Calorie Calculator
Calories a day to keep, lose or gain weight: your TDEE from BMR and activity, with steady weekly targets.
A day
| Goal | A day |
|---|---|
| Lose 1 kg a week (below the usual minimum) | 740 kcal |
| Lose 0.5 kg a week | 1,290 kcal |
| Lose 0.25 kg a week | 1,570 kcal |
| Keep your weight | 1,840 kcal |
| Gain 0.25 kg a week | 2,120 kcal |
| Gain 0.5 kg a week | 2,390 kcal |
- Rounded to 10 kcal: the formulas are estimates, typically within about 10% for most adults. Weigh yourself for two or three weeks and adjust.
- Targets under 1,200 kcal are greyed: diets that low are usually supervised by a doctor.
You
How is this calculated?
TDEE = BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor) × activity factor (1.2 to 1.9)
Daily target = TDEE + (kg per week × 7,700) ÷ 7Runs in your browser — nothing you enter leaves this device.
A general estimate. BMI and calorie formulas don't account for body composition, pregnancy, or medical conditions. Talk to a doctor before changing diet or exercise.
About this tool
What it does
This calculator estimates how many calories you use in a day, your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and how much to eat to keep your weight, lose it or gain it at a steady pace. It starts from your basal metabolic rate by the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and multiplies it by a factor for how active you are. Targets for losing or gaining 0.25 to 1 kilogram a week come from the rule of thumb that a kilogram of body fat holds about 7,700 calories.
How to use it
- Choose your units and set your sex, age, height and weight.
- Pick how active you are, from sedentary to extra active. Be honest: most people overestimate.
- Read your maintenance calories, then the table of daily targets for each goal.
- Follow a target for two or three weeks, weigh yourself at the same time each morning, and adjust by 100 to 200 calories if the trend is off.
Limits and your data
- Both the BMR equation and the activity factors are averages. Real needs differ by about 10% either way, which is why weighing yourself and adjusting beats trusting any calculator.
- The 7,700-calorie rule overstates weight loss over months: as you lose weight your body uses less, so progress slows. Expect the first weeks to match the table best.
- Targets below 1,200 calories for women or 1,500 for men are greyed out. Diets that low are usually supervised by a doctor, and the calculator does not recommend them.
- Not for pregnancy, breastfeeding, children, or medical conditions that affect weight.
- Your details stay in this page. They are not saved, not sent anywhere and not put in the page address, because body measurements and diet goals are personal. A reload starts from the example values.
Questions
What is TDEE?
Total daily energy expenditure: everything you burn in a day, including your BMR, the energy used digesting food, everyday movement and exercise. Eating your TDEE keeps your weight about level.
Which activity level am I?
Sedentary is a desk job with little exercise. Lightly active adds light exercise one to three days a week; moderately active, three to five days; very active, hard exercise six or seven days; extra active is a physical job plus daily training. If you are between two, choose the lower.
How fast should I lose weight?
Common guidance is about 0.5 to 1 kg a week. Faster loss tends to take more muscle with it and is harder to keep up. The 0.25 kg row is a gentle option for people with little to lose.
Why are the numbers rounded to 10 calories?
Because the estimate is not more precise than that. Showing 2,047 calories would suggest an accuracy the formulas do not have.