Energy Balance Log
The equation gives you a starting estimate. Two weeks of honest tracking gives you the real number, and it beats any prediction.
BFCBrilliance · bfcbrilliance.com/tools/tdee-calculator
Your estimate
- Date
- Weight
- Height
- Age
- Activity level chosen
- BMR
- TDEE
- Units (lb/kg)
Two weeks — weigh at the same time, same conditions
| Date | Weight | Activity that day | Sleep | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The equation (Mifflin-St Jeor, 1990)
- BMR base
- 10 x kg + 6.25 x cm - 5 x age
- Men
- + 5
- Women
- - 161
- 1 pound
- 0.45359237 kg (exact)
- 1 inch
- 2.54 cm (exact)
- TDEE
- BMR x activity factor
- Derived from
- 498 adults aged 19-78, in 1990
- Cannot see
- body composition — muscle vs fat
Activity factors
- 1.2 Sedentary
- desk job, little or no exercise
- 1.375 Lightly active
- light exercise 1-3 days a week
- 1.55 Moderately active
- moderate exercise 3-5 days
- 1.725 Very active
- hard exercise 6-7 days
- 1.9 Extremely active
- hard daily exercise or a physical job
- ⚠ If unsure
- pick the LOWER of the two
Getting a real number instead of an estimate
- Weigh at the same time of day, same conditions, ideally mornings
- Track for at least two weeks - one week is mostly water
- Use the trend across weeks, not any single reading
- Note activity honestly, including the days there was none
- Note sleep - it moves appetite and activity more than people expect
- If weight is stable, your current intake IS your maintenance
- Re-estimate after any big change in weight, training or job
Your own data beats the equation
Mifflin-St Jeor was fitted to 498 people in 1990. You are not in that dataset. If two weeks of honest tracking says your maintenance is three hundred calories away from what the equation predicts, the equation is the one that is wrong - a stable weight is a direct measurement and a prediction is not.
Not medical advice
This estimates energy expenditure from a population equation. It makes no assessment of your health, does not account for medical conditions, medication, pregnancy or disordered eating, and does not prescribe what to eat. Decisions about intake belong with a doctor or a registered dietitian who can see the whole picture.