Calorie and Macro Calculator
Find a daily calorie target and a protein, carb and fat split that fit your body, activity and goal. Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.
Your daily targets
Estimates to start from, then adjust to how you feel and progress.
How this calculator works
1. Resting burn. We estimate the calories your body uses at rest with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is widely used by dietitians because it predicted measured resting energy more accurately than older formulas in comparison studies.
Men: 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age + 5
Women: 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age − 161
2. Daily burn. That number is multiplied by an activity factor from 1.2 (mostly sitting) to 1.9 (physical job plus training) to estimate your total daily energy expenditure.
3. Your goal. We treat a kilogram of body weight change as about 7,700 calories, so losing about 0.5 kg a week means eating about 550 calories a day below maintenance. We cap goals at 0.75 kg a week and never go below 1,200 calories (women) or 1,500 calories (men), levels below which it's hard to get enough nutrients without medical supervision.
4. Macros. Protein is set from your body weight (1.2 to 2.0 g per kg). Fat is 30% of calories. Carbohydrates fill the rest. Protein and carbs have about 4 calories per gram, fat about 9.
Questions
Why does the calculator ask for sex?
The equation was built from measurements in men and women and uses a different constant for each. If neither fits you, try both and use a value between the two results, or ask a dietitian.
How accurate is it?
Equations like this land within about 10% of measured values for many people, but individuals vary. Treat the result as a starting point: track your weight for two to three weeks and adjust by 100 to 200 calories if it isn't moving the way you expect.
Why isn't this for under-18s or pregnancy?
Teens are still growing and pregnancy and breastfeeding change energy needs considerably. Ask a doctor or registered dietitian in those cases.
Is a high-protein target safe?
For healthy adults, intakes in this range are common in sports nutrition. If you have kidney disease or another medical condition, check with your doctor first.
Calorie targets aren't right for everyone. If tracking food makes you anxious or you have a history of disordered eating, please talk to a healthcare professional before using targets like these.