Maintenance Calorie Calculator

Formula

BMR = 10 × kg + 6.25 × cm − 5 × age + 5 (men) or − 161 (women). Maintenance = BMR × activity factor

Maintenance calories are what you burn in a typical day: eat that much and weight holds steady. The Mifflin–St Jeor equation estimates the energy your body uses at rest, and an activity factor from 1.2 to 1.9 scales it up for how much you move. It is the same figure as TDEE, worked out here in one step from measurements you already know.

Worked example

A 30-year-old man of 70 kg and 175 cm has an estimated resting rate of 1,649 kcal a day. At a moderate activity level (× 1.55) that becomes about 2,556 kcal a day to stay the same weight. The same man at a desk job with no exercise would need about 1,979.

Where this can give the wrong answer

• The activity label changes the answer by more than anything else, and people tend to overrate theirs. The table shows all five levels side by side; if your weight drifts up on the number you chose, the level below is probably closer.
• The equation was fitted to groups of adults and estimates an individual only roughly. Two people with identical measurements can differ by a couple of hundred calories a day.
• Very muscular and very lean people burn more than the equation predicts, and it was not designed for children, pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• Maintenance falls as weight falls. Recalculate after every few kilograms lost rather than treating one number as permanent.

Related calculators

• TDEE Calculator
• BMR Calculator
• Calorie Deficit Calculator