Support: Calorie Calculator

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Common questions

How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

About 500 a day below your maintenance calories for a pound a week. A 35-year-old woman, 5 ft 5 in and 150 lb, moderately active, maintains on about 2,133 a day, so about 1,633 loses roughly a pound a week.

What is BMR?

Basal metabolic rate, the calories your body uses at rest for breathing, circulation and keeping warm. It is usually 60–70% of what you burn in a day.

What is TDEE?

Total daily energy expenditure: your BMR times an activity factor, from 1.2 for little exercise to 1.9 for very active. It is the calories that keep your weight steady.

Which formula does this use?

The Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in 1990 and the one dietitians most often use for adults: 10 × kg + 6.25 × cm − 5 × age, plus 5 for men or minus 161 for women.

How low should calories go?

Health guides commonly advise not going below about 1,200 a day for women and 1,500 for men without a doctor or dietitian involved. The calculator warns when a target is lower.

How many grams of protein should I eat?

It depends on your calories and split. On 1,800 calories with 30% from protein, that is 540 calories, or 135 g. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans give 10–35% of calories from protein for adults.

Is anything sent anywhere?

No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to us or stored.