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Calorie Calculator
Find out how many calories a day you need to hold your weight, and what intake would lose or gain roughly half a pound or a pound a week. Enter your sex, age, height, weight and how active you are.
- Lose about 0.5 lb a week (−250)
- 2,513 kcal/day
- Lose about 1 lb a week (−500)
- 2,263 kcal/day
- Gain about 0.5 lb a week (+250)
- 3,013 kcal/day
- Gain about 1 lb a week (+500)
- 3,263 kcal/day
Saved setups
Save a set of inputs you reuse — your usual rate, your loan, your room sizes — and load it back in one tap.
Your recent calculations
Results you calculate here are kept on this device so you can come back to them.
Formula
How to use it
- Enter your sex, age, height and weight.
- Pick the activity level that describes a normal week.
- Read your maintenance calories, then the higher or lower intakes for gaining or losing weight.
Worked examples
A moderately active 30-year-old man, 5 ft 10 in and 180 lb
- Maintain weight
- 2,763 kcal/day
- Lose about 0.5 lb a week (−250)
- 2,513 kcal/day
- Lose about 1 lb a week (−500)
- 2,263 kcal/day
- Gain about 1 lb a week (+500)
- 3,263 kcal/day
A sedentary 35-year-old woman, 165 cm and 65 kg
- Maintain weight
- 1,614 kcal/day
- Lose about 0.5 lb a week (−250)
- 1,364 kcal/day
- Gain about 0.5 lb a week (+250)
- 1,864 kcal/day
Where the 500-calorie figure comes from
A pound of body fat is commonly taken to store about 3,500 kcal (about 7,700 kcal per kg), so a 500 kcal daily shortfall adds up to roughly a pound a week. It is a rule of thumb. Real weight change slows over time as a lighter body burns less, and water shifts can hide fat loss for days.
Why some results are blank
Intakes below about 1,200 kcal a day for women and 1,500 kcal a day for men are commonly cited as the lowest that should be followed without medical supervision, because it becomes hard to get enough nutrients. When a weight-loss figure would fall below that level the calculator leaves it blank rather than suggesting it.
This is an estimate for general information, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or other qualified clinician before making health decisions based on it.
Questions people ask
How many calories should I eat a day?
To hold your weight, about your TDEE. A moderately active 30-year-old man who is 5 ft 10 in and 180 lb needs roughly 2,763 kcal; eating about 2,263 would lose around a pound a week.
How many calories do I cut to lose a pound a week?
About 500 a day, which is 3,500 over a week. You can create the gap by eating less, moving more, or both.
Is 2,000 calories a day right for everyone?
No. 2,000 is the reference figure used on US nutrition labels. Individual needs commonly range from about 1,600 to 3,000 kcal depending on size, age, sex and activity.