Daily calorie needs calculator (TDEE)

Explore an estimate for an adult aged 19 or over, outside pregnancy or breastfeeding. This is not a prescribed calorie intake.

Your reference inputs

Age (years, 19+)Life stage for this modelChoose life stageNot pregnant or breastfeedingPregnant or breastfeeding

Measurement unitsUS · inches and poundsMetric · centimeters and kilograms

Height (in)Weight (lb)Reference equationChoose equationMaleFemaleDaily activity categoryChoose categoryInactiveLow activeActiveVery active

Activity means your whole daily routine, including work, travel, chores and leisure. It is not just the number of workouts. Use the 2023 reference categories. The model assumes a weight-stable adult and does not measure your metabolism.

Use exampleClear

Enter an age in years.

Displayed kcal are rounded. The model uses unrounded values. Individual needs can differ. No inputs are saved or sent with analytics.

Hypothetical example: male equation, age 30, 180 cm, 80 kg, inactive category. The DRI 2023 equation gives 2,726.17 kcal/day before rounding. This is arithmetic practice, not a measured person or a target for you.

Use the adult reference model

The selected equations are for adults aged 19 or over. This tool does not apply those equations to pregnancy or breastfeeding. The reference has separate methods for those life stages.

Each activity category has its own equation, using age, height and weight with the selected male or female reference equation. For a weight-stable adult, the report equates this estimated expenditure with the estimated energy requirement.

An estimate is not a measurement of your own metabolism. Individual needs can differ from a model’s result. The tool does not assess your health circumstances or decide whether a calorie intake plan is suitable for you.

Select activity from the same reference

The 2023 categories describe a whole daily routine. Work, travel, household tasks and leisure all contribute. Do not choose a category from a count of workouts alone or substitute an older calculator’s activity multiplier.

The category is already included in the equation. Multiplying the answer by another activity factor would count it again. Read the linked reference definitions before choosing an uncertain category.

Check the hypothetical example

Choose the male equation, age 30, height 180 cm, weight 80 kg and inactive category. The calculation is:

753.07 − 10.83 × 30 + 6.50 × 180 + 14.10 × 80 = 2,726.17 kcal/day.

The display rounds this to about 2,726 kcal/day. These are made-up inputs for arithmetic practice, not a measured person’s needs or an intake target for you. The calculation keeps the unrounded result.

US inputs use inches and pounds. The conversions are 1 inch = 2.54 cm and 1 pound = 0.45359237 kg. Changing the unit selector converts the entered height and weight rather than assigning a new meaning to the same number.

Keep expenditure and food entries separate

An expenditure estimate and the calories in a meal answer different questions. The homemade-meals guide explains how to work from ingredient and portion information. No result from this calculator is saved in or automatically sent to Nourmio.