Calorie Calculator
Find how many calories to eat per day to lose, maintain or gain weight, based on your body, activity and goal.
In years
How Many Calories Should You Eat per Day?
The right number depends on your body and your goal. A calorie target is the energy you eat each day, measured in kcal. Eat at your maintenance level and your weight holds steady. Eat below it and you lose weight. Eat above it and you gain. This calculator finds all three numbers for you at once.
Your daily need is driven by four things: your weight, height, age and sex. Activity sits on top of that base. The more you move, the more you burn. So a single calories-per-day figure from a generic chart rarely fits a real person. Your own number can land hundreds of calories above or below the average.
How This Calorie Calculator Works
The tool runs in two steps. First it finds your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. BMR is the energy you burn at rest. It depends on your weight, height, age and sex.
Then it multiplies your BMR by an activity factor, from 1.2 for a desk job up to 1.9 for daily hard training. That gives your maintenance calories, also called your TDEE. To see that burn number on its own, with a breakdown at every activity level, use the TDEE calculator.
The last step applies your goal. To lose weight it subtracts 250 or 500 kcal a day. To gain it adds the same. A 500 kcal daily change works out to about 0.45 kg (1 lb) a week. Loss targets never drop below a safe floor of 1,500 kcal for men and 1,200 kcal for women.
Validated example: a 30-year-old man at 80 kg and 180 cm who trains moderately has a maintenance of 2,759 kcal. To lose weight steadily he eats 2,259. To gain he eats 3,259.
Calories to Lose, Maintain, or Gain Weight
To maintain, eat at your TDEE. The maintenance calories calculator frames that same number for holding steady.
To lose fat, eat below maintenance. A 250 to 500 kcal daily deficit is the usual safe range. It is large enough to show on the scale and small enough to keep up. For a full breakdown of pace and weekly loss, use the calorie deficit calculator.
To gain muscle, eat above maintenance. A small surplus of 250 to 500 kcal supports growth without much fat gain. Pair it with strength training and enough protein. Faster is not better here. A big surplus mostly adds fat.
Turn Your Calorie Number Into a Plan
A calorie target tells you how much to eat. Macros tell you what. Once you have your number, split it into protein, carbs and fat with the macro calculator.
Then the real work starts: eating close to that target most days and watching the trend. Movement counts too. The steps to calories calculator shows how much your daily walking adds to the burn side.
Numbers only help if you act on them. The Velpa app logs your weight and steps in one private place. You see whether your real results match the estimate, then adjust your intake by 100 to 200 kcal when needed.
Frequently asked questions
- How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
- Eat 250 to 500 calories below your maintenance level. For most adults that means a target a few hundred calories under their TDEE. A 500 kcal daily deficit produces about 0.45 kg (1 lb) of loss per week. Do not drop below 1,500 kcal as a man or 1,200 kcal as a woman without medical advice. Enter your details above and pick a lose goal to see your exact number.
- How does this calculator find my daily calories?
- It uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. First it estimates your BMR from your weight, height, age and sex. Then it multiplies that by an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.9 to get your maintenance calories. Finally it adds or subtracts 250 or 500 kcal based on your goal. The result is your daily target.
- How many calories do I need to maintain my weight?
- Your maintenance level equals your TDEE, the calories you burn in a day. Eat that amount and your weight stays stable. For a 30-year-old man at 80 kg and 180 cm training moderately, that is about 2,759 kcal. Your own figure shows as Maintenance (TDEE) in the result panel.
- How many calories should I eat to gain weight or build muscle?
- Eat 250 to 500 calories above your maintenance level. A 500 kcal surplus adds roughly 0.45 kg (1 lb) per week. Keep the surplus small to favor muscle over fat, and lift weights. Most of the extra calories should come from protein and carbs. Pick a gain goal above to see your target.
- How accurate is this calorie calculator?
- It is a solid estimate, usually within about 10% of your true needs. Two people with the same stats can differ because of muscle mass, genetics and daily movement. Use your number as a starting point. Eat at it for two to three weeks, track your weight trend, then adjust by 100 to 200 calories if the scale is not moving as planned.