How many calories do you need to eat in a day to maintain your current weight? That’s different for each and every individual. The only way to get a highly accurate number is a lab test where you sleep at the lab and they take measurements right as you wake up from 8 hours of sleep and at least 12 hours of fasting. This calculator uses the formula for Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) devised by doctors at the University of Nevada Medical School and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1990, then uses the Harris Benedict activity multiplier to determine your estimated daily caloric burn off.

Remember that the Basal Metabolic Rate is how many calories you’d need to maintain your body weight if all you did all day was lay in bed and your only activity was eating. Just sitting up and typing a few hours a day, walking from the couch to your car, from the car to your office, etc. boosts your daily needs up by 20%. If you lead a lifestyle where you have high levels of exertion every day, it can nearly double your calorie needs.

Just fill out the fields in the form below and click “calculate my calorie needs” to get your BMR and your daily calorie needs.

Weight:
pounds kg

Age:
(in years)

Gender:
male female

Height:
inches cm

Activity Level:
Little or no exercise and desk job Lightly strenuous exercise or casual sports 1-3 days a week Moderately strenuous exercise or somewhat aggressive sports 3-5 days a week Strenuous exercise or aggressive sports 6-7 days a week Strenuous daily exercise or aggressive sports and a physically active job