A calculator that shows its working.

Why this site exists

There is no shortage of TDEE calculators. Nearly all of them share the same two problems. They present an estimate as though it were a measurement, and they will happily tell a small woman to eat 900 calories a day if the arithmetic points there.

Neither of those is acceptable in a tool people use to decide what to eat. So TDEENet does three things differently. It runs your numbers through every published equation it knows and shows you the spread, because that spread is the honest picture of the uncertainty. It prints an error range next to the headline figure. And it refuses to display an intake below the levels that clinical guidance treats as a floor.

Who writes this

The TDEENet team researches, writes and maintains everything here. We are not clinicians, and we do not pretend to be. What we do instead is show our working: every equation is named, every claim about metabolism links to the paper it came from, and anything the evidence does not settle is described as unsettled rather than smoothed over.

We are arranging for a registered dietitian or physician to review the health content, and when that happens their name and credentials will appear on each page they have checked. Until then the review dates at the foot of each page record when we last checked the content against its sources, which is a weaker claim than clinical review and we would rather state it accurately than dress it up.

If you find an error, factual or arithmetic, please tell us. Corrections get made and logged.

How the calculator works

It is a static page. There is no back end, no database and no account system. The maths runs in JavaScript on your own device, which is why results appear instantly and why nothing you enter is transmitted anywhere. Close the tab and it is gone. The privacy policy spells out the small amount of analytics the site does collect.

The equations used are Mifflin-St Jeor, the revised Harris-Benedict, Katch-McArdle and Cunningham. Which one leads depends on whether you supply a body fat percentage. Sources for all of them are listed on the homepage.

How it is funded

As things stand, TDEENet carries no advertising, no affiliate links and no sponsored content. Running costs come out of our own pocket. There is nothing to buy here and nothing being sold to you.

That may change. If we ever add advertising or affiliate links, this page will say so plainly, before the fact rather than after, and the disclosure will appear on any page where such a link sits. One rule holds either way: nobody pays to change what the calculator computes or what these pages recommend.

What this site will not do

• Show a calorie target below 1,200 for women or 1,500 for men.
• Produce results for anyone under 18.
• Suggest a weight-loss target to someone whose BMI is already below the healthy range.
• Sell, share or store the numbers you type into the calculator.
• Present an estimate as a diagnosis, or stand in for a doctor or a registered dietitian.