Calorie Calculator
How many calories should you eat per day? Enter your details and activity level to get your maintenance calories, plus targets for losing or gaining weight at a healthy pace.
Enter your values
Result
Based on the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. Avoid prolonged intakes below ~1,200 (women) / 1,500 (men) kcal without medical supervision.
How to use
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Save ⟶How to use the Calorie Calculator
- 1Enter sex in the form on the left.
- 2Fill in the remaining fields — the result updates automatically as you type.
- 3Review the highlighted result and the supporting breakdown on the right.
- 4Use Copy, Share or Print to save or send your result.
How daily calorie needs are estimated
The calculator first estimates your BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then multiplies it by an activity factor between 1.2 (sedentary) and 1.9 (extremely active) to get your Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the calories that keep your weight stable.
One kilogram of body fat stores roughly 7,700 kcal, so a daily deficit of about 550 kcal produces around 0.5 kg of loss per week. Larger deficits work faster but are harder to sustain and risk muscle loss.
Making the numbers work in practice
Estimates are starting points, not gospel — metabolism varies between individuals by a few hundred calories. Track your weight trend for two to three weeks at the calculated intake, then adjust by 100–200 kcal if the scale isn't moving as expected.
Protein (around 1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight when dieting) and strength training help ensure weight lost is fat rather than muscle.
Frequently Asked Questions
▸How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
Eat 300–600 kcal below maintenance for a sustainable 0.25–0.5 kg per week. The calculator shows both targets for your inputs.
▸Why am I not losing weight at my calculated calories?
Calorie estimates carry ±10% error and people commonly under-log food intake. Track honestly for two weeks; if weight is stable, reduce intake by ~200 kcal and reassess.
▸Do I eat back exercise calories?
Your activity multiplier already includes routine exercise. Only add calories for unusual extra training, and conservatively — fitness trackers often overestimate burn.