Daily Calorie Needs Calculator: Estimate Calories

How to use the daily calorie needs calculator

1. Choose metric or imperial units.
2. Select your gender.
3. Enter your age, height, and current body weight.
4. Choose the activity description that most closely reflects a typical week.
5. Choose whether your goal is to lose, maintain, or gain weight.
6. Calculate to see the daily target, estimated maintenance calories, and estimated resting energy.

This calculator is for adults. The result is a starting estimate, not a direct measurement of your metabolism or a personalized medical recommendation.

What the results mean

• Daily calorie estimate is the goal-adjusted result. Maintenance leaves the estimate unchanged, weight loss reduces it by 20 percent, and weight gain increases it by 20 percent.
• Estimated maintenance is the calculated total daily energy expenditure, often shortened to TDEE.
• Estimated resting energy is the calorie estimate before activity and goal adjustments.

The website follows the same calculation as the calorie calculator in Lift for iOS and Android.

Formula and methodology

The resting estimate uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. Weight is measured in kilograms, height in centimeters, and age in years.

For male profiles:

resting calories = 10 x weight + 6.25 x height - 5 x age + 5

For female profiles:

resting calories = 10 x weight + 6.25 x height - 5 x age - 161

The calculator then estimates maintenance calories:

maintenance calories = resting calories x activity multiplier

The selected goal applies a final multiplier:

• Lose weight: maintenance calories x 0.8
• Maintain weight: maintenance calories x 1.0
• Gain weight: maintenance calories x 1.2

The final values are rounded to whole kilocalories.

Worked examples

Maintenance example

For a 30-year-old male profile at 80 kg and 180 cm with moderate activity:

• Resting estimate: 1,780 kcal/day
• Maintenance estimate: 1,780 x 1.55 = 2,759 kcal/day
• Maintenance target: 2,759 kcal/day

Weight loss example

For a 35-year-old female profile at 65 kg and 165 cm with light activity:

• Resting estimate: about 1,345 kcal/day
• Maintenance estimate: about 1,850 kcal/day
• Goal-adjusted estimate: 1,850 x 0.8 = 1,480 kcal/day

How to use the estimate

• Treat the result as an initial target rather than a guaranteed intake.
• Track calorie intake and body weight consistently enough to observe a trend.
• Reassess the target when body weight, activity, or the goal changes.
• Use professional guidance if health, medication, pregnancy, breastfeeding, an eating disorder, or another individual factor affects nutrition needs.

Assumptions and limitations

• The equation predicts resting energy from population data. It does not measure your metabolism.
• Activity categories are broad, so choosing a category can overestimate or underestimate actual expenditure.
• The fixed 20 percent goal adjustment does not model how energy expenditure can change over time.
• The calculator is limited to adults aged 18 to 100 and is not designed for pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• Individual needs can be higher or lower than the estimate.