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Calorie Intake Calculator

Health

Find your ideal daily calorie intake to lose, maintain, or gain weight based on your BMR, activity level, and goal ā€” free and instant results.

Written by Ā· Reviewed by the thecalcu.com team Ā· Last updated July 6, 2026

Gender
15 yrs80 yrs
30 kg200 kg
100 cm250 cm

Daily Calorie Target

0
Maintenance Calories (TDEE)
0
Projected Weekly Weight Change
0

Medical disclaimer: This calculator is for general information and educational use only. It is not a diagnosis and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider about your health and before acting on any result.

What is a Calorie Intake?

A Calorie Intake Calculator gives you a personalized daily calorie target based on your specific goal, whether you want to lose weight, maintain your current weight, or gain weight. It starts from the same foundation as a BMR Calculator and TDEE Calculator: your Basal Metabolic Rate adjusted for activity level, then layers on a calorie adjustment tuned to your goal. Rather than relying on generic advice like "eat 2,000 calories a day," this tool accounts for your actual age, weight, height, sex, and activity level to produce a number that reflects your individual energy needs.

Setting an accurate calorie target is the single most important variable in any weight management plan, get it too low and you risk excessive hunger, muscle loss, and metabolic slowdown; get it too high relative to your goal and progress stalls. This calculator applies the moderate, widely-used Ā±500 kcal/day adjustment for weight loss or gain, which corresponds to roughly 0.5 kg per week of change.

Why Use a Calorie Intake Calculator?

Most people either guess their calorie needs or rely on one-size-fits-all numbers from nutrition labels that don't reflect their actual body size or activity level. This calculator solves that by combining your BMR, activity multiplier, and stated goal into a single actionable daily target, removing the guesswork from calorie planning.

It's particularly useful when starting a new diet phase, adjusting your plan after a plateau, or switching between goals, for example, moving from a maintenance phase into a deliberate lean bulk using the same underlying formula as the Weight Gain Calculator.

Who Should Use This Calculator?

  • Anyone starting a weight loss journey who wants an evidence-based calorie deficit instead of an arbitrary number.
  • People trying to gain weight or build muscle who need a realistic calorie surplus target.
  • Anyone maintaining their current weight who wants to confirm their intake matches their TDEE.
  • Fitness enthusiasts tracking macros who need a total calorie budget before allocating protein, carbs, and fat.
  • People recalculating after a weight change who want an updated target that reflects their new body weight.

What Insights Does the Calorie Intake Calculator Give You?

  • Daily Calorie Target, your personalized calorie goal based on your selected objective; this is the number to plan your meals and tracking around.
  • Maintenance Calories (TDEE), your estimated calorie needs to keep your current weight stable, calculated before any goal-based adjustment.
  • Projected Weekly Weight Change, an estimate of how much weight you might gain or lose per week if you consistently hit your calorie target, based on the standard 7,700 kcal-per-kg approximation.

How to use this Calorie Intake calculator

  1. Select your Gender using the toggle.
  2. Enter your Age, Weight, and Height using the sliders or number fields.
  3. Choose your Activity Level card, from Sedentary through Extremely Active, based on your typical week.
  4. Choose your Goal card, Lose Weight, Maintain Weight, or Gain Weight.
  5. Review your Daily Calorie Target, and check the Projected Weekly Weight Change to see the expected pace of progress.
  6. Recalculate periodically as your weight or activity level changes to keep your target accurate.
Show formula & methodology ā†“Hide formula & methodology ā†‘

Formula & Methodology

Step 1, BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor equation):

Men: BMR = 10 Ɨ weight(kg) + 6.25 Ɨ height(cm) āˆ’ 5 Ɨ age(yrs) + 5 Women: BMR = 10 Ɨ weight(kg) + 6.25 Ɨ height(cm) āˆ’ 5 Ɨ age(yrs) āˆ’ 161

Step 2, Maintenance calories (TDEE): TDEE = BMR Ɨ Activity Multiplier

Step 3, Goal adjustment: Lose Weight: āˆ’500 kcal/day Ā· Maintain: Ā±0 Ā· Gain Weight: +500 kcal/day

Worked example: A 40-year-old man, 90 kg, 180 cm, moderately active, goal: lose weight:

BMR = (10 Ɨ 90) + (6.25 Ɨ 180) āˆ’ (5 Ɨ 40) + 5 = 900 + 1,125 āˆ’ 200 + 5 = 1,830 kcal/day TDEE = 1,830 Ɨ 1.55 ā‰ˆ 2,837 kcal/day Target = 2,837 āˆ’ 500 ā‰ˆ 2,337 kcal/day

At this target, he would be on track for roughly 0.5 kg of weight loss per week.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories should I eat per day?

