BMR & Calorie Calculator

How to use

1. Enter sex, age, height and weight.
2. Pick the activity level closest to your life.
3. Use TDEE as your maintenance-calorie starting point.

About this tool

These are population averages — real needs vary. Track weight trends for 2–3 weeks and adjust.

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How it works

BMR — basal metabolic rate — is the energy your body burns at complete rest just to stay alive: breathing, circulation, cell repair. It is typically 60–70% of your total daily burn. This tool uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990), widely regarded as the most accurate prediction formula for the general population without lab testing: for men, BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + 5; for women the same formula ends in − 161 instead of + 5.

TDEE — total daily energy expenditure — is BMR multiplied by an activity factor: 1.2 for sedentary, 1.375 for light activity (1–3 days/week), 1.55 for moderate (3–5 days/week), 1.725 for very active (6–7 days/week), and 1.9 for extra-active physical lifestyles. These multipliers come from the Harris-Benedict tradition and are the standard way to turn a resting number into a real-world estimate.

As general context: the remaining ~30–40% of TDEE is movement plus the thermic effect of food (roughly 10% — digesting costs energy). A daily deficit of about 500 kcal corresponds to roughly 0.5 kg per week, since a kilogram of body fat stores around 7,700 kcal. These are informational estimates, not targets — individual metabolism varies.

Worked examples

Moderately active man: Age 30, 175 cm, 70 kg: BMR = 10×70 + 6.25×175 − 5×30 + 5 = 1,649 kcal/day. At moderate activity (×1.55), TDEE ≈ 2,556 kcal/day — a ballpark for maintaining weight.

Lightly active woman: Age 45, 160 cm, 60 kg: BMR = 600 + 1,000 − 225 − 161 = 1,214 kcal/day. Light activity (×1.375) gives TDEE ≈ 1,669 kcal/day.

Quick reference

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