What TDEE with macro breakdown means
Total daily energy expenditure is the full day's calorie burn: basal metabolic rate plus movement, exercise, digestion and daily activity. Our TDEE calculator with macro breakdown starts from BMR, multiplies by an activity factor, then converts the goal calories into protein, fat and carbohydrate grams. Maintenance calories with charts update live as you change inputs, so the activity level TDEE visualizer immediately shows how sedentary versus athlete multipliers move the total by hundreds of calories. The total daily energy expenditure chart and goal based macro planner below the results keep cutting and bulking targets side by side with history.
BMR TDEE body fat estimator and the three formulas
The BMR TDEE body fat estimator path offers Mifflin-St Jeor as the default, Harris-Benedict 1984 for comparison, and Katch-McArdle when body fat percentage is known. Mifflin uses sex, age, weight and height and validates best against modern calorimetry for most adults. Harris-Benedict runs slightly higher and is kept because many older guides quote it. Katch-McArdle multiplies lean body mass instead of total weight, so two people at 80 kilograms with 12 versus 28 percent fat get meaningfully different BMR values. The lean body mass calculator readout appears automatically once fat percentage is entered, and the radar chart plots all three BMR estimates together.
Macro split for bulking and cutting by age and gender
Calorie needs by age gender follow the same formula structure with different constants, which is why men and older adults see different maintenance at identical weight. The macro split for bulking adds about 300 kcal over maintenance with extra carbs, while cutting subtracts 300 to 500 kcal while holding protein near 2 grams per kilogram to protect muscle. Macro ratio recommendations default to protein 2.0, fat 0.9 grams per kilogram, and carbs filling the remainder at 4, 4 and 9 kcal per gram respectively. Athletes training twice daily and sedentary office workers should not share targets, and the planner flags when carbs fall too low on aggressive cuts.
How to use maintenance charts and when to recalculate
Treat the first result as a two-week experiment: eat the target, weigh three mornings weekly, and compare the trend rather than daily noise. Recalculate TDEE every three to four weeks, after 2 to 3 kilograms of change, or when activity shifts such as a new training block or desk job. The history log under vc-history-tdee-calculator stores each computation with weight, activity and result, drawing your personal maintenance curve over time. If weight stalls two weeks on a cut, trim another 100 to 200 kcal or add steps before larger jumps. If strength stalls on a bulk, add 100 to 200 kcal from carbs.
Accuracy limits and professional context
Static formulas estimate within roughly 10 percent for most people but miss outliers with very high muscle, thyroid conditions, medications, pregnancy or heavy manual labor, where lab or tracker calibration wins. Body fat entries from visual guesses add error, so treat Katch-McArdle as directional unless measured. Unlike TDEECalculator.net with its dated design and no PDF, or app funnels like MacroFactor that redirect you, this page keeps everything on one fast static screen with downloadable charts. This tool is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor, especially for aggressive deficits, eating-disorder history or metabolic conditions.
Tracking, PDF and mobile workflow
Every computation persists to local history automatically, the bar and radar charts respect dark mode and reduced motion, and the Download Macro Report button embeds chart images, inputs, macro grams and disclaimers into a branded multi-page PDF. Form controls use correct types and 44-pixel targets with bottom tabs on phones, so one-handed logging works. Share buttons and related vitals tools link to BMR, BMI and food tracking for a complete loop. Revisit monthly, export before diet phases, and bring the report to your coach or clinician for review.
Worked example with numbers you can verify
Take a 30-year-old man at 80 kilograms and 180 centimeters with moderate activity. Mifflin gives 10 times 80 plus 6.25 times 180 minus 5 times 30 plus 5, which equals 1780 kcal BMR, and times 1.55 activity gives 2759 kcal maintenance. A cut target near 2359 with protein 160 grams, fat 72 grams and carbs near 266 grams follows directly from the 4-4-9 rule. Change activity to sedentary and the same person drops to about 2136 kcal, a 600-calorie swing from one dropdown, which is why honest activity selection matters more than formula choice. Save each scenario to history and compare the bar charts side by side before committing to a phase.