Calorie Calculator
Find out how many calories you should eat each day to reach your goal — whether that's losing weight, maintaining, or building muscle.
How to use this calculator
Use the sliders to enter your age, height, and weight, then select your typical activity level and your goal. Be honest about activity — most people overestimate. Your personalized calorie target updates instantly. The full goal comparison shows all five targets side by side.
Understanding your calorie targets
Your calorie target starts from your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) — the calories you burn in a day — and then shifts up or down based on the goal you select. Maintenance sits right at your TDEE. A weight-loss goal subtracts calories; a muscle-gain goal adds them. The goal you choose, not the calculator itself, sets your number — so picking the goal that matches your real priority right now is the most important decision here. Use this as a starting estimate and adjust after two to three weeks based on what the scale actually does.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories should you eat per day?
Daily calorie needs depend on your basal metabolic rate (BMR) — calories burned at rest — multiplied by your activity level. The table below shows typical TDEE ranges for different body sizes and activity levels. Most sedentary adults need 1,600–2,400 calories to maintain weight.
| Activity level | Women (avg) | Men (avg) | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary (desk job, no exercise) | 1,600–2,000 | 2,000–2,400 | × 1.2 |
| Lightly active (1–2 workouts/week) | 1,800–2,200 | 2,200–2,800 | × 1.375 |
| Moderately active (3–4 workouts/week) | 2,000–2,400 | 2,500–3,100 | × 1.55 |
| Very active (5–6 intense workouts/week) | 2,200–2,800 | 2,800–3,500 | × 1.725 |
| Extremely active (athlete or physical job) | 2,400–3,000 | 3,000–4,000 | × 1.9 |
Choosing your goal: maintain, cut, or lean-bulk
This calculator is a decision tool. Before you can know how many calories to eat, you have to decide what you are trying to do — and each goal points your target in a different direction. The comparison below helps you pick honestly rather than defaulting to "lose weight" out of habit.
| Goal | Who it fits | What the target does | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintain | Happy with current weight; building habits or improving fitness | Sits at your TDEE so weight stays stable | No body-composition change unless training drives recomposition |
| Cut (lose fat) | Carrying more fat than you want; primary goal is to be leaner | Targets below TDEE so stored fat is used | Requires patience and consistency; hunger management matters |
| Lean bulk (gain muscle) | Lean already; primary goal is to add size and strength | Targets above TDEE to fuel muscle growth | Some fat gain is unavoidable; needs a training stimulus |
Why two foods at the same calories are not equal
Hitting your calorie target is the foundation, but the foods you choose to hit it change how full you feel, how much you burn digesting, and how easy the target is to maintain. This is why a calorie target alone is a starting point, not the whole plan.
- ·Thermic effect of food (TEF): your body burns calories just digesting what you eat — protein costs about 20–30% of its own calories to process, versus roughly 5–10% for carbs and 0–3% for fat, so a higher-protein day quietly nudges your real intake down
- ·Satiety per calorie: whole foods high in protein and fiber keep you fuller for far longer than the same calories from refined snacks, making the target easier to hold without willpower
- ·Volume: lower-calorie-density foods (vegetables, lean proteins, fruit) let you eat a satisfying amount of food while staying within the same number — the single biggest practical lever for adherence
- ·Liquid calories: drinks and alcohol add to your total without triggering fullness, and are the most commonly under-counted source when a target "is not working"
- ·Protein still matters at every goal as the macro that protects muscle — the protein calculator on this site covers exact intake
Why calorie calculators are estimates
No calculator can predict your exact calorie needs. Individual metabolic rate varies by 10–15% between people of the same age, height, and weight. Gut microbiome, genetics, sleep, stress, and hormones all influence how efficiently you extract and burn calories. Treat your calculated target as a starting point and adjust based on real-world results after 2–3 weeks.