Calorie Calculator

Enter your age, height, weight and activity level to see how many calories you burn at rest, how many keep your weight steady, and safe daily targets to lose or gain weight.

Example Enter your own details above.

1,955 calories/day

to maintain your weight · lightly active (BMR × 1.375)

BMR (burned at rest)

1,422

calories/day · Mifflin-St Jeor

Maintenance (TDEE)

1,955

calories/day · BMR × 1.375

Lowest advised (women)

1,200

calories/day without medical supervision

Daily calories for your goal (1 lb ≈ 3,500 calories — an approximation)
Goal	Calories per day
Maintain weightno change in weight	1,955
Mild weight loss−0.5 lb a week · −250 cal/day	1,705
Standard weight loss−1 lb a week · −500 cal/day	1,455
Aggressive weight loss−2 lb a week · −1,000 cal/day	Not advised955 is below 1,200
Mild weight gain+0.5 lb a week · +250 cal/day	2,205
Weight gain+1 lb a week · +500 cal/day	2,455

Targets marked “Not advised” would take you below 1,200 calories a day, the usual minimum for women without medical supervision. Choose a slower rate instead.

Working

Height: 5 ft × 12 + 5 in = 65 in × 2.54 = 165.1 cm
Weight: 160 lb × 0.45359237 = 72.57 kg
BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor, women) = 10 × 72.57 + 6.25 × 165.1 − 5 × 35 − 161 = 725.75 + 1,031.88 − 175 − 161 = 1,421.6 → 1,422 calories/day
Maintenance (TDEE) = BMR × 1.375 (lightly active) = 1,421.6 × 1.375 = 1,954.7 → 1,955 calories/day
3,500 calories ≈ 1 lb of body weight (approximate), so 1 lb a week ≈ 3,500 ÷ 7 = 500 calories a day
Weight loss (0.5, 1 and 2 lb a week): 1,955 − 250 = 1,705; 1,955 − 500 = 1,455; 1,955 − 1,000 = 955 calories/day
Weight gain (0.5 and 1 lb a week): 1,955 + 250 = 2,205; 1,955 + 500 = 2,455 calories/day
Safety check: 955 is below 1,200 calories/day, the usual minimum for women without medical supervision, so that target is not recommended

For healthy adults aged 18 and over. Not for pregnancy or breastfeeding. This is an estimate for general information, not medical advice — talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before starting a diet, especially if you have a health condition.

How to use the calorie calculator

Choose your sex and units, then enter your age, height and weight. US units (pounds, feet and inches) are the default; switch to metric and the numbers you typed are converted. Pick the activity level that matches a typical week. The calculator shows three things, and the working underneath shows every step with your numbers:

BMR — the calories your body burns at complete rest.
Maintenance calories (TDEE) — roughly what keeps your weight steady at your activity level.
Daily targets to lose 0.5, 1 or 2 lb a week, or gain 0.5 or 1 lb a week. A target that would take you below the usual safe minimum is marked “Not advised” instead of being given as a goal.

Until you type, the example shows a 35-year-old woman. Everything runs in your browser; your inputs are kept only in the page address so you can bookmark the result.

The formulas

Resting energy comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (weight in kg, height in cm, age in years):

BMR (men)   = 10 × weight + 6.25 × height − 5 × age + 5
BMR (women) = 10 × weight + 6.25 × height − 5 × age − 161
Maintenance (TDEE) = BMR × activity multiplier
Daily change ≈ weekly change in lb × 3,500 ÷ 7

Mifflin, St Jeor and colleagues published the equation in 1990 after measuring the resting energy expenditure of 498 healthy adults aged 19 to 78, both normal-weight and obese, by indirect calorimetry. A 2005 systematic review for the American Dietetic Association found it predicted resting metabolic rate within 10% of the measured value in more people than the older Harris-Benedict and other equations. US inputs are converted exactly first: 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg and 1 in = 2.54 cm (see pounds to kilograms and feet to centimeters).

Activity multipliers
Activity level	Typical week	Multiplier
Sedentary	Little or no exercise, desk job	× 1.2
Lightly active	Light exercise 1–3 days a week	× 1.375
Moderately active	Moderate exercise 3–5 days a week	× 1.55
Very active	Hard exercise 6–7 days a week	× 1.725
Extra active	Very hard exercise or a physical job	× 1.9

These multipliers are a long-standing rule of thumb rather than an official standard. For comparison, the FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation on human energy requirements puts the daily energy use of sedentary or lightly active adults at 1.40 to 1.69 times BMR, so the 1.2 “sedentary” figure is on the cautious side.

Worked example

A 35-year-old woman is 5 ft 5 in tall, weighs 160 lb and is lightly active.

