What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR is what your body uses at complete rest, which is roughly 60 to 70 percent of daily energy use. TDEE multiplies it by an activity factor to reach the total you actually burn, and that is the figure to eat against.

Which BMR formula is most accurate?

Mifflin-St Jeor is the usual default and is more accurate than Harris-Benedict for modern populations. Katch-McArdle beats both when you know your body fat percentage, because it works from lean mass rather than total weight.

Health & Fitnessmetabolism

BMR Calculator

Basal metabolic rate by Mifflin–St Jeor or Harris–Benedict, presented as a range. A single figure would be false precision: these equations carry roughly ±10% individual error.

Also called: basal metabolic rate calculator, resting calories burned.

BMR

1,718

Roughly 1,546–1,889 kcal a day at complete rest. A range rather than a single figure, because these are population regressions with about ±10% individual error.

Lower estimate

1,546

Upper estimate

1,889

The other equation for comparison

1,777

How this is calculated

These are population regressions with roughly ±10% individual error, which is why a range is shown rather than a single number.

Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for United States change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

Mifflin–St Jeor is the better general-population predictor and is the default; Harris–Benedict is older and still widely cited, so both are shown. Neither knows anything about your body composition, thyroid function or activity history, which is where most of the ±10% comes from.

BMR (male) = 10*weight + 6.25*height - 5*age + 5; female subtracts 161 instead of adding 5

W: Weight in kilograms (kg)
H: Height in centimetres (cm)
A: Age in years (years)

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

the DRV-014 reference, male

Weight (kg): 75
Height (cm): 178
Age: 30
Sex: Male
Equation: Mifflin–St Jeor (current best)

BMR1,718

DRV-014 verified example

Open this example

the same subject, female

Weight (kg): 75
Height (cm): 178
Age: 30
Sex: Female
Equation: Mifflin–St Jeor (current best)

BMR1,552

DRV-014 verified example

Open this example

the guardrail turns the point estimate into a range

Weight (kg): 75
Height (cm): 178
Age: 30
Sex: Male
Equation: Revised Harris–Benedict

BMR1,777

revised Harris-Benedict, independently computed: 88.362 + 13.397(75) + 4.799(178) - 5.677(30)

Open this example

Method and limits

What it deliberately does not model

A population regression, not a measurement. Indirect calorimetry is the only way to know your own rate.
Not validated for the very lean, the very obese, or for children.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?: BMR is what your body uses at complete rest, which is roughly 60 to 70 percent of daily energy use. TDEE multiplies it by an activity factor to reach the total you actually burn, and that is the figure to eat against.
Which BMR formula is most accurate?: Mifflin-St Jeor is the usual default and is more accurate than Harris-Benedict for modern populations. Katch-McArdle beats both when you know your body fat percentage, because it works from lean mass rather than total weight.