Maintenance Calorie Calculator

Your maintenance calories, also called Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), are how much energy you need each day to keep your weight steady. That covers the energy your body burns at rest and during daily activity and exercise. This calculator uses the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, a standard in nutrition research, to estimate your daily needs based on your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level.

What are maintenance calories?

Maintenance calories are the total calories you burn in a day. Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is the energy needed for basic functions such as breathing, circulation, and cellular activity while you're at rest. Add the calories you burn through daily movement and exercise to get your TDEE. That number is the anchor for any weight goal, whether you want to lose, gain, or hold steady.

How to use this calculator

Enter five values to calculate your RMR and TDEE in kcal or kJ.

Enter your weight in kg or lb, and your height in cm or ft/in.
Add your age (18 or older) and select your sex.
Choose an activity level, anywhere from sedentary to super active.

Understanding your results

You'll see two numbers:

Resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the calories your body burns at rest, roughly 60–75% of your daily total. It powers basic functions like circulation, breathing, cell production, and digestion.
Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), or maintenance calories, is what you need to hold your current weight. Multiply RMR by an activity factor to get TDEE, and eating at that level should keep your weight steady.

The Mifflin–St Jeor equation

Published in 1990 by Mifflin and St Jeor, this equation was developed from measurements of 498 healthy adults. It predicts RMR to within 10% for roughly 70% of people, which beats the older Harris–Benedict equation that tends to overestimate by about 5%.

The formula uses weight and height for body mass, age for the gradual slowdown in metabolism, and sex for typical muscle-to-fat differences.

Activity level guidelines

Pick your activity level carefully. Most people overestimate this number.

Activity Level	Factor	Description
Sedentary	1.2	mostly sitting with little exercise, typical of a desk job.
Lightly active	1.4	one to three days a week of easy exercise, or a job that involves some standing and walking.
Moderately active	1.55	three to five days a week of moderate exercise, or a physically active job like construction or retail.
Very active	1.725	five to seven days a week of hard exercise, or a demanding job paired with regular workouts.
Super active	1.9	an extremely demanding profession combined with strenuous daily exercise.
Professional athlete	2.3	intense training at least twice a day with heavy daily workloads.

Practical applications

Your TDEE is the anchor for any nutrition plan. For gradual weight loss of about 0.5 to 1 pound per week, aim for a deficit of 300 to 500 kcal below your TDEE. To build muscle, aim for a 200 to 300 kcal surplus alongside a strength-training program. Athletes can use this number to verify they're eating enough, since inadequate intake hurts both performance and recovery.

Tips for accurate results

Weigh yourself every morning after bathroom use for consistent readings.
Be honest about your activity level; most people overestimate.
Track your food intake and weight for two to three weeks to test your estimate.
Recalculate after a 10 to 15 pound change in weight, or whenever your activity level shifts noticeably.

Frequently asked questions

Is this calculator accurate for everyone?

It serves as a general guideline, and needs differ between individuals. The Mifflin–St Jeor equation produces RMR results within a 10% margin of error for about 70% of people, and it works best for those who are neither underweight nor severely obese. People who are muscular tend to have a higher actual RMR than predicted, while people with low muscle mass tend to have a lower RMR. Track your weight for several weeks and adjust your calories based on the trend.

Should I eat calories equal to my TDEE to maintain my current weight?

TDEE is an estimate, so treat it as a starting point and adjust based on your weight trends. Monitor your weight for two to three weeks at this intake: if you're losing weight, raise calories by 100 to 200 kcal per day; if you're gaining, lower them by the same amount.