TDEE & Macro Calculator
Find the calories you actually burn in a day, then the protein, carbs and fat to hit it. Built on the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.
| Goal | Calories/day | Change/week |
|---|
Macros at your target
Carbs –
Fat –
Estimates use Mifflin-St Jeor for BMR and a standard activity multiplier. Protein is set at 1g per pound of body weight, fat at 25% of calories, carbohydrate fills the rest. Real-world intake should be adjusted from scale and mirror feedback over 2-3 weeks. This is general fitness information, not medical advice.
How many calories do you actually need?
Your TDEE — total daily energy expenditure — is every calorie you burn in 24 hours: the calories your body uses at rest, plus digestion, plus training, plus everything else you do. It is the single number every fat-loss or muscle-building plan is built on. Eat under it and you lose weight. Eat over it and you gain. Guess at it and you spend a year spinning your wheels.
How this calculator works
The calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation to estimate your basal metabolic rate, then multiplies it by an activity factor for how much you actually train and move. That gives your maintenance calories. From there it applies your goal — a 10% deficit for steady fat loss, 20% for aggressive, or a 10% surplus for a lean gain — and splits the target into protein, carbohydrate and fat.
How to use the number you get
Run it for two to three weeks before you change anything. Weigh yourself at the same time on the same days and take the weekly average, not the daily number. If the average has not moved in three weeks, adjust by 150-200 calories, not 500. Protein stays fixed at roughly one gram per pound of body weight regardless of the goal — that is what protects muscle in a deficit and builds it in a surplus.
Common questions
Is a calorie deficit enough on its own? It is enough to lose weight. It is not enough to look the way you want at the end. Lift heavy three to five days a week and keep protein high, or a good chunk of what you lose is muscle.
Why is my TDEE different from another calculator? Different equations and different activity multipliers. Any calculator gives an estimate within roughly 10%. Your own scale over three weeks is the only number that is actually yours.
Do I need to recalculate as I lose weight? Yes. Rerun it every 10-15 pounds. A smaller body burns fewer calories.
