How to calculate maintenance calories
A formula gives you a starting point. Your own consistent data turns it into a useful target.
In this guide
Maintenance calories are an average
Your maintenance calories are the average intake that keeps body weight broadly stable over time. They are often called total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE. The total includes resting metabolism, movement, training and the energy used to digest food. None of those components is perfectly identical every day.
That is why maintenance is better treated as a range. A restaurant day, a long walk and a quiet workday can all have different totals while the weekly pattern remains stable.
Method 1: start with an equation
The GetMacros calculator uses the Mifflin–St Jeor equation to estimate resting energy expenditure from weight, height, age and equation sex. The original study derived the equation from 498 healthy adults. An activity factor then converts that resting estimate into an estimated daily total.
Activity is the least precise input. “Moderately active” can mean different things to two people, and planned exercise is only part of daily movement. Use the result as a first estimate—not proof that your body burns that exact number.
Method 2: use your own trend
- Choose the calculator estimate or your current average intake as a starting point.
- Keep intake reasonably consistent for two to three weeks.
- Weigh under similar conditions and compare weekly averages, not isolated days.
- If the average is stable, your average intake is near maintenance.
- If the trend moves consistently, make a modest adjustment and observe again.
Food tracking and scale weight both contain noise. Restaurant portions vary, labels round values and body water changes quickly. More decimal places do not fix uncertain inputs.
When should the estimate change?
Recheck after a meaningful weight change, a major shift in training or daily movement, or several weeks in which the trend no longer matches the plan. Energy expenditure changes with body size and composition, and it can also adapt during prolonged underfeeding. Do not react to one high or low morning.
A practical example
Suppose the calculator estimates 2,450 calories. You average about 2,400 for three weeks and your weekly weight averages are 176.2, 176.0 and 176.3 pounds. That intake is probably close enough to maintenance for planning. Calling it exactly 2,413 would suggest precision the data cannot support.
Start with the free macro calculator. If your goal changes, read cutting, bulking and maintenance before changing the number.
Sources and evidence
Check what the equation actually calculates
For an illustrative adult male-equation example at 70 kg, 175 cm and age 30, Mifflin–St Jeor gives 10 × 70 + 6.25 × 175 − 5 × 30 + 5 = 1,648.75 kcal for estimated resting expenditure. Using the calculator’s 1.55 activity factor gives 1,648.75 × 1.55 = 2,555.56 kcal per day, rounded to 2,556 for display.
The activity factor is an assumption, not a measured exercise log. Using 1.375 instead gives about 2,267 kcal. That nearly 289 kcal change comes from selecting the activity category, not from a new measurement of metabolism. Keep the conceptual difference between resting and daily totals clear.
Enter those example values in the calculator if you want to check the arithmetic. They are not your prescription, and choosing a goal does not make the underlying estimate more certain. Your own situation may require professional guidance.
Check the calculator example →