Calorie calculator
How many calories you need each day to keep your weight, lose it or gain it, and when you’d reach your goal.
How it’s worked out
- Resting energy (BMR)
- Activity
- To change weight
Where the number comes from
Your body burns energy all day just to stay alive; that is your basal metabolic rate. Movement adds to it. Multiplying BMR by an activity factor gives the calories that keep your weight where it is. A kilogram of body fat holds roughly 7,700 calories, so a daily gap of 500 calories works out to about a pound a week.
Questions people ask
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
Start from your maintenance calories and eat about 500 fewer a day to lose roughly 1 lb (0.45 kg) a week. Slower loss is easier to keep up and keeps more muscle.
Why is there a minimum?
Eating under about 1,200 calories a day for women or 1,500 for men makes it hard to get enough nutrients, and is usually only done under medical supervision. The calculator flags any target below that line.
How accurate is this?
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is typically within about 10% of measured energy use. Treat the result as a starting point: track your weight for two or three weeks and adjust by 100–200 calories if needed.