Maintenance calorie calculator
How much to eat to neither gain nor lose weight. Your estimated maintenance number, in an honest range — no formula knows your metabolism to the gram.
Indicative estimate (Mifflin-St Jeor formula). Your real metabolism varies — track your trend over 2-3 weeks and adjust.
What are maintenance calories?
Your maintenance calories are the calories your body needs each day to keep the same weight — neither gaining nor losing. It's your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE): your basal metabolic rate multiplied by your activity level. Eat this number, and your weight stays stable.
The result is a range, not an exact value: formulas estimate to within ±5-10%. The real test is the scale over 2-3 weeks.
Maintenance, deficit or surplus?
Your maintenance is the balance point. From there, everything happens around that number.
Maintenance = stable weight. You eat as much as you burn. Ideal to stabilise after a diet or to keep your shape without counting every calorie.
Deficit = weight loss. Eating 300 to 500 kcal below your maintenance makes you lose weight gradually. Calculate your deficit →
Surplus = weight gain. Eating 200 to 400 kcal above favours muscle gain (with resistance training). See the high-calorie foods.
Frequently asked questions
What are maintenance calories?+
They are the calories your body needs each day to keep the same weight, neither gaining nor losing. They're also called total daily energy expenditure (TDEE): your basal metabolic rate multiplied by your activity level.
How do I calculate my maintenance calories?+
First estimate your basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor formula (sex, age, height, weight), then multiply it by an activity factor (from 1.2 sedentary to 1.9 athlete). The result is a range, not an exact number.
How many calories to maintain weight?+
On average around 1,800 to 2,200 kcal for a woman and 2,200 to 2,800 kcal for a man, depending on age, weight and activity. The calculator above gives your personal estimate as a range.
Do maintenance calories make you lose weight?+
No: eating your maintenance calories keeps your weight stable. To lose weight you eat below (deficit), to gain you eat above (surplus). Maintenance is the balance point between the two.