Calculate daily calorie needs based on age, gender, height, weight and activity level
Calories to maintain your weight
2,546kcal / day
BMR 1,643 × activity 1.55
BMR (at rest)
1,643kcal
Mifflin-St Jeor
Mild weight loss
2,296kcal
about 0.25 kg a week
Weight loss
2,046kcal
about 0.5 kg a week
Weight gain
3,046kcal
about 0.5 kg a week
A cut of about 500 kcal a day loses roughly 0.5 kg a week. Track your weight for 2 to 4 weeks and adjust, since people vary by 10 to 20%.
| Activity level | Factor | Maintain (kcal) | Lose 0.5 kg/week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 1.2 | 1,971 | 1,471 |
| Lightly active | 1.375 | 2,258 | 1,758 |
| Moderately active | 1.55 | 2,546 | 2,046 |
| Very active | 1.725 | 2,833 | 2,333 |
| Extra active | 1.9 | 3,121 | 2,621 |
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type or upload is sent to us or stored.
For general information only, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or a qualified professional about your health. Terms of use
How to Use
- Choose Male or Female and enter your Age and Weight in kg.
- Enter your Height in centimetres, or switch Height in to feet and inches if that's how you know it.
- Pick your Activity level. If you have a desk job and don't exercise much, choose Sedentary.
- The top figure is the calories that keep your weight steady (TDEE). Below it are your BMR and targets for mild weight loss, weight loss (500 kcal less) and weight gain (500 kcal more).
- The table further down shows the same figures for every activity level, so you can see what a more active routine changes.
What is a calorie?
A calorie (kcal) is a unit of energy. Your body burns calories for everything it does, from breathing and thinking to walking to the bus stop. If you eat more than you burn, you gain weight. Eat less and you lose it. This calorie calculator estimates how much you burn in a day so you can set your target.
BMR vs TDEE
- BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): the calories you'd need if you rested all day. It covers breathing, circulation and cell repair.
- TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure): BMR × activity multiplier. This is what you actually burn in a normal day, and what you should eat to stay at your current weight.
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation
Men: BMR = (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) + 5
Women: BMR = (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) − 161
Women: BMR = (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) − 161
For a 30-year-old woman who is 160 cm tall and weighs 60 kg, BMR = 600 + 1,000 − 150 − 161 = 1,289 kcal. If she's lightly active (× 1.375), her TDEE is about 1,772 kcal a day.
Calorie targets by goal
| Goal | Intake vs TDEE | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| Lose 0.5 kg/week | TDEE − 500 to 550 kcal | Mild deficit, sustainable |
| Lose 1 kg/week | TDEE − 1,100 kcal | Aggressive, needs monitoring |
| Maintain weight | = TDEE | Weight stable |
| Gain 0.5 kg/week | TDEE + 500 kcal | Lean bulking |
Tracking tips
- Weigh your food on a kitchen scale. People are bad at guessing portions, especially rice and dal.
- A food diary app (MyFitnessPal, HealthifyMe) helps you track protein, carbs and fat as well as calories.
- Recalculate every 4–6 weeks. As your weight changes, so does your TDEE.
Frequently Asked Questions
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the calories your body needs for basic functions like breathing, circulation and cell repair when you're completely at rest. This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, considered the most accurate for most people. Men: (10 × weight kg) + (6.25 × height cm) − (5 × age) + 5. Women: (10 × weight kg) + (6.25 × height cm) − (5 × age) − 161.
For most office workers, Sedentary or Lightly Active. Sedentary: desk job, no exercise. Lightly active: light exercise 1–3 days a week. Moderately active: moderate exercise 3–5 days a week. Very active: hard exercise 6–7 days a week. Extra active: very hard exercise plus a physical job. Be honest here. Overestimating activity is one of the most common reasons people don't lose weight.
About 1,100 kcal a day less than your TDEE. 1 kg of body fat holds roughly 7,700 kcal, so that's the daily deficit you'd need. It's aggressive and hard to keep up. 0.5 kg a week (a deficit of about 550 kcal a day; the calculator's Weight Loss figure uses a round 500) is more practical. Don't go below 1,200 kcal a day (women) or 1,500 kcal a day (men) without a doctor's supervision.
Reasonably, but treat them as a starting point. Mifflin-St Jeor works fairly well across ethnicities, though individuals can vary by ±15–20%. Indians tend to carry more body fat at the same BMI than Western populations, which can nudge TDEE a little. Follow the number for 2–4 weeks, watch what happens to your weight, and adjust.
Because apps use different BMR equations (Harris-Benedict, Mifflin-St Jeor, Katch-McArdle) and different activity multipliers. A gap of ±100 kcal is normal. Consistency matters more: pick one method and track your results over 4 weeks.