Calorie Calculator
Discover your daily calorie needs easily to maintain, lose, or gain weight.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
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Maintenance Calories
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Weight Loss Calories
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Why Use This Tool? ✅
Personalized Results
Tailored calorie recommendations based on your unique body, age, and activity level.
Supports Your Goals
Get clear calorie targets for weight loss, maintenance, or muscle gain.
Promotes Healthy Living
A great first step to understanding your body's energy needs for better diet planning.
Simple & Fast
No complex formulas needed. Just enter your details and get instant, science-based results.
A Guide to Your Body's Energy Needs 🍎
Understanding your daily calorie needs is the foundation of any successful nutrition plan. Whether your goal is to lose fat, build muscle, or simply maintain your current weight, it all starts with knowing your body's energy balance. This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, considered one of the most accurate BMR formulas, to give you a reliable estimate.
What is BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)?
Your BMR is the number of calories your body needs to perform its most basic, life-sustaining functions if you were to stay in bed all day. This includes breathing, circulating blood, regulating body temperature, and cell production. It's the baseline energy your body requires just to exist.
From BMR to Daily Needs: The Role of Activity
Your BMR is just the starting point. To find your total daily calorie needs (often called your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE), we must account for your physical activity. This calculator does this by multiplying your BMR by an activity factor. The more active you are, the higher the multiplier, and the more calories you burn each day. The "Maintenance Calories" result is your estimated TDEE.
Setting Goals: The Calorie Equation
Weight management boils down to a simple principle: calories in versus calories out.
- To Lose Weight: You need to consume fewer calories than your body burns. This is called a calorie deficit. A safe and sustainable deficit is typically around 500 calories per day, which leads to approximately 1 pound (0.5 kg) of weight loss per week.
- To Maintain Weight: You need to consume roughly the same number of calories that your body burns. Your calorie intake should match your TDEE.
- To Gain Weight: You need to consume more calories than your body burns. This is a calorie surplus. A surplus of around 500 calories per day is often recommended for steady muscle gain (when combined with resistance training).
Disclaimer: This calculator provides an estimate for educational purposes. Individual calorie needs can vary based on genetics, body composition, and other health factors. For personalized nutritional advice, please consult a registered dietitian or healthcare professional.