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Calculate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)
NNWA's calculator estimates total daily energy expenditure (TDEE): the calories a body burns across a full day. It multiplies basal metabolic rate, calculated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation from age, sex, height and weight, by an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.9. The result is a maintenance figure — the intake at which weight stays steady.
Total daily energy expenditure — TDEE — is the number of calories your body uses across a complete day: at rest, at work, on the commute, in the kitchen and in whatever exercise you manage. This calculator estimates it in two steps. It first calculates your basal metabolic rate using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then multiplies that figure by an activity factor that reflects how much you actually move.
The activity factor is where most estimates go wrong, and Indian daily life makes the choice harder than the labels suggest. A day of desk work, a car or metro commute and an evening at home is sedentary, however tiring it feels. Each band below is described with honest, everyday examples so you can place yourself accurately — and when in doubt, choose the lower band. The result is your maintenance intake, the starting point for any deliberate change in weight.
Total daily energy expenditure
Daily expenditure
2,093kcal
Resting rate 1,350 kcal × 1.550
Eating this amount holds weight steady. Most people overestimate their activity by one band — when unsure, choose the lower one.
TDEE is maintenance, not a prescription. Changing weight means eating consistently below or above it — the calorie calculator turns this figure into a target, and the macro calculator into a plate.
Learn to plan a day's intake properly01The exact formula behind the result
The calculator asks for five inputs: age, sex, height in centimetres, weight in kilograms and an activity level. From the first four it calculates basal metabolic rate (BMR) using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: for men, 10 × weight + 6.25 × height − 5 × age + 5; for women, 10 × weight + 6.25 × height − 5 × age − 161. BMR is what your body would burn lying still for twenty-four hours, keeping the heart, brain, liver and lungs at work.
Your TDEE is that BMR multiplied by an activity factor: 1.2 if you are sedentary, 1.375 if lightly active, 1.55 if moderately active, 1.725 if very active and 1.9 if you train like an athlete. The factor stands in for everything beyond lying still — standing, walking, working, cooking, training. If you want the resting figure alone, the BMR calculator stops at step one; this page carries the calculation through to a full day.
02Choosing your activity level honestly
Sedentary (1.2) describes most urban working days in India: desk work, a car, bus or metro commute, evenings at home. The commute may be long and genuinely exhausting, but sitting in traffic burns very little. Lightly active (1.375) means that same day plus deliberate exercise a few times a week, or work that keeps you on your feet for part of it — teaching, retail, running a household without help.
Moderately active (1.55) is exercise on most days of the week, or physically demanding work such as field sales on foot or hospital shifts. Very active (1.725) is hard daily training on top of an already active day. Athlete (1.9) is reserved for people who train twice a day or do sustained heavy manual labour — it is the rarest band, not a compliment.
Most people place themselves one band too high. A tiring day is not an active day: meetings, screens and traffic drain you without burning much. If you are torn between two bands, choose the lower one — a modest underestimate is easily corrected, while an inflated one quietly erases the deficit you think you are eating at.
03Maintenance is a starting line, not a target
TDEE is the intake at which your weight broadly holds steady. To lose weight you eat consistently below it; to gain, consistently above it, ideally alongside strength training. The word that matters is consistently — a single careful day changes nothing, and a single festival meal ruins nothing. To convert your TDEE into a daily calorie target for a specific goal, use the calorie calculator; to split that target into protein, carbohydrate and fat, use the macro calculator.
04What this estimate cannot tell you
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation was built on population averages, and you are not an average. Two people of identical age, height and weight can burn meaningfully different amounts if one carries more muscle — the equation cannot see body composition. The activity factor is self-reported and coarse. Thyroid conditions, polycystic ovary syndrome, some medications and pregnancy all shift energy needs in ways no calculator captures.
Treat the result as a well-informed first draft. Eat near it for a few weeks, watch your weight and energy, and adjust. The trend on the scale is better evidence than any formula.
05What a trained practitioner does next
A number is the easy part. A trained nutrition counsellor turns a TDEE estimate into actual meals — dal, roti, rice, curd, seasonal vegetables — that fit a client's budget, culture and appetite, then monitors and adjusts as the body responds. That translation from arithmetic to plate is a learned skill. NNWA's Diploma in Nutrition covers energy balance and meal planning from first principles, and the weight-management programme works through the deficit side of this page in practical depth. Both award skill-enhancement certificates — a foundation for practice, not a clinical licence.
This calculator provides a screening estimate for general awareness, not a diagnosis or a prescription. Energy needs shift with body composition, health conditions, medication and pregnancy. Before making significant changes to your diet — particularly if you are pregnant, underweight, or managing diabetes, thyroid disease or another condition — speak to a doctor or a qualified professional.
What people ask about the TDEE calculator
Expand any question to read the answer in full.
What is total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)?
TDEE is the total number of calories your body uses in a day: the energy of basic bodily functions at rest, plus digestion, movement, work and exercise. It is the intake at which your weight stays roughly stable, which makes it the reference point for planning weight loss, gain or maintenance.
Which formula does this calculator use?
It uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation to estimate basal metabolic rate from your age, sex, height and weight, then multiplies that figure by an activity factor: 1.2 for sedentary, 1.375 for lightly active, 1.55 for moderately active, 1.725 for very active and 1.9 for athletes. Mifflin-St Jeor is widely used because it performs well for most adults.
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the energy your body needs at complete rest, just to keep its organs working. Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is BMR plus everything else — walking, working, cooking, exercise. TDEE is always the larger number, and it is the one that matters when you plan how much to eat.
Which activity level should I pick if I am unsure?
Choose the lower of the two bands you are torn between. Most people overestimate by one band, because a tiring day feels active even when little of it involves movement. Desk work plus a commute is sedentary. If you later find you are losing weight at your calculated maintenance, move up one band and recalculate.
Should I eat my TDEE to lose weight?
No. TDEE is your maintenance intake — eating it keeps your weight where it is. To lose weight you need to eat consistently below it, and to gain weight, consistently above it. How far below or above depends on your goal and timeframe, which is what a separate calorie target is for.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
It is an estimate built on population averages. It cannot see your muscle mass, health conditions or medication, and the activity factor depends on your own honesty. Expect it to be close rather than exact. Use the result as a starting point, then adjust after a few weeks of watching your weight and energy.
Turn the arithmetic into a skill
A figure is the first five minutes of a consultation. These programmes teach what a practitioner does with it.
Diploma in Nutrition
Energy balance and meal planning from first principles — the theory this calculator applies in miniature.
Weight Management
Teaches how a maintenance figure becomes a sustainable, culturally workable deficit.
Sports Nutrition
For the very active and athlete bands, where fuelling training is a discipline of its own.
A figure is not a diet plan
Turning a screening number into a chart someone will actually follow — for their condition, their kitchen and their budget — is the skill the Diploma teaches.