Find out how many calories you should eat per day to lose weight, maintain, or build muscle. Get your personalized results in seconds.
Calculate Your Daily Calorie Needs
Your Daily Calorie Target
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Recommended Daily Macronutrients
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Powerful Features for Calorie Calculation
Advanced science and smart technology handle your unique needs with precision, delivering a professional-grade calorie calculator that works for everyone from beginners to serious athletes.
Smart Activity Matching
Automatically adjusts your calorie needs based on your real activity level—from sedentary desk jobs to intense daily training—for personalized accuracy. The activity factor ensures your daily energy needs match your lifestyle.
Multiple Goal Options
Get customized calorie targets for weight loss, muscle gain, or maintenance. Whether you want to reach your goal weight, improve body composition, or build lean body mass, you’ll see exactly how many calories you need.
Science-Backed Formula
Uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, proven to be the most accurate formula for estimating calorie needs. Trusted by registered dietitians and fitness professionals worldwide for delivering reliable results you can act on.
Achieve Your Goals with Confidence
Transform your nutrition approach with clear calorie targets that eliminate confusion, deliver sustainable results, prevent diet burnout, and give you the energy you need for your lifestyle.
Stop Guessing About Portions
Know exactly how much to eat instead of relying on vague “eat less” advice. Get a clear daily calorie target and macronutrient guidance based on your body and goals.
See Results That Last
Avoid extreme diets that backfire. Our calculator gives you sustainable calorie targets for steady progress—1-2 pounds per week of healthy weight loss or controlled muscle gain without excessive fat gain.
Fuel Your Workouts Properly
Never under-eat and feel exhausted, or overeat and stall your progress. Get the right amount of energy for your physical activity level and training schedule.
How to Use the Calorie Calculator
Calculate your daily calorie needs in just a few simple steps:
1. Enter Your Details
Input your age, sex, height, weight, and current activity level. Be honest about your physical activity—most people overestimate this part.
2. Choose Your Goal
Select whether you want fat loss, to maintain your current weight, or to build muscle and improve body composition. Each goal gives you a different calorie target.
3. Get Your Results
See your BMR (baseline calories), BMI (body mass index), TDEE (total daily calories), and goal-specific recommendations with a healthy calorie deficit or surplus.
4. Track & Adjust
Use your target as a starting point and monitor your progress over 3-4 weeks. Adjust your caloric intake based on real-world results, not just the scale. Track body fat percentage changes and how your clothes fit, not just body weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Calorie Calculator?
A calorie calculator estimates how many calories your body needs each day based on your age, height, weight, sex, and activity level. It also calculates your BMI (Body Mass Index) to give you a complete picture of your health metrics.
What Does it Calculate?
- BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) – The calories you burn just staying alive (breathing, heart beating, cells functioning). Also called resting metabolic rate.
- TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) – Your BMR plus the calories you burn through daily activities and exercise. This is your total energy expenditure.
- BMI (Body Mass Index) – A simple measurement that compares your weight to your height to assess whether you’re in a healthy weight range.
Once you know your TDEE, you can adjust your caloric intake based on your goals. Want fat loss? Eat below your TDEE. Want to build muscle? Eat above it. Want to maintain? Eat right at it.
How accurate is this calorie calculator?
The calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is one of the most accurate formulas available for estimating calorie needs. That said, it’s still an estimate. Individual factors like genetics, lean body mass, and metabolic rate can affect your actual needs. Use the calculator’s results as a starting point, then adjust based on your real-world results over a few weeks.
What’s the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories your body burns at complete rest—just to keep you alive.
TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is your BMR multiplied by an activity factor to account for everything you do during the day.
Think of BMR as your baseline and TDEE as your actual daily calorie needs, including all physical activity.
How does this compare to other calorie formulas?
We use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation because research shows it’s the most accurate for most people. The older Harris-Benedict Equation tends to overestimate calorie needs slightly. The Katch-McArdle Formula can be more accurate if you know your body fat percentage, but it requires that additional measurement. For simplicity and accuracy, Mifflin-St Jeor is the gold standard recommended by registered dietitians.
How do I know which activity level to choose?
Be honest about your actual physical activity. Overestimating your activity level means you’ll eat too many calories. Underestimating means you might not fuel your workouts properly.
If you work a desk job and work out 3 times a week, you’re probably “Lightly Active” or “Moderately Active,” not “Very Active.” Most people overestimate their activity factor. When in doubt, start with a lower level and adjust up if needed based on your energy expenditure. Choose the activity factor that best matches your typical week.
| Activity Level | Description |
| Sedentary | Desk job, minimal movement. You work at a computer most of the day and don’t exercise regularly. This sedentary lifestyle means lower energy expenditure. |
| Lightly Active | You’re on your feet sometimes during the day, or you exercise lightly 1-3 times per week (walking, light yoga). |
| Moderately Active | You exercise 3-5 days per week with moderate exercise intensity (jogging, cycling, swimming, weight training). |
| Very Active | You exercise hard 6-7 days per week with intense exercise, or you have a physically demanding job (construction, warehouse work). |
| Super Active | You train intensely every day with intense exercise (athletes, heavy manual labor jobs, training for competitions). |
Important Disclaimers
This calculator provides estimates only. Your individual calorie needs may vary based on factors like genetics, lean body mass, body composition, metabolic rate, medications, and overall health status.
Consult a healthcare professional or registered dietitian (RD) before making significant changes to your diet or exercise routine, especially if you have underlying health conditions, take medications, or have a history of eating disorders.
Not for pregnant or nursing women without medical supervision. Pregnancy and breastfeeding significantly increase daily calorie intake requirements.
Not recommended for individuals with eating disorders. If you have or have had an eating disorder, calorie counting and calorie tracking may not be appropriate. Please work with a qualified registered dietitian or healthcare provider.