How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

A common approach is to eat 250–500 calories below your maintenance level (TDEE) per day, which typically produces about 0.25–0.5 kg of weight loss per week.

How many calories should I eat to gain weight?

Eating 250–500 calories above your maintenance level per day supports a gradual, manageable weight gain of about 0.25–0.5 kg per week.

Is this the same as TDEE?

TDEE is your maintenance calorie level. This calculator starts from your TDEE and then adjusts it up or down based on the goal you select.

Health & Fitness

Calorie Calculator

Enter your details, activity level, and goal to find how many calories to eat each day to maintain, lose, or gain weight at a sensible pace.

Your calculation is performed in your browser.

Fill in your details, activity level, and goal to see your daily calorie target.

This result is an estimate for informational and educational purposes. It isn’t a diagnosis and isn’t a substitute for advice from a doctor, registered dietitian, or other qualified professional. See our methodology and sources for the formula used and its limitations.

How it works

The calculator estimates your maintenance calories (TDEE) from your BMR and activity level, then applies a calorie adjustment sized to your selected goal — from a mild change to a faster one — to give you a daily calorie target.

Formula & methodology

Maintenance calories (your TDEE) come from BMR × activity multiplier. Your goal then adds or subtracts a fixed daily amount. As a safety floor, the target is never shown below 1,000 calories per day.

MaintenanceMaintenance = BMR × Activity multiplier

TargetTarget calories = Maintenance + Goal adjustment

What each term means

BMR: Mifflin-St Jeor estimate: (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) + 5 for men, − 161 for women.
Goal adjustment: Daily calories added or removed for your chosen goal (table below).

Goal adjustments

Goal	Calories per day
Fast weight loss	−1,000
Weight loss	−500
Mild weight loss	−250
Maintain weight	0
Mild weight gain	+250
Weight gain	+500

Worked example

A person with a TDEE of 2,200 calories who chooses "Weight loss (~0.5 kg per week)" gets a target of about 1,700 calories per day.

Common uses

—Setting a daily calorie target before starting a weight loss, maintenance, or muscle-gain plan.
—Adjusting food intake around a specific, sustainable weekly rate of change.
—Providing the starting calorie number needed to calculate macros with the Macro Calculator.

Important notes

—A deficit of about 7,700 kcal corresponds to roughly 1 kg of fat loss; a surplus of the same size corresponds to roughly 1 kg of gain.
—The calculator never suggests fewer than 1,000 calories per day, which is a common safety floor for adults.