Calorie Needs Calculator
Estimate your maintenance calories and set a practical daily target for fat loss, maintenance, or a lean gain phase.
Inputs
Activity level
Goal
Results
Daily calorie target
2662
kcal/day
Maintenance calories
2662 kcal/day
BMR baseline
1718 kcal/day
Estimated weekly pace
0 kg/week
Split your daily calorie target into protein, carbs, and fat based on your diet style.
Macro Calculator →
Find out how long it will take to reach your target weight based on your daily calorie deficit or surplus.
Calorie Deficit Calculator →
Disclaimer: Calorie targets are estimates, not medical advice. Real maintenance changes with body composition, training volume, hormones, sleep, medication, and how accurately food intake is tracked.
What are calorie needs?
Your calorie needs are the number of calories you need each day to maintain your current body weight. The estimate starts with BMR and then adds activity, training, and general movement across the day.
No formula can perfectly predict your maintenance calories, but a solid estimate saves time. Instead of guessing, you can start with a defensible target and adjust using two to three weeks of real scale trends.
How this calculator works
- It estimates BMR using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.
- It multiplies BMR by your selected activity level to estimate maintenance calories.
- It adjusts maintenance calories up or down depending on your chosen goal.
How to use the result
- For a cut, keep protein high and watch weekly bodyweight averages instead of daily fluctuations.
- For maintenance, stay close to the target and use it to find the intake level where your weight stabilizes.
- For a lean gain, small surpluses are usually easier to manage than aggressive bulks.
FAQ
Is this the same as TDEE?
Yes, the maintenance estimate shown here is effectively your TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure. It includes BMR plus activity and digestion.
How aggressive should a calorie deficit be?
For most people, a moderate deficit is easier to sustain than a large one. This calculator uses a practical middle ground rather than an aggressive crash-diet target.
Why does my calorie target change when I select a different activity level?
Activity level changes your estimated daily energy burn. Someone with the same height and weight but a much more active routine will usually maintain on more calories.
Should I eat exactly this number every day?
Not necessarily. Think of it as an average daily target. Being slightly above or below on individual days is normal as long as your weekly average stays close.