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Enter your details into the calorie calculator below to learn how many calories you should eat to reach your health and fitness goal.
The calculator defaults to the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, a highly accurate method of calculating caloric needs.
If you’d rather crunch the numbers manually, use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation outlined below to determine your basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the average daily calories your body needs to carry out essential functions such as breathing, circulating blood, producing hormones, and so forth.
For men: BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) + 5
For women: BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 age (years) – 161
To convert your BMR into your total daily energy expenditure (the total number of calories your body burns each day, also called your “TDEE”), multiply your BMR by the corresponding number below, according to your level of physical activity:
- Sedentary: 1.2
- Lightly Active: 1.375
- Moderately Active: 1.550
- Very Active: 1.725
- Extra Active: 1.9
Finally, adjust the number you get based on your goals.
To lose weight, trim your calorie intake by 20-to-25%.
For example, if your TDEE is 2,000 calories, and you want to lose weight quickly, reduce 2,000 by 25% to arrive at a daily calorie target of 1,500 calories.
Conversely, to gain weight, increase your calories by 5-to-10%.
For example, if your TDEE is 2,000 calories, and you want to gain weight quickly, increase 2,000 by 10% to arrive at a daily calorie target of 2,200 calories.
How Many Calories Should I Eat?
Your calorie needs depend on your sex, age, height, weight, and physical activity level.
For instance, a tall, young, muscular, active man will require more calories than a petite, overweight, older woman who engages in sporadic light activity.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines, the average daily caloric needs for men and women are as follows:
While these estimates serve as a starting point, you’ll want to track your calorie intake more closely for effective weight loss, gain, or maintenance.
Here’s what you need to do.
How to Use A Calorie Calculator to Lose Weight
To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than your body burns every day (also known as a “calorie deficit”).
To do this, use the Legion Calorie Deficit Calculator to estimate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), based on your gender, weight, height, age, and physical activity level.
Then, create a calorie deficit by consuming 20-to-25% fewer calories daily (20-to-25% less than your TDEE) or following our suggestions for slow, moderate, and fast fat loss in the “Calories to lose weight” section beneath the calculator.
To accelerate fat loss and maximize muscle retention while dieting, you should also do the following:
- Do 3-to-5 strength training workouts weekly: This boosts the number of calories you burn and supports muscle retention, which is key to maintaining metabolic health and keeping weight off post-diet.
- Eat 1-to-1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day: This enhances workout recovery, accelerates fat loss, bolsters muscle retention, and increases satiety, reducing the likelihood of overeating.
How to Use A Calorie Calculator to Gain Weight
Counting calories isn’t only for weight loss—it’s also a powerful tool for gaining weight and muscle.
Rather than mindlessly consuming a fixed number of calories, like 3,000 or 3,500 calories per day, a smarter strategy to ensure most of the weight you gain is muscle is to use the Legion Calorie Calculator to determine your TDEE.
Once you’ve established this figure, consume 5-to-10% more calories than your daily expenditure or follow the guidelines for slow, moderate, and fast weight gain in the “Calories to gain weight” section beneath the calculator.
How to Use A Calorie Calculator to Maintain Weight
The Legion Calculator also doubles as a maintenance calorie calculator. That is, you can use it to calculate how many calories you should eat per day to maintain your weight.
To use it for this purpose, enter your data to calculate your TDEE, then use this as your daily calorie target.
What to Eat to Reach Your Goal Weight
As I explain in my fitness books for men and women, Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger, irrespective of your goal, you should look to get most of your daily calories from whole, minimally processed food.
Here are some good examples of food to include in your diet:
- Protein: Meat, fish, eggs, high-protein dairy products, soy, and whey, casein, and plant-based protein powders.
- Carbohydrates: Fruits, vegetables, whole grains (brown rice, corn, oats, quinoa, barley), legumes (beans and peas), and tubers (potatoes and other root vegetables).
- Fat: Plant oils, nuts, seeds, and avocados.
Calories in Common Diet Foods
Now that you know the types of foods you should aim to eat while dieting, it’s helpful to understand their calorie contents.
Here’s the calorie content of some common diet staples and how many grams of protein, carbs, and fat each contains:
Calories Burned During Exercise
Here’s the average number of calories you burn doing common exercises based on your body weight.
+ Scientific References
- Phillips, Stuart M., and Luc J.C. Van Loon. “Dietary Protein for Athletes: From Requirements to Optimum Adaptation.” Journal of Sports Sciences, vol. 29, no. sup1, Jan. 2011, pp. S29–S38, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2011.619204, https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2011.619204.
- Evans, Ellen M, et al. “Effects of Protein Intake and Gender on Body Composition Changes: A Randomized Clinical Weight Loss Trial.” Nutrition & Metabolism, vol. 9, no. 22691622, 12 June 2012, p. 55, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3407769/, https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-7075-9-55. Accessed 6 Oct. 2020.
- Helms, Eric R, et al. “Evidence-Based Recommendations for Natural Bodybuilding Contest Preparation: Nutrition and Supplementation.” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, vol. 11, no. 1, 12 May 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4033492/, https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-11-20.
- Halton, Thomas L., and Frank B. Hu. “The Effects of High Protein Diets on Thermogenesis, Satiety and Weight Loss: A Critical Review.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition, vol. 23, no. 5, Oct. 2004, pp. 373–385, https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2004.10719381.
- Jetté, M, et al. “Metabolic Equivalents (METS) in Exercise Testing, Exercise Prescription, and Evaluation of Functional Capacity.” Clinical Cardiology, vol. 13, no. 8, 1990, pp. 555–65, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2204507/, https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.4960130809.
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Many companies use shipping and handling fees to increase their profit margins, but here at Legion, we hate profits, so our shipping is free!
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We just . . . wait for it . . . give you your money back. No returns. No forms. No nonsense. Holy moo cows.
That means you can say “yes” now and decide later. You really have nothing to lose.
Free Worldwide Shipping & Returns
Many companies use shipping and handling fees to increase their profit margins, but here at Legion, we hate profits, so our shipping is free!
Okay, so we do dig on profits, but we also go in for happy customers, and free shipping works like gangbusters. So, if you’re outside the USA, your order ships free when it’s over $199.
Why the restriction on international orders? Unfortunately, shipping abroad is very expensive, and if we didn’t require a minimum order size, we’d lose a lot of money. But! We’re also hustling to improve our international logistics and will be passing our savings along to our international customers.
Also, if you don’t absolutely love our stuff for whatever reason, we don’t request you deliver it to a PO box in the Gobi Desert by carrier pigeon.
We just . . . wait for it . . . give you your money back. No returns. No forms. No nonsense. Holy moo cows.
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