Maintenance Calorie Calculator
Find the number of calories that keeps your weight steady — the anchor point for every diet goal. See how your BMR and daily activity add up to your maintenance level.
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How maintenance is calculated
BMR vs TDEE
Your maintenance calories are the amount you can eat each day without gaining or losing weight — in other words, your TDEE. It's the single most useful number in nutrition, because every goal is defined relative to it: eat below maintenance to lose, at it to stay the same, above it to gain. This calculator finds your maintenance level from your BMR and activity, and the diagram shows how much of it comes from simply being alive versus moving around.
What are maintenance calories?
Maintenance calories represent the energy your body uses in a full day — everything from keeping your heart beating to walking, working, and exercising. When you eat exactly that amount, your weight holds steady. We calculate it by finding your BMR with the Mifflin–St Jeor equation and multiplying by an activity factor to capture your daily movement.
The BMR-vs-TDEE bar shows the gap between the two: your BMR is the floor, and the difference up to your TDEE is everything you burn through activity. The more active you are, the higher your maintenance calories climb.
Why knowing your maintenance matters
Once you know your maintenance number, planning any goal becomes simple arithmetic. Want to lose weight? Subtract a deficit. Building muscle? Add a surplus. Trying to hold a hard-won result after a diet? Eat right at maintenance. Getting this anchor right is what stops the frustrating cycle of guessing.
Maintenance isn't fixed forever, though — it changes as your weight, activity, and age change. Recalculate whenever your circumstances shift so your target stays accurate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Maintenance calories are the number you can eat each day to keep your weight the same — equal to your TDEE, the total energy your body burns in a day.
Find your BMR with the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, then multiply by an activity factor (1.2 for sedentary up to 1.9 for extremely active). The calculator above does this automatically from your stats.
Yes. Your maintenance level and your TDEE are the same number — the total daily energy expenditure that keeps your weight stable.
It varies widely, but many adult women maintain on roughly 1,800–2,200 calories and many adult men on 2,200–2,800. Your personal number depends on your size, activity, and age, which is why a calculator beats a generic figure.
Maintenance shifts as your weight, activity level, and age change. Losing weight lowers it; gaining muscle or moving more raises it. Recalculate periodically to stay accurate.
These results are estimates for general educational purposes only and are not medical or nutritional advice. Individual needs vary. Consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian before making significant changes to your diet, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or have a medical condition.