Daily calorie calculator
Enter your age, height, weight and activity level to see the daily energy you need to keep your weight steady.
Your daily calorie needs
–kcal
–
By activity level
- PAL 1.55Sedentary or lightly active
- PAL 1.75Active
- PAL 2.20Very active
This is an estimate for healthy adults, not a medical assessment. If you have a chronic condition, are pregnant or plan to lose weight, talk to your physician or a dietitian first.
Sources
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr, 1990.
- FAO, WHO, UNU. Human energy requirements, chapter 5: physical activity level, 2001.
- Frankenfield D et al. Comparison of predictive equations for resting metabolic rate in healthy nonobese and obese adults. J Am Diet Assoc, 2005.
Start by measuring, across your team
We build seminars on energy balance and movement around your organisation's baseline measurement. Individual results are never shared with the employer; your organisation sees anonymous totals only.
Common questions
How are daily calorie needs calculated?
First the Mifflin-St Jeor equation gives your resting metabolism: 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) - 5 x age, then +5 for men and -161 for women. That figure is multiplied by your activity factor. For a 30-year-old man at 180 cm and 80 kg, resting metabolism is 1,780 kcal and a desk-bound day needs about 2,760 kcal.
Where do the activity factors come from?
From the 2001 FAO, WHO and UNU report on human energy requirements. It sorts adult lifestyles into three groups: sedentary or lightly active (1.40 to 1.69), active (1.70 to 1.99) and very active (2.00 to 2.40). The result shows the typical value for your group, with the group's full range underneath.
How accurate is the result?
In comparison studies Mifflin-St Jeor was the most reliable equation, landing within 10% of measured values for most adults, though some people differ by more. People with a lot of muscle usually need more. Treat the figure as a starting point and adjust it to how your weight moves over a few weeks.