Three quick steps to an estimate of the calories you burn on a typical day, activity included.
Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is an estimate of all the calories your body uses in a day—resting metabolism plus everything you burn walking, working, training, and digesting food. Because it reflects a whole day rather than a resting state, TDEE is the number most people mean when they talk about maintenance calories: roughly what you would eat to hold your current weight.
FitQuota estimates your resting metabolism with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then scales it by a standard activity factor. The calculator runs three steps in order, using the values you entered above.
1. Convert your measurements to metric
weight in kg = lb × 0.453592, and height in cm = (ft × 30.48) + (in × 2.54)
2. Estimate BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor)
BMR = (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age) + 5 for men, or − 161 for women
3. Scale BMR by your activity level
TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier
BMR is the floor and TDEE is the whole day. Basal Metabolic Rate counts only the energy needed to keep you alive at complete rest—breathing, circulation, and cell repair. TDEE takes that same number and adds the cost of moving through your day. TDEE is therefore always the larger of the two, typically between 20% and 90% higher depending on how active you are. If you want the resting figure on its own, use the BMR Calculator.
Activity level is the single biggest lever in this calculation. Moving from sedentary to extra active multiplies the same resting metabolism by 1.9 instead of 1.2—a difference of well over 500 kcal a day for most people. When two levels feel equally true, the lower one is usually the safer estimate, since it is easy to overstate how much of a week is genuinely active.
| Activity level | Typical week | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | Little or no exercise, desk job | ×1.2 |
| Lightly active | Light exercise 1–3 days per week | ×1.375 |
| Moderately active | Moderate exercise 3–5 days per week | ×1.55 |
| Very active | Hard exercise 6–7 days per week | ×1.725 |
| Extra active | Very hard exercise or a physically demanding job | ×1.9 |
Treat the result as a starting point, not a measurement. Prediction equations like Mifflin-St Jeor are fitted to population averages, so an individual estimate can sit some way either side of the true value. Body composition, genetics, sleep, stress, medication, and the accuracy of your own activity estimate all move the real number. The practical approach is to eat near the estimate for two to three weeks, track how your weight trends, and adjust from what actually happens rather than from the formula.
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation that produces the BMR this calculator scales.
Daily energy needs are estimates, and they shift over time with training, body composition and health.
If you have a medical condition, are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a history of eating disorders, or are making a significant change to how you eat or train, consider speaking with a qualified healthcare professional.
Guide
How big a calorie deficit do you actually need?
What a calorie deficit is, the arithmetic behind losing 1 lb or 0.5 kg a week, and why the familiar 3,500-calorie rule overpromises.
Guide
BMR vs TDEE: what's the difference?
BMR is what you burn at complete rest; TDEE is your whole day. Which number to use for a calorie target, and why they are never the same.
Guide
Why do TDEE calculators give you different numbers?
Four reasons two calculators disagree by hundreds of calories for the same person — and how to tell which number to trust.
Guide
How to choose your activity level honestly
Activity level is the biggest lever in any calorie calculation and the easiest to get wrong. How to pick the bucket that matches your real week.
Guide
What are maintenance calories?
Maintenance calories are the intake that holds your weight steady. How to estimate the number, and how to find your real one from the scale.
Your daily calorie target, matched to your goal.
CalculateThe energy your body uses at complete rest.
CalculateWhere your height and weight sit on the adult range.
CalculateProtein, carbohydrate and fat targets in grams.
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