Estimate maintenance calories (TDEE) and targets for six goals from lose-fast to gain, with protein, carb, and fat grams for three macro splits.
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Goal
Macro split
Daily macronutrient targets (Balanced)
| Goal | Daily calories | vs maintenance |
|---|---|---|
| Lose fast | 1,880 kcal | -25% |
| Lose | 2,006 kcal | -20% |
| Lose slow | 2,256 kcal | -10% |
| Maintain | 2,507 kcal | — |
| Gain slow | 2,758 kcal | +10% |
| Gain | 2,883 kcal | +15% |
Weight, height, age, sex, and an honest activity level.
Choose from six goals (three rates of loss, maintain, two rates of gain) and a macro split.
See maintenance, your goal calories, daily macro grams on a chart, and a table of every goal.
Mifflin BMR × 1.55 activity, then a 20% deficit, split 30/40/30.
Input
Male · 70 kg · 170 cm · 30 years · Moderate activity · Goal: Lose · Balanced splitOutput
Maintenance ≈ 2,507 kcal · Target ≈ 2,006 kcal · Macros ≈ 150 g protein, 201 g carbs, 67 g fatEvery weight goal — losing, holding, or gaining — comes down to one number: what your body actually burns in a day. This calculator estimates that number (your TDEE) and turns it into a complete set of daily targets: calories for six different goals and the protein, carbohydrate, and fat grams to hit them with.
The engine is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation — the BMR formula dietitians favour — multiplied by your activity level, from sedentary (×1.2) to athlete (×1.9). The goal selector then applies a percentage: lose fast (−25%), lose (−20%), lose slow (−10%), maintain, gain slow (+10%), or gain (+15%). Percentages scale with your size, which is why they beat a flat 500-calorie rule — the same fixed cut that is gentle for a large, active person is punishing for a smaller one. A table shows the calorie figure for all six goals at once so you can compare before committing.
Macros complete the plan. Pick balanced (30% protein / 40% carbs / 30% fat), low carb (35/25/40), or high protein (40/35/25) and the tool converts your goal calories into grams per day, visualized on a donut chart. One honest instruction the tool cannot enforce: be truthful with the activity selector. Three gym sessions on top of a desk job is light-to-moderate, not very active, and overestimating quietly erases a deficit. These are ±10% estimates to test against your real scale trend — and, as the built-in disclaimer says, not a substitute for professional advice where health conditions are involved.
Choose units and sex, then enter your weight, height, and age.
Select the activity level that honestly matches your week — sedentary, light, moderate, very active, or athlete (×1.2 to ×1.9). When in doubt, pick the lower one.
Pick a goal: Lose fast (−25%), Lose (−20%), Lose slow (−10%), Maintain, Gain slow (+10%), or Gain (+15%).
Choose a macro split — Balanced, Low carb, or High protein — and read your daily protein, carb, and fat grams in the panel and donut chart.
Compare all six goals in the All goal targets table, then use Copy for a plain-text summary of your plan.
Eat to the target consistently for 2–3 weeks and adjust by 100–200 kcal based on what your weight actually does.
Maintenance calories computed from the dietitian-standard BMR equation times your activity factor.
Three rates of loss (−10/−20/−25%), maintenance, and two rates of gain (+10/+15%) — deficits that scale with your size.
Balanced, low-carb, or high-protein splits converted into daily protein, carb, and fat grams.
A visual macro breakdown plus a table showing the calorie target for every goal side by side.
One click copies maintenance, your target, and macro grams as text for your notes or tracker app.
Get a deficit target sized to your body, plus the protein figure that protects muscle while you lose.
Use the +10% or +15% surplus targets to gain with controlled fat accumulation.
Establish the intake that holds your weight steady — the reference every other goal is measured from.
See how a different activity level or a gentler goal changes the numbers before committing.
Three steps produce the plan. First, your BMR is estimated with Mifflin-St Jeor (10×kg + 6.25×cm − 5×age, +5 for men or −161 for women). Second, that is multiplied by your activity factor — 1.2, 1.375, 1.55, 1.725, or 1.9 — to give TDEE, shown as Maintenance. Third, the goal percentage is applied: eating 20% under TDEE, for example, creates the deficit associated with roughly half a kilogram of fat loss per week for an average adult.
Macros are computed from the target calories using the standard energy densities — 4 kcal per gram of protein and carbohydrate, 9 per gram of fat. A balanced split at a 2,000 kcal target therefore yields 150 g protein (30% × 2,000 ÷ 4), 200 g carbs, and 67 g fat. Every figure updates live as you change any input.
Metric or imperial entry; the BMR equation's constant differs by sex.
Five levels from sedentary (×1.2) to athlete (×1.9).
Six options from Lose fast (−25%) to Gain (+15%), applied as a percentage of TDEE.
Balanced 30/40/30, Low carb 35/25/40, or High protein 40/35/25 (protein/carbs/fat).