Convert: 160 lb × 0.45359237 = 72.57 kg, and 65 in × 2.54 = 165.1 cm.
BMR = 10 × 72.57 + 6.25 × 165.1 − 5 × 35 − 161 = 1,421.6, about 1,422 calories a day.
Maintenance = 1,421.6 × 1.375 = 1,954.7, about 1,955 calories a day.
To lose about 1 lb a week: 1,955 − 500 = 1,455; about 0.5 lb a week: 1,705.
For 2 lb a week the target would be 1,955 − 1,000 = 955, below the 1,200 minimum, so the calculator marks it “Not advised”. A slower rate, or more activity, is the safer route.

Safe minimums and rates of loss

The CDC notes that people who lose weight gradually and steadily — about 1 to 2 lb a week — are more likely to keep it off. The 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS obesity guideline typically prescribes 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day for women and 1,500 to 1,800 for men (adjusted for body weight), or a daily deficit of 500 to 750 calories. Harvard Health advises that intake should not fall below 1,200 calories a day for women or 1,500 for men except under the supervision of a health professional. That is why this calculator flags any weight-loss target under those levels. Diets of about 800 calories a day or less are very-low-calorie diets, used only under medical supervision.

Why 3,500 calories per pound is only approximate

The rule assumes every 3,500 calories you do not eat removes 1 lb, at the same pace forever. In reality your needs fall as you lose weight, so progress slows. A 2011 analysis in The Lancet by NIH researchers estimated that for an average adult with overweight, each 10 calories a day cut eventually leads to about 1 lb of weight loss, with about half of it reached in about a year. By that rule of thumb, cutting 500 calories a day leads to roughly 50 lb of loss eventually, about 25 lb of it in the first year — not the 52 lb in one year that the 3,500 rule predicts. The NIDDK’s Body Weight Planner uses this model for long-term plans. Use this page for today’s targets and recalculate as your weight changes.

How your number compares

The estimated calorie needs table in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2020–2025 edition) puts most adult women at about 1,600 to 2,400 calories a day and adult men at about 2,000 to 3,000, from sedentary to active. Those are averages for reference body sizes; your own figure depends on your height and weight. If your result is far outside those ranges, check the units first.

Tips and common mistakes

Counting exercise twice. If you picked an active level, do not also add back the exercise calories from a fitness tracker.
Judging too soon. Daily weight swings with water and salt. Compare weekly averages over two to four weeks before changing your target.
Forgetting to recalculate. Maintenance falls as you lose weight; update your numbers every 10 lb or so.
Calories and kilojoules. US food labels list Calories, which are kilocalories. For kJ labels, use kcal to kJ.
Who should not rely on it. Pregnancy and breastfeeding, people under 18, and people with medical conditions or a history of eating disorders need individual advice. Very muscular people may burn more than the equation predicts.

To see where your weight sits for your height, try the BMI calculator or the ideal weight calculator; the body fat calculator estimates how much of your weight is fat.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

Start from your maintenance calories and subtract about 500 a day to lose roughly 1 lb a week, or 250 a day for about 0.5 lb a week. These figures use the approximate 3,500-calories-per-pound rule, so weigh yourself for a few weeks and adjust. Most women should not go below about 1,200 calories a day, and most men below about 1,500, without medical supervision.

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR (basal or resting metabolic rate) is the energy your body uses at complete rest to keep you alive — breathing, circulation, organ function. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) adds everything else: daily movement, exercise and digesting food. TDEE is your maintenance level; BMR is not an eating target.

Which activity level should I choose?

Count your usual week, not your best week. A desk job with little planned exercise is sedentary; a few workouts a week is lightly or moderately active; daily hard training or a physically demanding job is very or extra active. People often overestimate activity, so if you are between two levels, pick the lower one and adjust after a few weeks.

Is it safe to eat 1,200 calories a day?

For many women, 1,200 is the lowest intake usually advised without supervision from a health professional; for men the usual floor is 1,500. Diets of about 800 calories a day or less are very-low-calorie diets, which are only used under medical supervision. If your maintenance is already low, a slower rate of loss or more activity is the safer choice.

Why has my weight loss slowed even though I am eating the same?

As you lose weight, a smaller body burns fewer calories, so the same intake produces a smaller deficit. Research at the NIH found the 3,500-calorie rule overestimates long-term weight loss for this reason. Recalculate with your new weight every 10 lb or so, or use the NIH Body Weight Planner, which models this slowdown.

How accurate is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation?

It is the most reliable of the common equations: in a 2005 systematic review it predicted resting metabolic rate within 10% of the measured value in more people than the other equations tested. Individuals can still be further off, especially very muscular people or people with some medical conditions, so treat the result as a starting point.

Sources

Last reviewed 24 September 2026 · Built and checked by the Reeliy team · How we test our tools