Calorie Calculator
Your personalized daily calorie target — with macros, an adaptive timeline, and no-scale portions.
About you
Add it to switch to the lean-mass Katch-McArdle formula.
Activity
Goal & nutrition
Used for your timeline estimate.
Daily calories to lose
−490 cal vs maintenance
BMR (at rest)
Mifflin-St Jeor
TDEE (maintenance)
Burned per day
Daily deficit
vs maintenance
Weekly change
projected loss
Maintenance at each activity level
Most people sit between two of these. If the scale isn't moving, you're likely closer to the lower number.
How it works
We estimate the calories your body burns at rest (BMR), scale that up by how active you are to get your total daily burn (TDEE), then adjust for your goal. Eat at TDEE to maintain, below it to lose fat, above it to gain muscle. The Timeline then recomputes your burn as your weight changes, so the projection bends realistically instead of assuming you lose the same amount forever.
Daily calorie target
calories = BMR × activity factor ± goal adjustment
- BMR
- resting calories (Mifflin-St Jeor, or Katch-McArdle if body-fat % is known)
- activity factor
- 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (very active)
- goal adjustment
- −15–25% to lose fat, +5–15% to gain
Worked example
- Man, 35, 5’10", 185 lb, exercises 3–4×/week
- BMR ≈ 1,840 cal · TDEE ≈ 2,530 cal
- Goal: lose fat at a 20% deficit
- Target = 2,530 × (1 − 0.20)
About 2,025 calories/day, for roughly 1 lb of fat loss per week to start.
Good to know
- These are well-validated estimates, not exact measurements — individual metabolism varies by roughly ±10%. Treat the number as a starting point and adjust to what the scale actually does over 2–3 weeks.
- Most people overestimate their activity level. If unsure, pick the lower setting (or use Detailed mode to separate your desk job from your workouts).
- Do not drop below 1,500 cal/day (men) or 1,200 (women) without medical supervision — the calculator enforces this floor.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories should I eat per day?
It depends on your size, age, sex, and activity. The calculator finds your maintenance level (TDEE), then applies your goal: a moderate deficit (~20%) for fat loss, maintenance to hold steady, or a small surplus (~10%) for lean muscle gain. Most adults land between 1,600 and 3,000 calories.
Why don’t you use the old “500 calories = 1 lb/week” rule?
Because it is wrong over time. As you lose weight your metabolism falls, so a fixed deficit shrinks and weight loss slows. Our Timeline tab simulates this week by week and shows where you would plateau and need to recalculate.
Which BMR formula is most accurate?
Mifflin-St Jeor is the most accurate for the general population and is our default. If you know your body-fat percentage, the calculator automatically switches to Katch-McArdle, which is more accurate for lean or muscular people because it works from lean body mass.
Should I eat back the calories I burn exercising?
Partly. Fitness trackers tend to overestimate burn by 20–50%. If you use the Detailed activity mode, your workouts are already included in your TDEE, so do not add them again. For fat loss, eat back at most half of any extra unplanned activity.
How much protein should I eat?
For most active people, 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight (about 0.7–1.0 g per pound). Higher protein protects muscle while you are in a deficit. You can fine-tune the exact target with the protein slider.
How often should I recalculate?
Every time your weight changes by about 4–5 kg (10 lb), or every 4 weeks if the scale stalls for two weeks. Your calorie needs drop as you get lighter, so the target is a moving number, not a one-time answer.