Copy the full plan as text, or restore the default inputs.
A required field is empty or out of range — all four body inputs are needed before targets appear.
Wrist trackers routinely overestimate exercise burn by 20–40%. The formula here is the more conservative starting point; your weight trend over 2–3 weeks is the real arbiter.
Usually an inflated activity level or untracked eating rather than a formula failure. Drop one activity level or reduce the target by 100–200 kcal and re-observe.
All figures are population estimates with roughly a ±10% margin — genetics, hormones, and non-exercise movement vary in ways no formula captures. The BMR engine is Mifflin-St Jeor only (the Macro & TDEE Calculator adds Harris-Benedict and Katch-McArdle if you want to compare). Activity factors are coarse bands, and the macro splits are three fixed presets rather than fully custom ratios. As the built-in disclaimer states: these are general estimates, not a diet prescription — teenagers, pregnant or breastfeeding people, and anyone with a medical condition or history of disordered eating should get personalized targets from a professional, and very low calorie targets require medical supervision.
Everything runs in your browser. Your body details, goal, and results are never uploaded, stored, or logged — the Copy button writes to your own clipboard only.
Choose the activity level honestly — overestimating it is the single most common way deficits silently disappear.
Hold one target for 2–3 weeks and adjust by 100–200 kcal based on the actual scale trend.
Keep protein high in a deficit to protect muscle; the high-protein split exists for exactly this.
Prefer the moderate −20% goal over −25% unless you have a deadline; adherence beats aggression.
Weigh under consistent conditions and judge weekly averages, not daily readings.
Treat the number as a hypothesis. Eat to it consistently — consistently is the operative word — for two to three weeks while weighing under the same conditions a few times a week. The weekly average trend is your result: on track, keep going; stalled, subtract 100–200 kcal; too fast, add some back. This calibration loop converts a ±10% estimate into your personal number.
Spend your macro attention where it pays: total calories drive weight change and protein protects muscle, so hit those two and let carbs and fat flex with preference and training days.
And plan the exit before you start. Fat-loss phases work best time-boxed (8–12 weeks) with a deliberate return toward maintenance afterward — the maintenance figure this calculator shows is not just a reference point but the destination.
Client-side computation: Mifflin-St Jeor BMR, multiplied by activity factors 1.2/1.375/1.55/1.725/1.9, with goal percentages −25% to +15% applied to TDEE. Macro grams derive from the target using 4 kcal/g for protein and carbohydrate and 9 kcal/g for fat across three preset splits. The donut chart and all-goals table recompute live. Validation requires positive weight and height and age 1–119.
| Goal | vs. maintenance | Typical pace |
|---|---|---|
| Lose fast | −25% | ≈ 0.75 kg/week |
| Lose | −20% | ≈ 0.5 kg/week |
| Lose slow | −10% | ≈ 0.25 kg/week |
| Maintain | 0 | Hold weight |
| Gain slow | +10% | Lean gain |
| Gain | +15% | Faster gain |
Percentage goals scale with your body: −20% is a moderate cut whether your maintenance is 1,800 or 3,000 kcal, which a fixed 500-calorie rule cannot claim.
Anyone starting a cut, bulk, or maintenance phase who wants targets grounded in the standard equations; gym-goers who need protein grams, not just calories; and people whose tracker, app, and gym coach all quote different numbers and want a conservative baseline to test. For formula comparisons, keto splits, and protein-per-kilogram feedback, the Macro & TDEE Calculator is the more detailed sibling.
Evidence and boundaries
The page identifies the reference population and units used. Clinical interpretation, screening thresholds, and professional guidance can differ by country and population.
Evidence standard reviewed .
BMR is what you burn at complete rest; TDEE multiplies it by an activity factor to include movement, exercise, and digestion. Maintenance in this calculator is TDEE — the number all six goal targets are measured from.
Because a percentage scales with your size. For someone burning 3,000 kcal, 500 is a gentle 17% cut; for someone burning 1,600 it is an aggressive 31%. The −10/−20/−25% options keep the deficit proportionate.
Sedentary: desk job, little walking. Light: 1–3 workouts a week. Moderate: 3–5. Very active: 6–7 or a physical job. Athlete: hard daily training. The most common mistake is choosing one level too high — when torn, take the lower.
Your goal calories are divided by each macro's energy density — 4 kcal per gram for protein and carbs, 9 for fat — according to the split's percentages. A balanced split at 2,000 kcal gives 150 g protein, 200 g carbs, and 67 g fat.
The estimate carries a ±10% margin, and the two classic culprits are an optimistic activity level and untracked calories. Hold the routine for a full 2–3 weeks, judge the weekly average, then adjust the target by 100–200 kcal — your own trend data beats any formula.
The targets are healthy-adult estimates, not medical advice — the tool's disclaimer is explicit. Teenagers, pregnant or breastfeeding people, and anyone with a medical condition or history of disordered eating should get numbers from a doctor or registered dietitian instead.