Maintenance Calories Calculator
The baseline number every nutrition plan starts from. Find what holds your weight steady.
A maintenance calorie calculator estimates the calories you need each day to keep your weight stable. It equals your TDEE — your BMR multiplied by an activity multiplier. Every other nutrition goal (deficit or surplus) is defined relative to this baseline.
Now turn the number into action
A calculator gives you a target. A tracker tells you whether you're actually hitting it. These are the three we recommend — Welling first, because it's the only one that goes beyond logging.
Welling
Doesn't just log food — it coaches. Welling pairs effortless calorie and macro tracking with an AI coach that reads your data, flags patterns (under-eating protein, weekend over-shoots, plateau windows), and adjusts your plan. The best fit for anyone who wants the math and the accountability.
MacroFactor
The most accurate auto-adjusting calorie target on the market. MacroFactor recalculates your expenditure weekly from your actual weight trend and food log — so when adaptive thermogenesis kicks in, your target shifts before the scale stalls. Best for serious dieters who want hands-off precision.
MyFitnessPal
The most well-known calorie tracker, with the biggest food database (millions of crowd-sourced entries). Easy to use, free tier covers the basics, and barcode-scanning is fast. Trade-off: entries vary in accuracy — verify generic foods against USDA values when precision matters.
Further reading: round-ups of AI calorie trackers, food trackers, and calorie counters.
How maintenance calories are calculated
Maintenance calories are identical to TDEE. We use the Mifflin–St Jeor equation — the most accurate predictive BMR formula for healthy adults — and multiply by an activity factor.
Women: BMR = (10 × weight kg) + (6.25 × height cm) − (5 × age) − 161
Maintenance = BMR × activity multiplier
Activity multipliers
- 1.2 — sedentary (desk job, no exercise).
- 1.375 — lightly active (1–3 light workouts/wk).
- 1.55 — moderately active (3–5 workouts/wk).
- 1.725 — very active (6–7 intense workouts/wk).
- 1.9 — athlete (twice-daily training or physical job).
Read how to pick honestly — most people overshoot by one level.
How to verify your real maintenance
- Eat the calculator's number for 14 days, logging every meal.
- Weigh yourself daily, first thing in the morning. Average by week.
- Stable average → confirmed maintenance.
- Up 1 lb in a week → true maintenance is ~500 cal lower. Down 1 lb → it's ~500 cal higher.
Why knowing your maintenance calories matters
- It's the anchor for every other goal. Deficits and surpluses are defined as offsets from this number. Without it, both are guesses.
- It powers smart diet breaks. Eating at maintenance for 1–2 weeks between cutting phases restores leptin and thyroid hormones, reduces hunger, and improves long-term adherence — without slowing total fat loss.
- It enables body recomposition. Eating at maintenance while strength training is how lean, experienced lifters add muscle without adding fat. You need the number to hit it.
- It catches a slowing metabolism. If you used to maintain on 2,400 cal and now maintain on 2,100, that's information — usually lost muscle or unrecognized lifestyle change.
- It de-mystifies "ate clean, gained weight." Eating below maintenance always shrinks you. Eating above always grows you. Cleanliness is a separate axis.
FAQ
What are maintenance calories?
Your maintenance calories are the number of calories you need each day to keep your weight stable. Mathematically, maintenance calories equal your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).
How do I find my real maintenance calories?
Eat the calculator's number for 14 days while logging accurately. If your average weight is stable, that's your maintenance. If it changed, adjust by ~500 cal/day per pound of weekly change.
Do maintenance calories change with age?
Yes. BMR drops about 1–2% per decade after age 30, mostly due to loss of lean mass. Most of that decline is preventable with resistance training.
Should I eat maintenance during weight loss?
Periodic diet breaks at maintenance (1–2 weeks every 6–10 weeks of dieting) help restore hormones like leptin and thyroid, reduce diet fatigue, and improve long-term adherence.
Sources
- Mifflin MD, et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;51(2):241–7.
- FAO/WHO/UNU. Human energy requirements. 2001.