Home / Calorie calculator
Calorie calculator: TDEE, BMR and deficit
Find your maintenance calories, see where they go, and pick a deficit you can live with — with an honest timeline.
Where your calories actually go
Change the activity level and watch which part of the bar moves. Your BMR barely budges — the swing comes from how much you move.
BMR (slate) is organs, brain and body temperature. Movement (mustard) includes everyday non-exercise activity — fidgeting, walking, standing — which varies by hundreds of calories between people. Digestion (paprika), the thermic effect of food, is about 10% and higher on high-protein diets.
Deficit timeline
≈ 155.0 lb → 144.3 lb (best case, using 7,700 kcal per kg of fat; real loss slows as you get lighter)
Calories for every goal
| Goal | kcal / day | Change / week |
|---|---|---|
| Maintain | 2,216 | — |
| 10% deficit | 1,995 | −0.4 lb |
| 15% deficit | 1,884 | −0.7 lb |
| 20% deficit | 1,773 | −0.9 lb |
| 25% deficit | 1,662 | −1.1 lb |
| Lean bulk (+8%) | 2,394 | slow gain |
| Bulk (+15%) | 2,549 | slow gain |
The formulas
Mifflin–St Jeor (1990): BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age + 5 for men, or − 161 for women. For you that is 1,430 kcal.
Katch–McArdle: BMR = 370 + 21.6 × lean body mass (kg). Used automatically when you enter body fat.
TDEE = BMR × activity factor (1.2 sedentary, 1.375 light, 1.55 moderate, 1.725 very active, 1.9 athlete). Most people overestimate their activity; if unsure, pick one level lower.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR (basal metabolic rate) is what your body burns at complete rest — keeping organs running. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) adds everything else: walking around, exercise and digesting food. You eat to TDEE to maintain weight.
How big should my calorie deficit be?
For most people 15–25% below TDEE, or roughly 300–700 kcal a day. That typically means losing around 0.5–1% of bodyweight per week. Bigger deficits cost more muscle, sleep and training quality. Most health bodies advise not going below about 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) without medical supervision.
Is 3,500 calories really one pound of fat?
It is a reasonable rule of thumb for fat tissue (about 7,700 kcal per kg), but real weight loss slows over time as you get lighter and your body adapts, so treat any timeline as a best case and re-measure every few weeks.
Which formula is most accurate?
For most adults, Mifflin–St Jeor predicts resting energy within about 10% and was rated the most reliable by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. If you know your body fat percentage, Katch–McArdle can be better for very lean or very muscular people.