Calorie Calculator — Daily Intake Goal
Find exactly how many calories you should eat each day — based on your body stats, activity level and goal — and see the matching protein, fat and carb targets.
Sex
years
kg
cm
Activity level
Goal
Target calories per day — Mifflin-St Jeor BMR × activity factor ± goal adjustment
- 1
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
10 × 70 + 6.25 × 175 − 5 × 30 + 5 = 1,649Mifflin-St Jeor equation at complete rest. - 2
Maintenance calories (TDEE)
1,649 × 1.55 = 2,556 - 3
Daily calorie goal
2,556 = 2,556
How does this calculator work?
Daily calories = (Mifflin-St Jeor BMR) × activity factor ± goal adjustment. For weight loss subtract 500 kcal from TDEE to lose ≈ 0.5 kg/week. Enter your weight, height, age, activity level and goal to get a personalised calorie target with protein, fat and carb gram targets.
Formula
How this is calculated
This calculator applies the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (the preferred formula of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics) to estimate Basal Metabolic Rate — the calories your body burns at complete rest just to sustain breathing, circulation and cell repair. The inputs are weight W (kg), height H (cm) and age A (years). Males add 5 and females subtract 161, reflecting average differences in lean body mass.
BMR is then multiplied by an activity factor to give Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) — from 1.2 (sedentary desk worker) to 1.9 (physically demanding job or twice-a-day training). The calorie goal is TDEE adjusted for your target: −500 kcal/day creates roughly 0.5 kg of fat loss per week (since 1 kg of adipose tissue holds about 7,700 kcal), while +300–500 kcal/day above TDEE supports muscle gain during a lean or fast bulk.
The suggested macro split (protein 30 %, fat 25 %, carbohydrates 45 %) converts goal calories into grams using 4 kcal/g for protein and carbs and 9 kcal/g for fat. These are evidence-based starting proportions for a balanced diet; individual needs vary significantly by training type, health conditions and food preferences. Activity factors and the Mifflin-St Jeor constants are population averages with a typical individual error of ±10–15 %, so treat the output as a calibrated starting point and adjust by ±100–200 kcal based on real weight trends over 2–4 weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Eat approximately 500 kcal less than your TDEE (maintenance level) every day. Since 1 kg of body fat stores roughly 7,700 kcal, a 500 kcal daily deficit creates a weekly shortfall of 3,500 kcal — leading to about 0.5 kg of fat loss per week over time.
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the calories your body uses at complete rest for essential functions such as breathing and cell repair. TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) multiplies BMR by an activity factor to include the extra calories burned through movement and exercise — it is the real daily burn you should compare against food intake.
Men typically carry more lean muscle mass and less body fat than women of the same weight and height, and muscle burns more calories at rest. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation uses sex-specific constants (+5 for males, −161 for females) to capture this average physiological difference.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Calorie Calculator — Daily Intake Goal [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/calorie-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Calorie Calculator — Daily Intake Goal." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/calorie-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Calorie Calculator — Daily Intake Goal," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/calorie-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_calorie_calculator, title = {Calorie Calculator — Daily Intake Goal}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/calorie-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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