Calorie Calculator

How to use the calorie calculator

1. Enter your sex, age, height, weight and usual activity level.
2. Choose a goal: lose, keep or gain weight, and how fast.
3. Optionally add a target weight to see roughly when you would reach it.
4. Press Calculate for your daily calorie target, the target for every other goal, your maintenance calories and, for weight loss, two calorie-cycling weeks.

How the targets are worked out

First the calculator finds your maintenance calories (TDEE): your basal metabolic rate from the Mifflin-St Jeor formula, multiplied by your activity factor. The TDEE calculator explains that step in detail. Then it adds or takes away calories for your goal:

where r is the weekly change you want and E is the energy stored per kilogram or pound of body weight.

A kilogram of body fat stores about 7,700 kcal, and a pound about 3,500 kcal. So:

How fast should you lose weight?

• 0.25–0.5 kg (0.5–1 lb) a week is the rate most health services recommend. It is easier to keep up, and you lose less muscle.
• Up to 1 kg (2 lb) a week can suit people with a lot of weight to lose, usually only for the first weeks.
• Minimum intake: most women should not eat less than about 1,200 kcal a day, and most men not less than about 1,500 kcal, unless a doctor supervises the diet. The goals table marks any goal that would fall below this as too low, and your target is never set under it.

Why weight loss slows down

As you get lighter, your body needs less energy, so the same intake becomes a smaller deficit. Water weight also moves up and down by 1–2 kg from day to day. That is why the target date is an estimate. Recalculate after every 4–5 kg (about 10 lb) you lose, and judge progress by your weekly average weight, not single days.

Gaining weight or muscle

A surplus of 250–500 kcal a day (0.25–0.5 kg a week) with strength training gains muscle with less fat than eating as much as possible. Make sure enough of those calories come from protein – the macro calculator splits your target into protein, carbs and fat.

Calorie cycling (zigzag dieting)

Calorie cycling keeps the same weekly total but varies it from day to day – for example eating at maintenance at the weekend and a little less on weekdays. Some people find it easier to stick to, and it leaves room for social meals. Studies so far show about the same fat loss as eating the same amount every day, so choose whichever you can keep up. For weight-loss goals the result shows two sample weeks: Plan A with two higher days, and Plan B that rises and falls gradually.

Calories burned by activity

Approximate calories burned in one hour, from the MET values in the Compendium of Physical Activities (kcal ≈ MET × body weight in kg × hours):

Calories in common foods

Typical values from USDA FoodData Central; brands and recipes vary, so check labels.

Calories by age and activity

Maintenance calories (Mifflin-St Jeor) for a man of 178 cm and 80 kg, and a woman of 165 cm and 65 kg:

Limits

The numbers are estimates for healthy adults. They don't apply during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and they are less reliable for teenagers, older adults with little muscle, and very muscular people. If you have a medical condition, take medication that affects weight, or have a history of disordered eating, plan changes with a doctor or registered dietitian.

Frequently asked questions