How to Calculate Calories: Setting a Daily Target with Macros

"How many calories should I eat a day?" has no single correct answer; it varies with your height, weight, age, sex and daily movement. The good news is that a simple, scientifically accepted equation lets you calculate your own target in a few minutes.

1. Find your basal metabolic rate

Basal metabolic rate is the energy your body burns at complete rest. Using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation that dietitians use most often, for men it is 10 × weight + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age + 5, and for women 161 is subtracted from the same result. For example, a 78 kg, 172 cm, 32-year-old man has a basal rate of about 1,700 kcal.

2. Multiply by an activity factor

• Desk-based, almost sedentary: 1.2
• 1–3 light workouts a week: 1.375
• 3–5 moderate workouts a week: 1.55
• 6–7 intense workouts a week: 1.725

In the example above, 1,700 × 1.375 ≈ 2,340 kcal is the total daily expenditure.

3. Adjust for your goal

To lose weight, a calorie deficit of about 15–20 percent of this value is enough; in the example that equals 1,900 kcal. To maintain weight you eat what you spend, and to build muscle 5–10 percent more. Very harsh deficits (below 1,200 kcal a day) speed up muscle loss and raise the chance of regaining weight.

4. Distribute the macros

Once the calorie target is set, macros follow. Set aside 1.6–2.0 g of protein per kilogram of body weight and about 25–30 percent of total calories for fat; the remaining calories go to carbohydrate. At a 1,900 kcal target that is about 155 g protein, 57 g fat and 190 g carbohydrate.

Common mistakes

• Eyeballing portions instead of weighing: oils and sauces undo the maths if they are not measured in grams.
• Overstating workout calories: smartwatch data often overstates the calories burned.
• Ignoring the weekend: a 400 kcal deficit on weekdays can be wiped out by an 800 kcal surplus at the weekend.

Want us to do the maths?

The Calorie and Macro Calculator on our site does these steps automatically and suggests the closest Öğünce plan. Because calories and macros are printed on every meal on our menu, you do not need to weigh your plate. In pregnancy, chronic illness and under the age of 18, always do this calculation with a specialist; the information in this article is general and for information only.

An example day

A day with a 1,900 kcal target could be split like this: about 400 at breakfast, 600 at lunch, 550 at dinner and 350 across two snacks. When you spread protein evenly across meals, muscle protein synthesis is supported all day; loading all of it into dinner is less effective. If your weekly average weight has not dropped for two weeks, cut calories by 5 percent and reassess.