TDEE Calculator – Maintenance Calories

Estimate how many calories you need each day to maintain your weight. Enter your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level to estimate your TDEE and BMR, then use your results to plan for maintenance, weight loss, or muscle gain.

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Choose the activity level that best matches your typical week, including work, walking, daily movement, and exercise. Not sure? See the activity level guide.

Help me choose my activity levelOptional activity level estimator

Describe your typical week—including work, walking, daily steps, and exercise—to get a suggested TDEE activity level. Use it as a starting point, not an exact measurement of your calorie needs.

Include work and workouts
Rate the overall session, including rest periods: Easy feels comfortable, Moderate requires noticeable effort, and Vigorous feels hard to sustain.

Answer the questions above to get a suggested activity level. Your calculator will not change until you apply the suggestion.

Optional refinements

See your estimated maintenance calories, TDEE, BMR, calorie targets, and macro recommendations.

TDEE examples

TDEE Calculator Examples

See estimated daily maintenance calories for common age, weight, and activity profiles.

View all 16 TDEE examples

Maintenance calorie guide

What Are TDEE and Maintenance Calories?

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the estimated number of calories your body burns each day. It includes the energy your body uses at rest, through everyday movement, and during exercise.

Maintenance calories are the daily calorie intake estimated to keep your body weight stable over time. Your TDEE is commonly used as an estimate of your maintenance calories because eating approximately as many calories as you burn helps maintain your weight.

In practice, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Your actual maintenance needs may differ from the estimate, so monitoring your weight trend over several weeks can help you determine whether your calorie intake is appropriate.

How this TDEE calculator works

  1. Enter your age, sex, height, weight, and typical activity level.
  2. We estimate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) using the Mifflin-St Jeor formula, or Katch-McArdle when an eligible body-fat percentage is provided.
  3. Your BMR is combined with your activity level to estimate your total daily energy expenditure: TDEE = estimated BMR × activity multiplier.

Your results include estimated maintenance calories, BMR, calorie targets, and macro guidance. See our calculator methodology for the formulas, assumptions, and limitations used.

How to use your calorie estimate

Use your estimated maintenance calories as a starting point. Eating close to this amount should help maintain your current weight over time. For weight loss, use a moderate calorie deficit; for weight gain, use a controlled calorie surplus.

Because TDEE is an estimate, track your average calorie intake and body-weight trend for 2–4 weeks and adjust your target if needed.

Quick answers

Maintenance calorie calculator FAQ

  • What are maintenance calories?

    Maintenance calories are the estimated number of calories you need each day to keep your body weight stable. They use TDEE as the starting estimate for matching daily calorie intake to daily energy expenditure.

    Read the methodology
  • Are maintenance calories the same as TDEE?

    They describe two sides of the same planning baseline. TDEE estimates how many calories you burn in a day, while maintenance calories are the matching intake expected to keep weight stable. Both are estimates, not direct measurements.

    Compare TDEE and BMR
  • How does this calculator estimate daily calorie needs?

    It estimates BMR from your body statistics, then multiplies that value by the activity factor you select. In short, estimated TDEE equals estimated BMR multiplied by an activity multiplier.

    Review all formulas
  • Which activity level should I choose?

    Choose the level that reflects your normal combination of work, walking, daily movement, and training across a typical week. Do not base it only on your hardest workout day.

    Choose the right activity level
  • How accurate is a TDEE calculator?

    It provides a useful maintenance starting point for comparing calorie deficits or surpluses, but formulas and activity categories cannot measure your exact metabolism. Compare the result with your average calorie intake and body-weight trend over 2–4 weeks, then adjust your target if needed.

    Read the TDEE accuracy guidePlan a calorie deficitPlan a calorie surplus

Calorie planning guides

TDEE & Calorie Calculator Guides

Learn how TDEE, activity levels, maintenance calories, and calorie formulas work—and how to turn your estimate into a practical calorie target.

View all posts
Playful illustration of all five TDEE activity levels, labeled Sedentary, Light, Moderate, Very active, and Athlete, with adults sitting, walking, cycling, carrying a box, and running.
9 min read

TDEE Activity Levels: How to Choose the Right Level

Compare Sedentary, Light, Moderate, Very Active, and Athlete activity levels with practical examples to find the closest match for your typical week.

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  • activity level
  • maintenance calories
Cartoon scenes of the same adult resting on a sofa and walking outdoors in a leafy park.
5 min read

TDEE vs BMR: What's the Difference?

Learn the difference between BMR and TDEE, how each is calculated, and which number to use for maintenance calories, weight loss, or muscle gain.

  • tdee
  • bmr
  • maintenance calories