Calorie + TDEE calculator
Find your daily calorie target.
Mifflin-St Jeor BMR, scaled by your activity level, with honest targets for cutting, maintenance, and lean gain. No email gate, just the math.
Your stats
Your daily calorie targets
BMR 1,735
TDEE 2,689
Fat loss
2,189cal/day
≈ 0.5–1 lb/week, sustainable
Maintenance
2,689cal/day
Body comp stays the same
Lean gain
2,989cal/day
Slow, lean rate, minimizes fat gain
These are estimates, within ~10% for most people. Track adherence and your weekly average weight for 2–4 weeks, then adjust by ±100–200 cal as needed. Don’t over-correct weekly.
The math
How the number is built.
Step 1. BMR (basal metabolic rate). The number of calories your body would burn if you did nothing all day. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation estimates this from weight, height, age, and a sex offset:
BMR = 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age + offset where offset = +5 for male, −161 for female
Step 2. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Multiply BMR by an activity factor that reflects your weekly training and daily movement. Lean conservative, most people overestimate this.
Step 3. Goal-adjusted targets. For fat loss, subtract ~500 cal from TDEE (roughly 0.5–1 lb/week lost). For lean gain, add ~300 cal (slow, lean rate). Maintenance is just TDEE.
Why the floor matters.The calculator never recommends below 1500 cal/day for men or 1200 for women, at those levels you risk wrecking adherence, recovery, and hormones faster than you lose fat. If your math comes out lower than the floor, that’s a sign you need a slower deficit or a different approach.
Worked example
42-year-old, 5′10″, 175 lbs, moderately active.
Converting to metric: 175 lbs ≈ 79.4 kg, 5′10″ ≈ 177.8 cm.
BMR = 10 × 79.4 + 6.25 × 177.8 − 5 × 42 + 5 = 1,700 cal/day.
TDEE at moderately active (1.55×): 1,700 × 1.55 ≈ 2,635 cal/day. This is maintenance.
Fat loss target: 2,635 − 500 = 2,135 cal/day. Lean gain target: 2,635 + 300 = 2,935 cal/day.
FAQ
Honest answers.
- Which formula does this use?
- The Mifflin-St Jeor equation for basal metabolic rate (BMR), then a Harris-Benedict-style activity multiplier on top to estimate total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). Mifflin-St Jeor is the modern standard, more accurate than the older Harris-Benedict equation for most adults.
- How accurate is the result?
- Within ~10% for most people. Real metabolism varies with genetics, NEAT (fidgeting, posture, walking around), hormonal state, sleep, and how well you track your food. Treat this as a starting point you tune over 2-4 weeks, not a precision instrument.
- What activity level should I pick?
- Be honest, and lean conservative. Most adults overestimate. 'Lightly active' for 1-3 days/week of structured exercise plus a desk job. 'Moderately active' for 3-5 days/week. 'Very active' for 6-7 days of real training or a physical job. Save 'super active' for athletes or trades + training.
- Why does the cut target have a minimum floor?
- Because going too low too fast wrecks adherence, recovery, hormones, and (eventually) your metabolism. The floors here (1500 male, 1200 female) are conservative thresholds, anything tighter than that needs a coach watching it.
- Can I lose weight faster than 500 calories below maintenance?
- Technically yes. But the deeper the deficit, the more muscle you lose, the worse you recover, the less you can train, and the harder the rebound. Half a pound to a pound per week is the sustainable lane for almost everyone, that's roughly what a 500-calorie deficit produces.
Want the plan behind the number?
A calorie target is a starting point. The plan around it, training, macros, recovery, adherence, life, is the part that actually gets you there. That’s coaching.