TDEE, BMR and How Many Calories You Actually Need

Two numbers to know

• **BMR** — Basal Metabolic Rate: calories your body burns at rest
• **TDEE** — Total Daily Energy Expenditure: BMR × activity factor

Mifflin-St Jeor

For men: BMR = 10w + 6.25h − 5a + 5. For women: subtract 161 instead of adding 5. w = weight kg, h = height cm, a = age years.

Activity multipliers

• 1.2 sedentary (desk job, no exercise)
• 1.375 light (1–3 workouts/week)
• 1.55 moderate (3–5 workouts/week)
• 1.725 active (6–7 workouts/week)

Why calculators disagree

Body composition matters. Two people with the same weight but different muscle mass burn different totals. Treat the number as ±10%.

What to do with TDEE

• Maintain: eat TDEE
• Lose fat: TDEE − 300 to 500
• Gain muscle: TDEE + 200 to 300

Track two weeks and adjust.