Calorie Calculator — BMR, TDEE & Daily Calorie Needs
How many calories you burn a day, and what to eat to lose, hold or gain.
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Daily targets by goal
Work out how many calories your body uses in a day — your BMR (what you'd burn lying still) and your TDEE (what you actually burn once daily activity is counted) — then get daily calorie targets for losing, maintaining or gaining weight at a sensible pace.
The calculation uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the formula that performed best in validation studies and the one dietitians actually reach for. Results update live as you type.
How to use Calorie Calculator
- Enter your details — sex, age, weight and height, in metric or imperial.
- Pick your activity level honestly. Most people with desk jobs who train a few times a week are "moderately active" at most.
- Read your TDEE — that's your maintenance number.
- Pick a goal row. Each shows the daily target and the weekly change it implies.
BMR vs TDEE — which number do I use?
BMR is what your body burns at complete rest: keeping organs running, temperature stable, cells repairing. You never eat at BMR — it's a component, not a target. TDEE multiplies BMR by an activity factor to estimate your true daily burn, and it's the number every goal is measured against: eat under it and weight falls, over it and weight rises.
Why the deficit numbers are what they are
A kilogram of body fat stores roughly 7,700 kcal (about 3,500 per pound). Eat 500 kcal under maintenance every day and the arithmetic says about half a kilo — a pound — per week. That's the pace behind the "weight loss" row, and it's the pace most evidence supports as sustainable: fast enough to see progress, slow enough to keep muscle and sanity.
The "fast" row (−1,000 kcal/day) works arithmetically but is hard to live with and risks losing muscle along with fat — reasonable for a short push under supervision, a poor permanent plan. If a loss target lands below 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men), this calculator says so instead of printing it.
Honest expectations
These formulas estimate the average person of your size — individual metabolisms genuinely vary by ±10–15%, and the activity multiplier is the squishiest input (most people overrate themselves one level). So treat the number as a starting hypothesis: eat to the target for two or three weeks, watch the trend on the scale, and adjust by 100–200 kcal if reality disagrees. The feedback loop beats any formula.
Related tools
Check where your weight sits today with the BMI calculator, and convert between kg and lb with the unit converter.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
About 500 kcal under your TDEE loses roughly half a kilo (a pound) a week — the pace with the best track record for keeping muscle and actually sticking to the plan. The "Weight loss" row shows your number. Bigger deficits work faster but fail more often, and never go below 1,200 kcal (women) / 1,500 kcal (men) without medical supervision.
Why is my TDEE different from what my fitness watch says?
Both are estimates. The formula estimates from your size and a broad activity factor; the watch estimates from heart rate and movement, and wrist-based calorie counts routinely run 15–30% off in studies. Pick one number, hold it steady, and calibrate against the scale over a few weeks — the trend is the truth.
Which activity level should I pick?
One lower than you think. "Moderately active" already means training 3–5 days a week on top of daily life — a desk job plus two gym sessions is "lightly active". Overrating activity is the single most common reason calculated targets don't work.
Is this accurate for very muscular or very overweight people?
Less so — Mifflin-St Jeor only sees weight, height, age and sex, so it underestimates muscular people (muscle burns more at rest) and can overestimate at very high body fat. Formulas using body-fat percentage (Katch-McArdle) do better if you know yours. Either way, calibrate against real-world results.
Do I eat back the calories I burn exercising?
Not if your activity level already includes your training — that's exactly what the multiplier is for, and adding exercise calories on top double-counts them. Only eat back extraordinary activity that your chosen level clearly doesn't cover, and even then, estimates of exercise burn run high.