Calorie Calculator Calculator
Estimate your daily calorie needs, BMR Calculator, maintenance calories, and calorie targets using your age, sex, height, weight and activity level.
Calculate Your Daily Calorie Needs
Enter your information below to get an estimated calorie range.
Your Estimated Daily Calories
Estimated calories per day to maintain your current weight.
Maintenance calories are an estimate of energy needs for maintaining current weight. The weight-loss and weight-gain figures are approximate planning estimates, not medical prescriptions.
Calorie Calculator at a Glance
What Are Daily Calorie Needs?
Your daily calorie needs are an estimate of the energy your body uses during a typical day. They include energy used at rest as well as energy used through physical activity.
What Is BMR?
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is an estimate of the energy your body needs at rest to support essential functions such as breathing, circulation and maintaining body temperature.
What Are Maintenance Calories?
Maintenance calories are an estimate of the amount of energy you may need each day to maintain your current body weight at a particular activity level.
What Is TDEE?
Total Daily Energy Expenditure, commonly called TDEE, refers to the total amount of energy your body uses during a typical day. In this calculator, estimated maintenance calories are calculated by multiplying BMR by an activity multiplier.
How Is This Calculator Calculated?
This calculator estimates BMR using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. It then multiplies BMR by an activity multiplier to estimate daily maintenance calories.
The activity multipliers used are approximately:
- 1.2 for sedentary activity
- 1.375 for lightly active
- 1.55 for moderately active
- 1.725 for very active
- 1.9 for extra active
Mifflin-St Jeor Equation
For males, the estimated BMR is calculated using weight, height and age with a male-specific constant. For females, the equation uses the same weight, height and age factors with a female-specific constant.
Why Can Calorie Needs Differ?
Calorie requirements can vary between people depending on age, sex, body size, body composition, activity level, metabolism and other individual factors.
What Are Weight Loss and Weight Gain Calories?
For a simple estimate, this calculator displays a calorie target below maintenance for weight loss and a calorie target above maintenance for weight gain.
The weight-loss estimate uses approximately 500 calories below estimated maintenance, while the weight-gain estimate uses approximately 300 calories above estimated maintenance. Actual results vary from person to person.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a calorie calculator?
A calorie calculator estimates how much energy you may need each day based on factors such as age, sex, height, weight and physical activity.
What is BMR?
BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. It estimates the energy your body uses at rest to support basic physiological functions.
What are maintenance calories?
Maintenance calories are an estimate of the calories needed each day to maintain your current body weight at your selected activity level.
What are TDEE calories?
TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It refers to an estimate of the total energy your body uses during a typical day.
How accurate is a calorie calculator?
A calorie calculator provides an estimate rather than an exact measurement. Actual calorie needs can differ because of body composition, metabolism, activity and other individual factors.
Which equation does this calculator use?
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation to estimate BMR and then applies an activity multiplier to estimate daily calorie needs.
Can I use this calculator every day?
The calculator can be used to review an estimated calorie need when your personal information or activity level changes. It should be treated as an educational estimate, not an exact measurement of your individual energy needs.
Important Health Guides
This calculator provides estimates for general educational and informational purposes. It is not a medical diagnostic tool and should not replace advice from a qualified healthcare or Nutrition professional.
Individual calorie needs can differ significantly. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, managing a medical condition, recovering from an eating disorder, or have specific dietary or weight-management concerns, seek personalized guidance from an appropriate healthcare professional.