🔥 Free Calculator
Calorie Calculator
Calculate your daily calorie needs (TDEE & BMR) based on your age, gender, height, weight, and activity level. Get personalized goals for weight loss, maintenance, or muscle gain.
Units
Biological Sex
yrs
kg
cm
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BMR — Basal Metabolic Rate (calories at rest)
Daily Calorie Goals (TDEE)
⚕️ For guidance only. Consult a healthcare professional before making significant dietary changes.
What These Numbers Mean
BMR
Basal Metabolic Rate — calories your body burns at complete rest just to stay alive. Your absolute minimum.
TDEE
Total Daily Energy Expenditure — BMR × activity multiplier. Eat at TDEE to maintain your current weight.
Weight Loss
Eat 500 calories below TDEE for ~0.5kg/week loss. This calculator shows mild and moderate deficit targets.
Muscle Gain
Eat 250–500 calories above TDEE with strength training to build muscle while minimizing fat gain.
Frequently Asked Questions
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is the most accurate BMR formula for most people. Men: BMR = 10×weight(kg) + 6.25×height(cm) − 5×age + 5. Women: BMR = 10×weight(kg) + 6.25×height(cm) − 5×age − 161.
A deficit of 500 calories per day leads to approximately 0.5kg (1 lb) of fat loss per week. Do not go below 1200 calories/day (women) or 1500 calories/day (men) without medical supervision, as this can cause muscle loss and nutritional deficiencies.
BMR is what your body burns at absolute rest. TDEE includes all your physical activity on top of BMR. You should base your diet on TDEE, not BMR, since you are always more active than pure rest.
Possible reasons: inaccurate calorie tracking, underestimating food portions, water retention (especially when starting exercise), or metabolic adaptation. Recalculate your TDEE every 4–6 weeks as your weight changes.
The Mifflin-St Jeor formula is accurate within 10% for most people. The largest source of error is the activity multiplier — people often overestimate their activity level. Use these numbers as a starting point and adjust based on real-world results over 2–4 weeks.