Daily Calorie Needs Calculator: Estimate Calories

How to use the daily calorie needs calculator

1. Choose metric or imperial units.
2. Select your gender.
3. Enter your age, height, and current body weight.
4. Choose the activity description that most closely reflects a typical week.
5. Choose whether your goal is to lose, maintain, or gain weight.
6. Calculate to see the daily target, estimated maintenance calories, and estimated resting energy.

This calculator is for adults. The result is a starting estimate, not a direct measurement of your metabolism or a personalized medical recommendation.

What the results mean

• Daily calorie estimate is the goal-adjusted result. Maintenance leaves the estimate unchanged, weight loss reduces it by 20 percent, and weight gain increases it by 20 percent.
• Estimated maintenance is the calculated total daily energy expenditure, often shortened to TDEE.
• Estimated resting energy is the calorie estimate before activity and goal adjustments.

The website follows the same calculation as the calorie calculator in GymEvo for iOS and Android.

Formula and methodology

The resting estimate uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. Weight is measured in kilograms, height in centimeters, and age in years. The original study included healthy adults aged 19 to 78 and separated the equation by sex. The Gender control chooses the male or female equation. Results for ages 18 and 79 to 100 extrapolate beyond the study population.

For male profiles:

resting calories = 10 x weight + 6.25 x height - 5 x age + 5

For female profiles:

resting calories = 10 x weight + 6.25 x height - 5 x age - 161

GymEvo then applies a fixed activity multiplier to estimate maintenance calories. These broad activity categories are app defaults, not part of the Mifflin-St Jeor equation:

maintenance calories = resting calories x activity multiplier

GymEvo applies one final fixed multiplier for the selected goal:

• Lose weight: maintenance calories x 0.8
• Maintain weight: maintenance calories x 1.0
• Gain weight: maintenance calories x 1.2

The final values are rounded to whole kilocalories.

Worked examples

Maintenance example

Weight loss example

How to use the estimate

• Treat the result as an initial target rather than a guaranteed intake.
• Track calorie intake and body weight consistently enough to observe a trend. The free calorie counter in the GymEvo app uses the same calculation and can adjust the target to your weigh-ins.
• To split the target into protein, carbs, and fat, use the macro calculator, which starts from this same estimate.
• Reassess the target when body weight, activity, or the goal changes.
• For a weight-gain goal, the fixed 20 percent surplus is usually more than a lean bulk needs. How to bulk up without getting fat sets the surplus from the maintenance estimate instead.
• For losing fat while lifting, the fixed 20 percent deficit is more than a body recomposition needs. How to build muscle and lose fat at the same time uses a smaller deficit from the maintenance estimate.
• Use professional guidance if health, medication, pregnancy, breastfeeding, an eating disorder, or another individual factor affects nutrition needs.

Assumptions and limitations

• The equation predicts resting energy from population data. It does not measure your metabolism.
• Activity categories are broad, so choosing a category can overestimate or underestimate actual expenditure.
• The fixed 20 percent goal adjustment is a simple GymEvo default, not an individualized recommendation. It does not model how energy expenditure can change over time.
• The calculator is limited to adults aged 18 to 100 and is not designed for pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• The original Mifflin-St Jeor study included ages 19 to 78. Estimates outside that range may be less reliable.
• The calculator does not display a daily target below 1,000 kcal/day. The NIDDK Body Weight Planner warns that food-group targets and nutrient recommendations will not be met below that level.
• Individual needs can be higher or lower than the estimate.