BMR & TDEE Calculator (India) — Know Your Daily Calories
Enter your details to get your basal metabolic rate, total daily energy expenditure and a calorie target with a protein, carb and fat split sized for Indian meals.
BMR vs TDEE, in plain language
Your BMR is the calories your body burns just staying alive — breathing, pumping blood, repairing cells — if you stayed in bed all day. Your TDEE is that BMR plus everything else you do: walking, chores, commuting and workouts. Eat around your TDEE to hold your weight, a little below it to lose fat, a little above it to gain.
Already know your target? Use the Indian food calorie counter to see what your dal, roti and biryani actually cost you.
Your details
Daily macro split
Protein set at 1.6 g per kg of body weight, fat at 25% of calories, the rest from carbs.
In Indian portions, 112 g of protein is roughly two katoris of dal, a bowl of curd, 100 g of paneer or soya and a couple of eggs across the day — see the protein-rich vegetarian Indian foods list for more options.
How these numbers work
BMR is what your body burns doing nothing at all. This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the same formula NutriDesi uses to set your in-app target.
TDEE multiplies your BMR by an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.725, so it covers your commute, housework and workouts. Eat around your TDEE and your weight stays roughly steady.
Your target subtracts about 500 calories for fat loss (roughly 0.5 kg a week) or adds 300 for gaining. It never drops below 1,200 calories a day. These are estimates — adjust after two weeks based on how your weight actually moves.
The hard part is not the number, it's knowing what a katori of dal or two rotis actually costs you. That is where the Indian food calorie counter comes in.
FAQ
What is BMR?
BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the calories your body burns at complete rest to keep breathing, circulation and cell repair going.
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
TDEE is your BMR multiplied by an activity factor, so it includes everything you do in a day. TDEE is the number to eat around to maintain your weight.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
About 500 below your TDEE targets roughly 0.5 kg of fat loss per week. Going far lower usually backfires, so this calculator stops at 1,200 calories.
How much protein do I need on an Indian vegetarian diet?
Around 1.6 g per kg of body weight while losing fat or building muscle, spread across dal, curd, paneer, soya and sprouts.