How is TDEE calculated?

Total Daily Energy Expenditure is your Basal Metabolic Rate multiplied by an activity factor. Food Loops calculates BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation — 10 x weight in kg, plus 6.25 x height in cm, minus 5 x age, plus 5 for men or minus 161 for women — then multiplies by 1.2 for sedentary, 1.375 for lightly active, 1.55 for moderately active, 1.725 for very active, or 1.9 for extremely active.

How many calories should I eat to lose one pound a week?

A pound of body mass is about 3,500 calories, so losing one pound per week requires a deficit of roughly 500 calories per day below your TDEE. Losing two pounds per week requires about 1,000 calories per day. Food Loops floors any calculated target at 1,000 calories regardless of the rate chosen.

How much protein should I eat?

Food Loops defaults to 1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight, adjustable between 0.5 and 2 grams. Protein is anchored to goal weight rather than current weight, so the target reflects the body composition you are working toward. Protein is capped at 80% of total calories to leave room for fat and carbohydrate.

Is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation accurate?

Mifflin-St Jeor is generally considered the most accurate of the common BMR prediction equations for the general population, and is more accurate than the older Harris-Benedict equation. It is still a population estimate: individual metabolic rate can vary by roughly 10% either way, so treat the result as a starting point and adjust based on real-world results over two to three weeks.

Free calculator

TDEE & Macro Calculator

Name: Food Loops
Author: Food Loops

Find your maintenance calories, then the protein, carb and fat targets that go with your goal. Same formulas the Food Loops app uses — Mifflin-St Jeor for BMR, 3,500 calories per pound for the deficit.

lb / ft

kg / cm

Sex

Used by the BMR formula

Age

Height

Current weight

Goal weight

Activity level

Rate of change

1.0 lb/week to lose

Protein

1.00 g per lb of goal weight

Fat / carb split

35% fat · 65% carbs

BMR

1,758kcal

At complete rest

TDEE

2,724kcal

Maintenance

Your target

2,224kcal

−500 kcal/day

Daily macros

2,224

kcal

Protein

165 g

30%

Carbs

254 g

46%

Fat

61 g

25%

Daily Targets

165 lb goal · Moderately Active

Calories

2,224 kcal

Protein30%

165 g

Carbohydrate46%

254 g

Fat25%

61 g

Fibertarget

38 g

Sodiumlimit

2,300 mg

Fiber targets follow the app's own figures (38 g for men, 25 g for women). The sodium figure is a daily ceiling, not a goal.

How this is calculated

Four steps, in order:

BMR comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age, then +5 for men or −161 for women. This is what you burn at complete rest.
TDEE multiplies BMR by your activity factor — 1.2 sedentary through 1.9 extremely active. This is roughly what you burn in a normal day, and eating this much maintains weight.
Your target adjusts TDEE by the rate you chose. A pound is about 3,500 calories, so 1 lb/week works out to 500 calories a day. The result is floored at 1,000 calories.
Macros take protein first, at your grams per pound of goal weight, capped at 80% of calories. What's left is split between fat and carbs by your chosen percentage.

These are population estimates. Real metabolic rate varies by around 10% either side, so use the number as a starting point and adjust after two or three weeks of consistent tracking.

The Food Loops plan screen, with sliders for weekly weight-change rate, protein per pound and carb-to-fat split, and a pie chart of the resulting macro targets.

The same numbers, updated as you go

In the app this lives on the Plan tab, where the sliders update your daily targets and the diary tracks against them. It recalculates as your weight changes, so the targets follow you rather than going stale.

Read the guide →

App Store Google Play

Not medical advice. These calculators are for information and education only. The formulas are population estimates and cannot account for your individual circumstances. Talk to a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, particularly if you have a medical condition or are pregnant. See the full disclaimer.

Free calculator

TDEE & Macro Calculator

lb / ft

kg / cm

Sex

Used by the BMR formula

Age

Height

Current weight

Goal weight

Activity level

Rate of change

1.0 lb/week to lose

Protein

1.00 g per lb of goal weight

Fat / carb split

35% fat · 65% carbs

BMR

1,758kcal

At complete rest

TDEE

2,724kcal

Maintenance

Your target

2,224kcal

−500 kcal/day

Daily macros

2,224

kcal

Protein

165 g

30%

Carbs

254 g

46%

Fat

61 g

25%

Daily Targets

165 lb goal · Moderately Active

Calories

2,224 kcal

Protein30%

165 g

Carbohydrate46%

254 g

Fat25%

61 g

Fibertarget

38 g

Sodiumlimit

2,300 mg

Fiber targets follow the app's own figures (38 g for men, 25 g for women). The sodium figure is a daily ceiling, not a goal.

How this is calculated

Four steps, in order:

BMR comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age, then +5 for men or −161 for women. This is what you burn at complete rest.
TDEE multiplies BMR by your activity factor — 1.2 sedentary through 1.9 extremely active. This is roughly what you burn in a normal day, and eating this much maintains weight.
Your target adjusts TDEE by the rate you chose. A pound is about 3,500 calories, so 1 lb/week works out to 500 calories a day. The result is floored at 1,000 calories.
Macros take protein first, at your grams per pound of goal weight, capped at 80% of calories. What's left is split between fat and carbs by your chosen percentage.

These are population estimates. Real metabolic rate varies by around 10% either side, so use the number as a starting point and adjust after two or three weeks of consistent tracking.

The same numbers, updated as you go

Read the guide →

App Store Google Play