalized calculation using your specific measurements, like the one this TDEE calculator provides, is far more useful than a generic range.

If your goal is weight loss, a good starting point is to eat 200–500 fewer calories than your TDEE. As you lose weight, your TDEE will also go down, so recalculate it regularly to keep your calorie intake below it. For a more precise target based on your timeline and goals, use our Calorie Deficit Calculator or Calorie Calculator.

TDEE vs BMR: What's the Difference?

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body needs just to stay alive at complete rest, powering your heart, lungs, brain, and other organs. For most people, BMR accounts for 60–70% of total daily calorie burn.

Your TDEE builds on top of BMR by adding the energy you spend on daily movement, structured exercise, and digesting food. In practice, TDEE is always higher than BMR, and it's the number you should use when planning your calorie intake for weight loss, gain, or maintenance.

For example, someone with a BMR of 1,500 calories might have a TDEE of 2,100–2,400 calories depending on their activity level. If they want to lose weight, they would eat below their TDEE (not their BMR), aiming for roughly 1,700–2,000 calories per day. Very large deficits, such as eating below your BMR for extended periods, are generally not recommended, as they can lead to muscle loss, fatigue, and metabolic slowdown.

Frequently Asked Questions about TDEE