TDEE Calculator for Weight Loss
Pick a rate of loss and the calculator subtracts the right deficit from your TDEE, applies the safety floors, and shows the math.
Example result for a 35-year-old woman, 5 ft 5 in, 160 lb, lightly active. Enter your numbers to replace it.
Example TDEE (maintenance calories)
1,955 kcal/day
Estimated range 1,759 to 2,150 (±10%; the real gap can be larger) · about 13,683 kcal a week
BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor): 10 × 72.6 kg + 6.25 × 165.1 cm − 5 × 35 − 161 = 1,422 kcal
TDEE = BMR × Lightly active (× 1.375): 1,422 × 1.375 = 1,955 kcal/day
To lose 1 lb a week, eat about 1,455 kcal/day: 500 kcal below your TDEE (1,955 − 500).
1 lb of body fat is roughly 3,500 kcal, so 500 × 7 ≈ 3,500 kcal a week. Loss slows as you get lighter, so recalculate every 10 lb.
| Macro | Grams | % of calories | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | 116 g | 32% | 1.6 g per kg of body weight |
| Fat | 40 g | 25% | 25% of calories |
| Carbs | 158 g | 43% | the rest |
| Level | Multiplier | TDEE |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | × 1.2 | 1,706 kcal |
| ▸ Lightly active | × 1.375 | 1,955 kcal |
| Moderately active | × 1.55 | 2,204 kcal |
| Very active | × 1.725 | 2,452 kcal |
| Extra active | × 1.9 | 2,701 kcal |
Each step is worth about 249 kcal a day. Picking one level too high is the most common reason a deficit does not work. How to choose.
Different number on another calculator? Here is why
| Formula | BMR | TDEE (× 1.375) |
|---|---|---|
| Mifflin-St Jeor (this site) | 1,422 | 1,955 |
| Harris-Benedict (revised 1984) | 1,479 | 2,033 |
| Katch-McArdle | needs your body fat % (enter it above) | |
- Activity step. One level down gives 1,706, one level up gives 2,204. Some sites use in-between multipliers (1.465) or a different scale (1.4 to 2.4), which moves the result by 100 to 300 kcal on its own.
- Units and rounding. 160.0 lb is 72.6 kg and 5 ft 5 in is 165.1 cm. A site that rounds to 80 kg and 175 cm shifts BMR by a few kcal; a site that rounds the multiplier shifts more.
- Body fat. Formulas that use lean mass give lower numbers for people with more body fat and higher numbers for lean, muscular people.
Differences of 100 to 200 kcal between calculators are normal and smaller than the error of the formula itself, which is at least ±10%. Why calculators disagree.
BMI 26.6 (overweight, CDC categories). BMI is not used in the calculation.
A calorie deficit is the gap between what you burn (your TDEE) and what you eat. The calculator above finds the first number, then subtracts 250, 500, 750 or 1,000 kcal for a planned loss of 0.5, 1, 1.5 or 2 lb a week. For the example above, a 35-year-old woman at 160 lb with a TDEE of 1,955 kcal, losing 1 lb a week means eating about 1,455 kcal/day.
The deficits come from the rule of thumb that a pound of body fat holds about 3,500 kcal. It is an approximation: as you lose weight you burn less, so the same intake produces a slower loss over time. That is why the page tells you to recalculate every 10 lb, and why the tracker exists.
How many calories below your TDEE should you eat?
- 250 kcal below (0.5 lb a week). The easiest deficit to keep, with the least hunger and the least muscle loss. The right choice if you have under 15 lb to lose or you train hard.
- 500 kcal below (1 lb a week). The standard recommendation. Noticeable but manageable for most people.
- 750 to 1,000 kcal below (1.5 to 2 lb a week). Only realistic when your TDEE is high, because the target has to stay above the floor. Hunger, fatigue and muscle loss all rise with the size of the deficit.
A useful cross-check is the percentage: a deficit of 15 to 20% of TDEE is sustainable for most people; 25% or more is hard to hold for long.
Why the calculator sometimes shows a floor instead of your target
If the deficit you picked would take you below 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men), the calculator shows the floor and the slower loss it produces. Example: a 45-year-old woman, 5 ft 2 in, 130 lb, sedentary, has a TDEE of about 1,426 kcal. "Lose 2 lb a week" would mean 426 kcal, so the page shows 1,200 kcal and about 0.45 lb a week instead.
The floors are a widely used practical rule for people without medical supervision, not a law of physiology. Below them it becomes hard to get enough protein, fiber and micronutrients from food. Clinician-supervised very-low-calorie diets exist; this calculator is not one.
Is 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day good for weight loss?
It depends entirely on your TDEE. For a small, sedentary woman with a TDEE around 1,600 kcal, 1,200 is a 400 kcal deficit, which is reasonable. For a 200 lb man with a TDEE of 2,800, 1,500 is a 1,300 kcal deficit, which is too aggressive to sustain and will cost muscle. The right question is not "is 1,200 good" but "how far below my TDEE is 1,200". The calculator answers it directly.
Keep protein high while cutting
The macro table above sets protein at 1.6 g per kg of body weight, the point in a large meta-analysis beyond which extra protein stopped adding muscle in people who lift. In a deficit, protein near that level helps keep muscle while fat goes. Fat is set at 25% of calories and carbohydrate fills the rest; both can be moved to taste, protein should not go much lower.
When the scale stops moving
- Give it three weeks. Water shifts from sodium, carbs, training and the menstrual cycle hide fat loss for days at a time. Compare weekly averages, not single weigh-ins.
- Check the activity level. If you chose Moderately active with a desk job and three workouts, the real factor is closer to Lightly active, which drops TDEE by about 249 kcal for the example above. The activity guide explains how to pick.
- Check the logging. Most people under-count intake, often by a lot, and most wearables over-count burn. Weighing food for two weeks usually finds the gap.
- Recalculate. After 10 lb your TDEE is genuinely lower. Enter the new weight, or let the tracker measure it.
Questions
How do I calculate my TDEE to lose weight?
Calculate TDEE first (BMR × activity factor), then subtract the deficit: 500 kcal a day for about 1 lb a week. For the woman in the example, 1,955 − 500 = 1,455 kcal. The form at the top does both steps and keeps the target above the safety floor.
Should I subtract the deficit from BMR or from TDEE?
From TDEE. BMR is what you burn lying still all day; subtracting from it double-counts the deficit and lands far too low. The difference between the two is usually 400 to 900 kcal, explained on the BMR vs TDEE page.
What is a good TDEE for weight loss?
A higher TDEE makes weight loss easier because the same deficit leaves more food on the plate. You cannot change BMR much, but you can raise TDEE with steps, standing and training. Going from 4,000 to 10,000 steps a day adds roughly 150 to 250 kcal of daily burn, depending on body size.
Why did I stop losing weight at the calculated calories?
Three usual reasons, in order of frequency: the activity level was set one step too high, intake is under-counted, and the TDEE fell as you lost weight. Logging weight and calories for two weeks in the tracker shows which one applies to you.
By Alton Vieira · Updated . Estimates for healthy adults; not medical advice. How every number is calculated.
- Mifflin MD et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990.
- Hall KD et al. Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight. Lancet. 2011.
- Morton RW et al. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. Br J Sports Med. 2018.
- Frankenfield D, Roth-Yousey L, Compher C. Comparison of predictive equations for resting metabolic rate in healthy nonobese and obese adults: a systematic review. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005.