Maintenance Calorie Calculator
Estimate the calories that keep your weight exactly where it is. Enter sex, age, weight (lb or kg), height (inches or cm), and how active you are; you also get ready-made targets for a 1 lb/week cut and a lean bulk.
Example: with Sex Male · Age 30 · Weight 180 · Weight unit lb (pounds) · Height 70 → Maintenance calories (TDEE): 2,763 kcal/day.
- BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor)1,783 kcal/day
- To lose about 1 lb/week2,263 kcal/day
- Lean-gain target (+250/day)3,013 kcal/day
Computed by the calculator below using its default values. Change any input to see your own numbers.
Maintenance = Mifflin-St Jeor BMR × activity multiplier. Cut = maintenance − 500; lean gain = maintenance + 250.
What maintenance calories are
Maintenance calories — also called TDEE, total daily energy expenditure — are what your body spends in a normal day: basal metabolism (usually 60-70% of the total), digesting food (about 10%), and all movement from workouts to fidgeting. Eat that amount and your weight holds; everything in dieting is defined relative to this number, which is why it is worth estimating carefully.
The calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for BMR because a 2005 American Dietetic Association review found it the most reliable of the common formulas for healthy adults, then scales it by a standard activity multiplier. The multiplier is the soft spot: most people overrate their activity by one level, which inflates the estimate by 200-300 kcal.
How to verify the number against reality
Treat the output as a starting point, then audit it: eat close to the estimate and weigh yourself daily for two to three weeks. If your weekly average weight is flat, the number is right. Drifting up or down by about a pound per week means reality is roughly 500 kcal below or above the estimate — adjust and retest. That simple experiment beats any formula, because it measures your actual metabolism and activity, not a population average.
How it’s calculated
BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor): men 10×kg + 6.25×cm − 5×age + 5; women 10×kg + 6.25×cm − 5×age − 161. Maintenance (TDEE) = BMR × activity multiplier: 1.2 sedentary, 1.375 lightly active, 1.55 moderately active, 1.725 very active, 1.9 extra active. Cut target = TDEE − 500; lean-gain target = TDEE + 250. Conversions: 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg; 1 in = 2.54 cm.
Population equations carry roughly ±10% individual spread and activity multipliers are self-reported guesses, so verify against 2-3 weeks of scale data; educational estimate, not medical advice — consult a clinician for unexplained weight change.
Activity multipliers (example: 1,783 kcal BMR)
| Level | Multiplier | Maintenance |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary — desk job, little exercise | 1.2 | 2,139 kcal |
| Lightly active — 1-3 workouts/week | 1.375 | 2,451 kcal |
| Moderately active — 3-5 workouts/week | 1.55 | 2,763 kcal |
| Very active — 6-7 hard workouts/week | 1.725 | 3,075 kcal |
| Extra active — physical job + training | 1.9 | 3,387 kcal |
Standard Mifflin-St Jeor activity factors applied to the default example (male, 30, 180 lb, 5 ft 10 in; BMR 1,783 kcal); rounded.
Common mistakes
- Picking 'moderately active' for a desk job plus two gym visits — that is 'lightly active', and the difference is about 300 kcal/day.
- Treating the estimate as exact instead of validating it against 2-3 weeks of weight trend.
- Using pounds in the kg field (or vice versa) — a 180 'kg' typo adds roughly 1,000 kcal to the answer.
- Forgetting to recalculate after losing or gaining 10+ lb, or when training volume changes.
Frequently asked questions
How are maintenance calories calculated?
BMR from Mifflin-St Jeor (men: 10×kg + 6.25×cm − 5×age + 5; women: 10×kg + 6.25×cm − 5×age − 161) multiplied by an activity factor from 1.2 to 1.9. The default example — a 30-year-old, 180 lb, 5 ft 10 in moderately active man — lands at about 2,763 kcal/day.
Are maintenance calories the same as TDEE?
Yes. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is the technical name for the calories you burn in a day; maintenance calories are the same number described from the eating side.
Why does my fitness tracker say something different?
Trackers estimate workout burn generously and add it to their own resting estimate, so they often run 10-20% high. Both are estimates — your weight trend over a few weeks is the referee.
How often should I recalculate?
After every 10-15 lb of weight change, or whenever your routine shifts — a new job, marathon training, an injury. Metabolism also eases down slowly with age, roughly 1-2% per decade in adulthood.
My weight changes even though I eat at maintenance. Is something wrong?
Day-to-day swings of 1-3 lb are water, sodium, and gut contents, not fat. Judge by weekly averages, and bring persistent unexplained loss or gain to a doctor — thyroid and medication effects are common and checkable.