Maintenance Calories Calculator

What this calculator estimates

This tool gives a broad, formula-based estimate of your average daily energy use — the number of calories your body uses in a typical day at your usual activity level. It is also known as Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE.

The result is an estimate, not an exact calorie requirement, a prescribed intake, a personal maintenance target, a meal plan or a health assessment. It is intended for adults and is based on your age, sex, height, weight and usual activity level.

How to use this calculator

1. Choose the sex to use for the calculation — the equation uses a different offset for each.
2. Enter your age in years. The calculator is for adults aged 18 to 120.
3. Enter your height in centimetres, or switch the unit to feet and inches.
4. Enter your weight in kilograms, or switch the unit to pounds or stones and pounds.
5. Pick the activity assumption that best describes your usual week, including work, everyday movement and planned exercise.
6. Read your estimated maintenance calories, your estimated BMR, the seven-day equivalent, and the table showing the estimate under each activity assumption.

Changing a unit converts the value you have already entered rather than clearing it.

What do I need to enter?

• Sex — Male or Female. The equation uses a different offset for each.
• Age — whole years, from 18 to 120.
• Height — 100 to 250 cm, or feet and inches (3 to 8 ft, plus 0 to 11 inches).
• Weight — 30 to 300 kg, 66 to 660 lb, or 4 to 47 stone plus up to 13.9 pounds.
• Usual activity level — the description that fits your typical week. It sets the multiplier applied to your BMR.

What do the results show?

• Estimated maintenance calories — the main figure: your average daily energy use at the chosen activity level, in kcal.
• Estimated basal metabolic rate (BMR) — the energy your body uses at rest, before any activity multiplier.
• Seven-day equivalent — the daily estimate multiplied by seven.
• Activity table — the daily estimate under every activity assumption, with your selection marked.

How the estimate is calculated

The calculator converts height to centimetres and weight to kilograms, estimates basal metabolic rate (BMR) with the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, then multiplies BMR by the selected activity assumption.

Let W be weight in kilograms, H height in centimetres, and A age in years:

The activity multipliers are broad assumptions used to turn a resting-energy estimate into an estimate of average daily energy use. They do not measure activity directly and cannot capture all differences in energy needs.

Worked example. A 35-year-old man, 180 cm and 80 kg, moderately active (multiplier 1.55): BMR = (10 × 80) + (6.25 × 180) − (5 × 35) + 5 = 800 + 1,125 − 175 + 5 = 1,755 kcal/day. Estimated daily energy use = 1,755 × 1.55 = 2,720.25, shown as 2,720 kcal/day, with a seven-day equivalent of 19,041.75 → 19,042 kcal.

What the activity assumptions mean

• Sedentary (× 1.200) — Little or no planned exercise; mainly sitting during the day.
• Lightly active (× 1.375) — Light exercise or active movement 1 to 3 days per week.
• Moderately active (× 1.550) — Moderate exercise 3 to 5 days per week.
• Very active (× 1.725) — Hard exercise 6 to 7 days per week or a physically demanding job.
• Very high activity (× 1.900) — Hard daily training or physically demanding work.

These are broad examples, not fixed identity labels. Choose the description that best fits your usual week — including work, daily movement and planned exercise — rather than your most active day. Higher assumptions can overestimate energy use if they do not match your real routine.

Why the seven-day equivalent is arithmetic

The seven-day equivalent is the daily estimate multiplied by seven. It is a convenient way to see the figure on a weekly scale, not a weekly calorie budget, allowance, plan or intake target. Real daily energy use varies, so individual days are not expected to match one seventh of it.

Why results vary and when to get advice

This calculation combines a formula-based basal metabolic rate estimate with a broad activity multiplier. It estimates average daily energy use at the activity level selected; it is not an exact calorie requirement, personal calorie prescription, meal plan or assessment of nutritional needs.

Energy needs can vary with body composition, day-to-day movement, training volume, health, medication, sleep and other factors. It may not be appropriate during pregnancy or breastfeeding, for people under 18, people with an eating disorder, or people with a medical condition affecting diet, weight or energy needs. In these situations, seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian.

Comparing the resting-energy equations

This calculator applies an activity assumption on top of a single BMR estimate. Want to compare resting-energy equations? Use the BMR Calculator.

Once you have a maintenance figure, use it as the starting point for a goal: the Weight Loss Calorie Calculator and the Weight Gain Calorie Calculator both build on it.

Sources

The BMR step uses the Mifflin–St Jeor equation from Mifflin et al., “A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals”, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990. The activity multipliers are broad assumptions, not taken from that paper.

Frequently asked questions