How to choose your activity level

The right activity level is the one that matches your average week of movement — not your best workout day. This site uses five bands (sedentary, lightly active, moderately active, very active, extra active) that map to multipliers from 1.2 to 1.9. Pick the band that describes your typical routine, and if you are between two, choose the lower one.

What each level means

Activity levels and multipliers
Level	Multiplier	Typical week
Sedentary	1.2	Little or no exercise beyond walking
Lightly active	1.375	Light activity 1–3 days per week
Moderately active	1.55	Moderate exercise 3–5 days per week
Very active	1.725	Hard exercise 6–7 days per week
Extra active	1.9	Very hard exercise or a physical job

How to pick the right band

Start with your non-exercise movement. If you sit for most of the day and exercise once or twice a week, you are probably in the lightly active range. If you have a desk job but work out most days, you are moderately active. If your job is physical or you train intensely six days a week, you are very active.

The key question is: over a typical week, how much total movement do you get? Not just the gym sessions, but everything — walking to the store, taking the stairs, fidgeting. The multiplier captures the sum, not the peak.

What if you are between two levels?

Start with the lower band. A 70 kg (154 lb) person at a BMR of around 1,600 kcal has a TDEE of 1,920 kcal at sedentary and 2,200 kcal at lightly active. The difference is 280 kcal per day — roughly one snack. If you underestimate your activity, you will gain slowly. If you overestimate, you will find your weight loss stalls. Stalling is easier to detect and correct than slow unwanted gain.

Re-assess over time

Your activity level is a snapshot, not a constant. As you build a habit of regular movement, you may shift from sedentary to lightly active. As you recover from injury or vacation, you may drop back. The TDEE calculator does not remember your choice between visits; pick the band that fits today.

Formulas are estimates, not medical advice.

Sources

Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, Scott BJ, Daugherty SA, Koh YO. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;51(2):241-247.
Used for: Basal metabolic rate from weight, height, age and sex — the foundation of the TDEE and calorie-target calculators.

Limitations

The activity multiplier is a broad brush. It cannot distinguish a desk job that involves a lot of walking from one that does not, nor can it capture the energy cost of a job that changes seasonally. It is a five-step scale, so it averages real variation into a single number. Treat the result as a starting estimate and adjust based on your actual weight trend.

Use the calculator

Enter your details into the TDEE calculator, select the activity level that best describes your typical week, and get your estimated daily calorie burn in seconds. The TDEE guide explains how to turn that number into a calorie target once you have it.