Calorie Calculator (TDEE)
Maintenance calories from the standard equation — with cut and gain lines.
How this is calculated
BMR = 10×kg + 6.25×cm − 5×age + (male: +5 · female: −161) · TDEE = BMR × activity factor
Worked example: male, 30, 80 kg, 180 cm, moderate activity → BMR 1,780 kcal, TDEE 1,780 × 1.55 ≈ 2,759 kcal. Eating ~2,259 targets roughly half a kilo of loss per week; ~3,059 supports slow lean gain. These are estimates — three weeks of scale trend beats any formula, and this page says so on purpose. Not medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories should I eat a day?
Your TDEE — total daily energy expenditure — is the maintenance number: eat that and weight holds steady. This calculator computes it as BMR (Mifflin–St Jeor) × an activity factor. To lose roughly 0.5 kg a week, eat about 500 kcal under it; to gain lean mass slowly, about 250–500 over.
What formula does this use?
Mifflin–St Jeor, the equation dietitians default to since 1990: BMR = 10×kg + 6.25×cm − 5×age +5 (men) / −161 (women), then multiplied by the standard activity factors (1.2 sedentary through 1.9 athlete). The full math is printed below the calculator.
Which activity level should I pick?
Most desk workers who train 3–5 times a week belong at "Moderate", not "Active" — people consistently overrate this setting, which quietly adds hundreds of phantom calories. When torn between two levels, pick the lower and let a month of scale data arbitrate.
Are these numbers exact?
They are good estimates, not measurements — real metabolisms vary around the formula by ±10% or so. Use the number as a starting line, watch your weight trend over three to four weeks, and adjust by 100–200 kcal at a time. For medical conditions, a dietitian beats any calculator.