Daily Calorie Needs Calculator
Your TDEE, total daily energy expenditure, is the number every calorie target is built on. This calculator runs the exact formula the Nouri app runs, so the number below is the number the app gives you.
This is the same number Nouri gives you, and the app works it out for you free. The formula, activity multipliers, goal adjustments, and the 1,200-calorie floor below are the app's own calculation, published here in full. No other calorie tracker can honestly make that claim about its calculator. Get your number in Nouri free →
The exact formula this runs
Resting burn comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1990 and still the standard for healthy adults:
- Women: 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) - 5 x age - 161
- Men: 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) - 5 x age + 5
That resting number is multiplied by your activity factor to get TDEE, then adjusted for your goal: minus 500 calories to lose, plus 300 to gain, unchanged to maintain, and never set below 1,200 as a safety floor. That is the complete calculation, and it is exactly what the Nouri app computes when you finish onboarding.
A worked example
A 30-year-old woman, 165 cm, 70 kg, lightly active, goal: lose.
- Resting: 10 x 70 + 6.25 x 165 - 5 x 30 - 161 = 700 + 1,031.25 - 150 - 161 = 1,420 calories
- TDEE: 1,420.25 x 1.375 = 1,953 calories
- Target: 1,953 - 500 = 1,453 calories per day
Enter those inputs above and you will see the same three numbers, which is the point.
Activity multipliers reference
| Activity level | Multiplier | Looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | Desk job, little intentional exercise |
| Lightly active | 1.375 | Exercise 1 to 3 days a week |
| Moderately active | 1.55 | Exercise 3 to 5 days a week |
| Very active | 1.725 | Hard exercise 6 to 7 days a week |
| Extremely active | 1.9 | Physical job plus training |
How the number moves across profiles
All computed with this exact formula, moderately active, maintain:
| Profile | Resting | TDEE |
|---|---|---|
| Woman, 25, 160 cm, 60 kg | 1,314 | 2,037 |
| Woman, 40, 165 cm, 75 kg | 1,420 | 2,201 |
| Man, 25, 175 cm, 70 kg | 1,674 | 2,594 |
| Man, 50, 183 cm, 100 kg | 1,899 | 2,943 |
Same formula, spreads of well over a thousand calories. This is why copying someone else's target never works, and why the calculator asks for your numbers instead of offering presets.
What to do with your number
Treat it as a starting hypothesis, not a verdict. The formula is a population average and the activity level is a self-rating, so the truth comes from your own data: eat near your target with honest logging for two weeks and watch the scale trend. Flat means you found maintenance; steady loss means the deficit is real. The full method is in Calorie Counting 101, what is inside the number is in TDEE Explained, and the logging leaks that make deficits vanish are in Common Food Logging Mistakes.
FAQ
Is this the same number the Nouri app shows?
Yes, deliberately. The formula, multipliers, goal adjustments, and 1,200 floor above are the app's own onboarding calculation, so this page and the app agree on your target.
What is TDEE?
Total daily energy expenditure: everything your body burns in a day, resting metabolism plus activity plus digestion. It is the reference point every calorie target is set against.
Is TDEE the same as BMR?
No. BMR is your resting burn; TDEE is BMR multiplied up by your activity factor. This calculator shows both, plus the goal-adjusted target.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
Good enough to start, not to trust forever: the equation is a population average and activity level is a guess. Two weeks of honest logging against a stable intake reveals your true number better than any formula.
Which activity level should I pick?
Rate your whole life, not just your gym schedule; a desk job with three workouts a week is usually lightly-to-moderately active. When torn between two levels, pick the lower one and let your scale trend correct upward.
Why does the target never go below 1,200 calories?
It is a deliberate safety floor, applied exactly as the app applies it. If arithmetic pushes you under 1,200, the right conversation is with a healthcare provider, not a calculator.
Should I eat back exercise calories on top of this?
No, your activity multiplier already includes exercise. Adding a watch's workout burns on top double-counts the same movement and commonly erases the deficit.
How often should I recalculate?
On meaningful change: several kilograms of weight moved, or a real routine change. Day-to-day wobble is noise; your logged trend adjusts continuously anyway.
How do I lose weight with this number?
Select the lose goal (TDEE minus 500), then log honestly against the target and judge two-week trends. Deficit size trade-offs are covered in Calorie Counting 101.
Where does the formula come from?
Mifflin-St Jeor, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1990, the standard equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy adults, multiplied by the conventional 1.2 to 1.9 activity factors.