TDEE, BMR & macro calculator

Enter your sex, age, height, weight, and daily activity. Results update as you type - BMR, TDEE, a goal-adjusted calorie target, and a daily macro split. Switch between imperial and metric at any time; your values convert automatically.

Two optional fields refine the result. Add a body-fat percentage to switch the BMR equation to Katch-McArdle (which works from lean mass). Pick a goal - lose, maintain, or gain - to see a calorie target and the macros that go with it. For how these targets feed daily tracking, see how Nourli works.

Mifflin-St Jeor (DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/51.2.241) is the default. A 2005 systematic review found it predicts resting metabolic rate within 10% of measured values for more people than Harris-Benedict or the older WHO equations. It needs only weight, height, age, and sex:

10 x weight(kg) + 6.25 x height(cm) - 5 x age + 5 (male) / -161 (female)

Katch-McArdle (source) is used instead when you provide a body-fat percentage, because it works from lean body mass - useful for lean or athletic builds where total-weight equations can drift:

370 + 21.6 x lean body mass(kg)

Leave body fat blank and the calculator uses Mifflin-St Jeor; fill it in and it switches to Katch-McArdle. The result card always shows which equation produced your number. Full methodology and citations live on the Research page.

TDEE is your BMR multiplied by an activity factor (1.2 for sedentary up to 1.9 for extremely active). Those factors come from the Physical Activity Level (PAL) convention in the FAO/WHO/UNU energy-requirements framework (source), grounded in doubly-labeled-water data.

It is important to read this honestly: the multiplier is a population-level estimate by lifestyle category, not a personal measurement. Two people at the same "moderately active" level genuinely differ. That is why the calculator treats TDEE as a starting point - and why, in the app, Nourli refines it from your actual intake and weight trend over time. See the TDEE method for detail.

Pick a goal and a weekly pace and the calculator sets a calorie target around your TDEE - a deficit to lose, a surplus to gain. The energy cost of weight change is modeled adaptively (rising from about 5,500 toward 7,700 kcal/kg over the first ~12 weeks) following the NIH dynamic energy-balance work, not the static 3,500-kcal rule.

The same engine applies safety rails: deficits are capped by body composition, a minimum-calorie floor protects against under-eating, protein is set to preserve muscle, and fat is held above a hormonal minimum. If a pace is too aggressive it is adjusted, and the result card tells you so. Protein follows evidence-based targets; calories follow the energy-balance method.

A predictive equation lands within roughly 10% of measured resting metabolism for most people, and the activity multiplier adds more uncertainty on top. So treat the output as a sensible estimate, not a precise readout - no formula can measure your metabolism from a few numbers.

The honest way to use any TDEE number is to start from it, track consistently for two to three weeks, and adjust based on what actually happens to your weight. That is the loop Nourli automates - and it is also why every number here is shown with its source rather than presented as fact. For the deeper picture on estimation in nutrition apps, see how accurate AI calorie tracking is.