Daily Calorie Calculator
Find how many calories you need per day from your TDEE, then get targets to lose weight, maintain or gain muscle.
Calculation Examples
How to Calculate Your Daily Calorie Needs
The calculator works in two steps. First it estimates your basal metabolic rate (BMR) with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (Mifflin et al., Am J Clin Nutr, 1990;51(2):241-247): \[ \text{BMR}_{\text{men}} = 10 \times \text{weight (kg)} + 6.25 \times \text{height (cm)} - 5 \times \text{age} + 5 \] \[ \text{BMR}_{\text{women}} = 10 \times \text{weight (kg)} + 6.25 \times \text{height (cm)} - 5 \times \text{age} - 161 \] A systematic review in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (Frankenfield et al., 2005) found this equation within 10% of measured resting rate in more nonobese and obese adults than the Harris-Benedict, Owen or WHO/FAO/UNU equations. Second, it multiplies BMR by an activity multiplier (PAL): \[ \text{TDEE} = \text{BMR} \times \text{PAL} \]
Example: a 30-year-old man who is 180 cm and 80 kg and exercises 3 to 5 days a week has a BMR of 1,780 kcal/day, so his TDEE is \(1{,}780 \times 1.55 \approx 2{,}759\) kcal/day. These are estimates for healthy adults, not medical advice.
Understanding Calorie Deficit and Surplus
Your TDEE is the intake that keeps your weight stable. Eating below it creates a deficit that drives fat loss, and eating above it creates a surplus that supports muscle gain. The 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS obesity guideline suggests a deficit of 500 to 750 kcal/day for weight loss, which is about 0.45 to 0.7 kg per week at the start. For muscle gain, a surplus of 250 to 500 kcal/day above TDEE is a common starting range that limits fat gain. For a TDEE of 2,759 kcal/day, that gives 2,009 to 2,259 kcal/day for loss and 3,009 to 3,259 kcal/day for gain.
Go lower only with medical supervision. The same guideline lists 1,200 to 1,500 kcal/day for women and 1,500 to 1,800 kcal/day for men as typical calorie-restricted diets. Your body also adapts: Leibel, Rosenbaum and Hirsch (NEJM, 1995) found that people holding a 10% weight loss burned roughly 300 to 500 kcal/day less than predicted. TDEE falls as you get lighter (losing 10 kg lowers it by about 120 to 190 kcal/day), so recalculate every 4 to 6 weeks during a weight-loss phase.
Useful Tips 💡
- Be honest about your daily activity. Moderately active means structured exercise 3 to 5 days a week. Desk workers who train now and then usually fit sedentary (×1.2) or lightly active (×1.375).
- Count liquid calories. Alcohol has 7 kcal per gram, so a 330 ml beer at 5% alcohol holds about 13 g of alcohol, roughly 91 kcal before any carbohydrate. Drinks are an easy place to lose track.
- Test the estimate. If your weight stays stable for 2 weeks at one intake, that intake is your real maintenance, and it is a better starting point than the calculated TDEE if the two differ.
📋Steps to Calculate
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Enter your age, sex, weight (kg or lb) and height (cm or inches).
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Select your activity level: Sedentary (×1.2), Lightly Active (×1.375), Moderately Active (×1.55), Very Active (×1.725) or Extra Active (×1.9).
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Click "Calculate" to view your BMR, TDEE and suggested calorie targets for your chosen goal.
Mistakes to Avoid ⚠️
- Overestimating activity. Picking very active (×1.725) when your week fits lightly active (×1.375) inflates TDEE by about 460 to 620 kcal/day at a BMR of 1,320 to 1,780 kcal/day, which turns a 500 kcal/day deficit into maintenance or a surplus.
- Leaving out cooking oil, sauces and snacks when tracking. One tablespoon of olive oil is about 120 kcal, so two tablespoons a day add about 240 kcal.
- Not recalculating after losing more than 5 kg. BMR depends on weight, so a fixed calorie target slowly shifts from a deficit toward maintenance.
- Using Mifflin-St Jeor unchanged for lean athletes who know their body fat percentage. Katch-McArdle, BMR = 370 + 21.6 × lean body mass (kg), works from lean mass and may fit them better.
Practical Applications📊
Use TDEE as the base for meal planning: subtract 500 to 750 kcal for fat loss or add 250 to 500 kcal for muscle gain. If you train, set protein at 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg/day (ISSN position stand, 2017), which is 112 to 160 g/day at 80 kg.
Pair with our BMI Calculator to see where you start. At a BMI of 29, a 500 kcal/day deficit is a standard starting point, while at a BMI of 21 a smaller deficit usually leaves more room to keep muscle.
Recalculate every 4 to 6 weeks during weight loss or gain. Losing 5 kg lowers BMR by 50 kcal/day and TDEE by about 60 to 95 kcal/day, depending on your multiplier.