Total Daily Energy Expenditure Calculator
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Activity Level
This measures your daily life outside of workouts. Don’t count gym time here.
Sedentary
You spend most of the day sitting. Office work, driving, screen time, and minimal walking between tasks.
You spend most of the day sitting. Office work, driving, screen time, and minimal walking between tasks.
Lightly Active
You’re up and moving here and there throughout the day. Some errands on foot, a bit of housework, occasional stairs. Nothing strenuous, but you’re not glued to a chair either.
You’re up and moving here and there throughout the day. Some errands on foot, a bit of housework, occasional stairs. Nothing strenuous, but you’re not glued to a chair either.
Moderately Active
You’re on your feet for a good chunk of the day. Jobs like teaching, nursing, retail, or serving. Constant low-level movement without heavy lifting.
You’re on your feet for a good chunk of the day. Jobs like teaching, nursing, retail, or serving. Constant low-level movement without heavy lifting.
Very Active
Your job or lifestyle involves hard physical labor most of the day. Trades, landscaping, warehouse work, farming. You’re exerting real effort for hours at a time.
Your job or lifestyle involves hard physical labor most of the day. Trades, landscaping, warehouse work, farming. You’re exerting real effort for hours at a time.
Extremely Active
Grueling physical demands from morning to night. Military training, tree work, heavy construction. The kind of day that would wreck most people.
Grueling physical demands from morning to night. Military training, tree work, heavy construction. The kind of day that would wreck most people.
Not sure? Pick Sedentary. Most people overestimate how active their daily life really is, and starting lower gives you a more conservative (and safer) calorie estimate. You can always adjust up later.
Exercise Level
This is strictly about your structured training and workouts.
None
You don’t work out. No structured training of any kind.
You don’t work out. No structured training of any kind.
Light Effort
Occasional, low-intensity sessions, maybe 1 to 2 times a week. Short walks, light cardio, or a casual lifting day.
Occasional, low-intensity sessions, maybe 1 to 2 times a week. Short walks, light cardio, or a casual lifting day.
Moderate Effort
Consistent training 3 to 5 days a week at a reasonable pace. You get your work in, but you’re not leaving everything on the floor every session.
Consistent training 3 to 5 days a week at a reasonable pace. You get your work in, but you’re not leaving everything on the floor every session.
Elevated Effort
Dedicated training 6 to 7 days a week. You show up focused, push hard, and treat your workouts seriously.
Dedicated training 6 to 7 days a week. You show up focused, push hard, and treat your workouts seriously.
Intense Effort
Elite-level output. Long, demanding sessions, sometimes twice a day, with high volume and high intensity. Think competitive athlete or fighter in camp.
Elite-level output. Long, demanding sessions, sometimes twice a day, with high volume and high intensity. Think competitive athlete or fighter in camp.
Not sure? Pick Light Effort. The jump from Moderate to the higher tiers is bigger than it looks, and overestimating your exercise level is the #1 reason TDEE numbers come back too high. Start conservative and adjust based on real results.