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Calorie Calculator

HealthMacros and Calories
About you
Units
Sex
Activity
Maintenance calories (kcal/day) —
Resting energy, BMR (kcal/day)
—
Gradual loss target (kcal/day)
—
Gradual gain target (kcal/day)
—
Activity factor used
—
Daily calories for each goal
The chart appears with your result

Daily calorie needs are estimated by working out resting energy with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and multiplying by an activity factor from 1.2 to 1.9. A 25-year-old man at 175 cm and 70 kg has a resting rate near 1,674 kcal and needs about 2,594 kcal a day with moderate exercise.

About this tool

Anyone planning meals, tracking food in an app or setting a weight target needs a starting number for daily energy. This calculator takes age, sex, height, weight and a typical week of activity, then returns maintenance calories, the resting energy behind them, and two gentle targets: 500 kcal below maintenance for gradual loss and 300 kcal above for gradual gain. A bar chart sets the three side by side, and the working lists each term of the equation. The figure is a population estimate; individual metabolism can differ by roughly 10 percent either way, so two to three weeks of weighing against actual intake is the better guide to a real requirement.

How to use it

  1. Pick units and sex

    Choose metric or US units, then male or female, since the equation uses a different constant for each.

  2. Enter age, height and weight

    Use the − and + buttons for age and type height and weight; results update as you go.

  3. Choose an activity level

    Select the option that matches an ordinary week, not your busiest one.

  4. Read the targets

    Compare maintenance, loss and gain figures in the stats and the bar chart, which you can download as PNG, SVG or CSV.

Examples

Man, 25, 175 cm, 70 kg, moderate exercise

Units
Metric (kg, cm)
Sex
Male
Age
25
Height
175
Weight
70
Activity level
Moderate: 3–5 days/week

Result Maintenance calories (kcal/day): 2,594
Resting energy, BMR (kcal/day): 1,674
Gradual loss target (kcal/day): 2,094
Gradual gain target (kcal/day): 2,894
Activity factor used: Moderately active × 1.55

  1. Weight = 70 kg, height = 175 cm, age = 25
  2. BMR = 10 × 70 + 6.25 × 175 − 5 × 25 + 5 = 1673.8 kcal
  3. Maintenance = 1673.8 × 1.55 = 2594 kcal/day

Resting energy comes to about 1,674 kcal; the 1.55 factor for exercise three to five days a week lifts maintenance to about 2,594 kcal.

Woman, 30, 165 cm, 60 kg, desk job

Units
Metric (kg, cm)
Sex
Female
Age
30
Height
165
Weight
60
Activity level
Sedentary (desk job)

Result Maintenance calories (kcal/day): 1,584
Resting energy, BMR (kcal/day): 1,320
Gradual loss target (kcal/day): 1,200
Gradual gain target (kcal/day): 1,884
Activity factor used: Sedentary × 1.2

  1. Weight = 60 kg, height = 165 cm, age = 30
  2. BMR = 10 × 60 + 6.25 × 165 − 5 × 30 − 161 = 1320.3 kcal
  3. Maintenance = 1320.3 × 1.2 = 1584 kcal/day

Maintenance is about 1,584 kcal, so a 500 kcal cut would go under 1,200 kcal; the loss target is held at 1,200.

Man, 40, 5 ft 10 in, 180 lb, light exercise

Units
US (lb, ft, in)
Sex
Male
Age
40
Height
5
and
10
Weight
180
Activity level
Light: 1–3 days/week

Result Maintenance calories (kcal/day): 2,382
Resting energy, BMR (kcal/day): 1,733
Gradual loss target (kcal/day): 1,882
Gradual gain target (kcal/day): 2,682
Activity factor used: Lightly active × 1.375

  1. Weight = 81.65 kg, height = 177.8 cm, age = 40
  2. BMR = 10 × 81.65 + 6.25 × 177.8 − 5 × 40 + 5 = 1732.7 kcal
  3. Maintenance = 1732.7 × 1.375 = 2382 kcal/day

180 lb is 81.65 kg and 5 ft 10 in is 177.8 cm; resting energy of about 1,733 kcal times 1.375 gives about 2,382 kcal.

How it is calculated

BMR = 10 × W + 6.25 × H − 5 × A + s; maintenance = BMR × activity factor

W
weight in kilograms (pounds × 0.45359237)
H
height in centimetres (inches × 2.54)
A
age in years
s
+5 for men, −161 for women

The Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in 1990 from measurements of 498 adults, predicts resting energy expenditure and is the equation most dietetics guidance prefers for healthy adults. Resting energy is multiplied by a factor of 1.2 (sedentary), 1.375, 1.55, 1.725 or 1.9 (physical job plus training). The loss target subtracts 500 kcal but never goes below 1,200 kcal for women or 1,500 kcal for men; the gain target adds 300 kcal.

Sources

When not to use it

  • During pregnancy or breastfeeding, energy needs rise in ways this equation does not model.
  • For children and teenagers, whose growth needs are set by age-specific reference values.
  • For people with a medical condition or medication affecting metabolism, where a clinician's assessment applies.

Common mistakes

  • Choosing a higher activity level than an average week supports, which can add 300 kcal or more.
  • Adding calories burned by a fitness tracker on top of an activity factor that already counts that exercise.
  • Treating the estimate as exact rather than adjusting it after a few weeks of real weight data.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the equation give women a lower figure?

At the same weight, women on average carry more fat mass and less lean tissue, which uses less energy at rest. The equation reflects this with a constant of −161 instead of +5, a gap of 166 kcal before the activity factor.

What is the difference between BMR and maintenance calories?

BMR, or resting energy, is what the body uses lying still for a day. Maintenance adds the energy of daily movement and exercise by multiplying BMR by an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.9.

How fast will a 500 kcal daily deficit reduce weight?

A common rule of thumb puts it near 0.5 kg (about 1 lb) a week at first, but losses slow as weight falls and the body adapts, so the deficit needs rechecking every few kilograms.

Why is the loss target sometimes higher than maintenance minus 500?

The calculator holds the loss figure at 1,200 kcal for women and 1,500 kcal for men, levels often cited as minimums for unsupervised eating. A warning appears whenever that floor applies.

Is Mifflin-St Jeor better than Harris-Benedict?

In comparison studies of healthy adults, Mifflin-St Jeor predicted measured resting energy within 10 percent for more people than the older Harris-Benedict equation, which tends to overestimate. Neither accounts for body composition directly.

Does age change the result much?

Each year of age lowers resting energy by 5 kcal in the equation, so ten years make a 50 kcal difference before activity, roughly 60 to 95 kcal after it.

Cite this tool

Using this tool in an assignment, article or report? Copy a citation, or a link for your website.

APA

Tools Directory Editorial Team. (2026, October 15). Calorie Calculator. Tools Directory. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://tools.milunir.com/health/macros-and-calories/calorie-calculator/

MLA

Tools Directory Editorial Team. “Calorie Calculator.” Tools Directory, 15 Oct. 2026, https://tools.milunir.com/health/macros-and-calories/calorie-calculator/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Tools Directory Editorial Team. “Calorie Calculator.” Tools Directory. Last modified October 15, 2026. Accessed October 25, 2026. https://tools.milunir.com/health/macros-and-calories/calorie-calculator/.

Link<a href="https://tools.milunir.com/health/macros-and-calories/calorie-calculator/">Calorie Calculator – Tools Directory</a>