Comparisons Health & Fitness

BMR vs TDEE

BMR is what your body burns at rest; TDEE adds movement, exercise and digestion. Why TDEE is the number to plan calories around, with a worked example.

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BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the energy your body uses at complete rest to keep you alive: breathing, circulation, temperature and cell repair. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is BMR plus everything else, namely daily movement, exercise and digesting food. Use BMR to understand your baseline, but plan calories around TDEE, because that is what you actually burn in a day.

At a glance

BMR TDEE
What it measures Energy at rest Energy over a whole normal day
Includes exercise No Yes, through an activity multiplier
Typical use Baseline, input to TDEE Setting a maintenance, deficit or surplus target
Bigger number No Yes, always

A worked example

Take a 35-year-old man, 80 kg, 180 cm. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation for men is 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age + 5:

10 × 80 + 6.25 × 180 − 5 × 35 + 5 = 1,755 kcal/day (BMR).

TDEE is BMR times an activity multiplier:

Activity level Multiplier TDEE (kcal/day)
Sedentary 1.20 2,106
Lightly active 1.375 2,413
Moderately active 1.55 2,720
Very active 1.725 3,027
Extra active 1.90 3,334

If this person is moderately active, maintenance is about 2,720 kcal a day. A common starting point for steady weight loss is a deficit of around 500 kcal a day below TDEE, but not below a level that suits your health; ask a professional if unsure. Use the BMR Calculator for the baseline, the TDEE Calculator for maintenance, and the Calorie Calculator for goal-based targets.

Which should you choose?

  • Understanding your body's baseline: BMR.
  • Setting a daily calorie target: TDEE, adjusted up or down for your goal.
  • Not sure of your activity level: pick the lower multiplier and adjust with real results.
  • Very lean or muscular: a formula that uses lean body mass (Katch-McArdle) can be more accurate.

See How Calorie Needs Are Calculated for the full explanation, and BMR (basal metabolic rate) and TDEE for definitions.

Try these tools

BMR Calculator

Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) using the Mifflin-St Jeor, Revised Harris-Benedict, and Katch-McArdle formulas.

TDEE Calculator

Calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) using the Mifflin-St Jeor BMR equation and an activity-multiplier breakdown.

Calorie Calculator

Estimate your daily calorie needs using science-backed BMR equations.

See also

  • Guide How Calorie Needs Are Calculated
    BMR, TDEE and calorie targets explained with one worked example: three BMR equations, activity factors, the 7,700 kcal rule.
  • Glossary BMR (basal metabolic rate)
    BMR is the energy your body burns at complete rest to keep you alive, estimated from weight, height, age and sex.
  • Glossary TDEE
    TDEE is total daily energy expenditure: the calories you burn in a day including movement, found by multiplying BMR by an activity factor.
  • Glossary Calorie
    A calorie, as used for food, is a kilocalorie (kcal): the energy to raise 1 kg of water by about 1 °C, equal to 4.184 kilojoules.
  • Glossary Calorie deficit
    A calorie deficit means eating fewer calories than your body uses over a period, so it draws on stored energy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not as a target for most people. BMR is the energy for staying alive at rest, with no movement. Your daily needs are your TDEE; use BMR as a floor to understand, not a number to eat down to.

They use different equations. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is the most widely recommended general-purpose formula; Harris-Benedict is older, and Katch-McArdle uses lean body mass and therefore needs a body-fat estimate.

They are rough averages and people tend to overestimate their activity. Treat the result as a starting point, track your weight for two to three weeks and adjust.

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