Calorie guide
How many calories should I eat a day?
Most adults should start by estimating maintenance calories, then adjust based on the goal: eat below maintenance to lose weight, around maintenance to stay stable, and above maintenance to gain weight.
A useful first estimate is maintenance calories minus 250 to 500 calories for fat loss, maintenance calories for stability, or maintenance plus 150 to 300 calories for gradual muscle gain.
The short answer
Your daily calorie target depends on your body size, age, sex, activity, steps, training, and goal. A calculator can estimate the target, but your real answer comes from tracking consistently and watching your weekly trend.
| Goal | Starting target |
|---|---|
| Lose weight slowly | Maintenance minus about 250 calories |
| Lose weight steadily | Maintenance minus about 500 calories |
| Maintain weight | Around maintenance calories |
| Gain weight slowly | Maintenance plus about 150 to 300 calories |
Calorie target calculator
Estimate maintenance calories with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then adjust for activity and goal.
Estimated target
1510
calories per day
Maintenance
2010 kcal
BMR
1460 kcal
Protein starting range
116-160g
This goal setting is roughly equivalent to 1 lb per week before real-world adaptation.
Calculators estimate. Your real target is the number that produces the trend you want over 2-4 weeks.
Step 1: estimate BMR
BMR, or basal metabolic rate, is an estimate of how many calories your body uses at rest. It is not your full daily burn, but it is the foundation of most calorie calculators.
The calculator above uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, a common formula that estimates BMR from weight, height, age, and sex. It then applies activity level to estimate total daily energy expenditure.
Step 2: estimate maintenance calories
Maintenance calories are the calories you eat when your weight is roughly stable. Your maintenance number includes BMR plus movement, workouts, digestion, daily steps, and normal life.
Example
If your estimated maintenance is 2,200 calories, a steady weight-loss target might start near 1,700 to 1,950 calories. A maintenance target stays near 2,200. A lean gain target might start around 2,350 to 2,500.
Step 3: adjust for your goal
Fat loss
Start with a 250 to 500 calorie deficit. Choose the smaller deficit if hunger, stress, or training performance becomes hard to manage.
Maintenance
Stay near your estimated maintenance and track the weekly average. Small swings are normal from water, sodium, and digestion.
Muscle gain
Start with a small surplus, enough protein, and progressive training. A very large surplus often adds body fat faster than muscle.
Step 4: track the weekly trend
A single weigh-in can be noisy. Sodium, carbs, soreness, travel, sleep, and menstrual cycle changes can shift scale weight without reflecting fat gain or fat loss. Use the weekly average and look for the direction over several weeks.
| What happens after 2-4 weeks? | What to do |
|---|---|
| Losing too fast, low energy, poor workouts | Raise target by 100 to 250 calories |
| No movement despite consistent logging | Lower target by 100 to 250 calories or increase activity |
| Trend is moving and you can adhere | Keep the target steady |
Do macros matter too?
Calories drive the body-weight trend, but macros influence fullness, training, and body composition. Protein is especially useful during fat loss and muscle gain because it supports satiety and lean mass.
A simple protein starting range is about 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. Carbs and fats can be adjusted based on preference, training, and how well you stick to the plan.
Common calorie tracking mistakes
- Ignoring oils, butter, sauces, dressings, and toppings.
- Logging restaurant portions as small home portions.
- Changing calories after one bad day instead of watching the weekly trend.
- Using a deficit that is too aggressive to follow consistently.
- Tracking calories but forgetting protein, hydration, steps, and sleep.
Turn the target into a daily habit
Calofy AI helps you track meals against your daily calorie and macro budget by photo, voice, or text. It is built for real meals, mixed plates, restaurant food, snacks, and home-cooked dishes where database search becomes annoying.
Download Calofy AICommon questions
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
A practical starting point is maintenance calories minus 250 to 500 calories per day. A smaller deficit is easier to sustain; a larger deficit may move faster but can increase hunger and reduce training quality.
How many calories should I eat to maintain weight?
Maintenance calories are roughly the calories you burn in a day. Estimate them with a calculator, then confirm with 2 to 4 weeks of body-weight, energy, and adherence trends.
How many calories should I eat to gain muscle?
A modest surplus of about 150 to 300 calories per day is a common starting point for lean muscle gain, paired with progressive strength training and enough protein.
Should I eat the same calories every day?
You can, but weekly average matters more. Some people prefer higher-calorie training days and lower-calorie rest days as long as the weekly average matches the goal.
How often should I adjust calories?
Avoid changing targets after one day. Track consistently for 2 to 4 weeks, then adjust by 100 to 250 calories if your trend is clearly too fast, too slow, or stuck.
Related guides
Sources and review notes
This guide uses standard calorie-tracking concepts: estimated BMR, estimated maintenance calories, goal-based adjustments, and weekly trend review. It favors conservative targets because consistency matters more than an aggressive number that cannot be followed.
Last updated 2026-05-19. This guide is for general education and is not medical advice. People with medical conditions, pregnancy, eating disorder history, or specialized nutrition needs should ask a qualified professional.