TDEE Steps

TDEE Calculator with Steps

Activity levels like "lightly active" are a guess. If you know your average daily step count, this calculator turns it into calories using a measured energy cost of walking - and shows every step of the math.

Units
Sex

For adults 18 and over. Not suitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding, when energy needs are different.

Step 1 - Basal metabolic rate

The equation

BMR = 10 x 70 + 6.25 x 175 - 5 x 30 + 5

Your values substituted

BMR = 700 + 1093.75 - 150 + 5 = 1648.75 ≈ 1649 kcal/day

Step 2 - Sedentary base (BMR x 1.2)

1648.75 x 1.2 = 1978.5 kcal/day

Step 3 - Energy cost of one step

VO2 = 1.811 + 0.02014 x 100 + 0.0007427 x 100² = 11.252 mL oxygen per kg per minute(11.252 - 3.5) / 100 x 0.005 = 0.0003876 kcal per kg per step

Step 4 - Calories from your steps

10000 x 70 x 0.0003876 = 271.32 kcal/day

Step 5 - Add them together

TDEE = 1978.5 + 271.32 = 2249.82 ≈ 2250 kcal/day

Your TDEE

2250 kcal per day

Intermediate values are exact unless marked with ≈; only the final result is rounded to a whole number.

How steps become calories

The sedentary base, BMR x 1.2, covers a day of normal living without deliberate walking. Every step then adds a small amount on top. That per-step cost comes from a cadence-based equation fitted to oxygen uptake measured in 235 adults walking at known step rates (Moore and colleagues, 2021). The calculator subtracts resting oxygen use so only the walking itself is counted, and converts oxygen to energy at about 5 kcal per litre.

Which pace to pick

About 100 steps a minute is the usual threshold for moderate-intensity walking, so it is the default. Faster steps cost a little more each. If most of your steps are a purposeful walk, pick normal or brisk; if they are mostly pottering around the house or office, slow is closer.

What this does and does not count

It counts walking. Running steps cost more than walking steps, so a lot of running will be underestimated. Strength training, cycling and swimming barely show up in a step count at all - if those are a big part of your week, use the Mifflin-St Jeor calculator with an activity level instead. Do not add the two results together, or the same activity is counted twice.

Steps versus activity level

As a sanity check, 10,000 steps a day at a normal pace lands close to what the "lightly active" multiplier (x1.375) gives for the same person. The step-based number simply replaces a guessed category with something you can measure.

Do not track steps? Use the Mifflin-St Jeor calculator with an activity level instead.