It depends on your BMR, activity level, and goal, most adults maintain their current weight somewhere between 1,800 and 3,000 calories per day, while a deficit of about 500 calories supports roughly 0.5 kg of weight loss per week. Use this calculator with your own age, weight, height, and activity level to get a personalized number rather than relying on generic averages.

What is the formula behind this calculator?

It first calculates your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, multiplies that by an activity factor to get your maintenance calories (TDEE), then applies a Ā±500 kcal adjustment based on whether your goal is to lose, maintain, or gain weight. This mirrors the same approach used in the [TDEE Calculator](/tdee-calculator/) and [BMR Calculator](/bmr-calculator/), combined into one goal-based tool.

How much of a calorie deficit do I need to lose weight?

A deficit of approximately 500 calories per day is a widely used, moderate target that produces roughly 0.5 kg (about 1 pound) of weight loss per week, since 1 kg of body fat represents roughly 7,700 calories. Larger deficits can produce faster results but carry higher risk of muscle loss and are harder to sustain long-term.

What's the difference between maintenance calories and calorie target?

Maintenance calories, also called TDEE, is the number of calories that would keep your weight stable at your current activity level. Your calorie target is that maintenance number adjusted up or down based on your goal, lower for weight loss, higher for weight gain, or unchanged if you're maintaining.

Is a 500 calorie deficit safe for everyone?

For most healthy adults, a 500 calorie deficit is considered safe and sustainable, but it may be too aggressive for people with a low BMR, older adults, or anyone with existing health conditions. Consult a healthcare provider before starting any calorie-restricted plan, especially if your calculated target falls below 1,200 calories per day for women or 1,500 for men.

Why is my calorie target different from a generic 2,000 calorie diet?

The commonly cited 2,000-calorie figure is a general reference used on nutrition labels, not a personalized target, your actual needs depend on your BMR (driven by weight, height, age, and sex) and your specific activity level. Two people of the same age and weight can have meaningfully different calorie needs if their activity levels differ.

How does activity level affect my calorie target?

Activity level is applied as a multiplier on top of your BMR, someone who is very active might need 1.7-1.9 times their BMR in calories, while a sedentary person needs closer to 1.2 times. This is why accurately selecting your activity level is one of the most important steps in getting a realistic result.

What does 'Projected Weekly Weight Change' mean?

This estimates how much weight you might gain or lose per week if you consistently hit your calculated calorie target, based on the standard approximation that 7,700 calories roughly equals 1 kg of body weight. Actual results vary by individual due to factors like water retention, muscle gain, and metabolic adaptation.

Can I use this calculator if I'm trying to gain muscle, not just weight?

Yes, select 'Gain Weight' for a calorie surplus, but note that a surplus alone doesn't guarantee the gain is muscle rather than fat. Pairing a moderate surplus with resistance training and adequate protein intake gives the best chance of gaining mostly lean mass.

How often should I recalculate my calorie target?

Recalculate whenever your weight changes by more than a few kilograms, your activity level shifts significantly, or every 4-6 weeks during an active weight loss or gain phase, since your BMR and TDEE change as your body weight changes.

What should I do if my calorie target is very low or very high?

If your target falls below roughly 1,200 calories (women) or 1,500 calories (men), consider a smaller deficit or consult a healthcare provider, since very low intakes can be hard to sustain and may not meet nutritional needs. Similarly, very high surplus targets should be paired with resistance training to avoid excessive fat gain.

Does this calculator account for age-related changes in metabolism?

Yes, the underlying Mifflin-St Jeor formula includes age as a factor, and BMR generally decreases gradually with age due to natural changes in muscle mass and hormone levels, which this calculator reflects in its results.
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