Free calorie calculator
How many calories should you eat a day?
Get your daily calorie target to lose fat, maintain, or build muscle - with your protein, carbs, and fat too. Free, instant, and no signup.
Fill in your details and your result appears here instantly.
How your calorie target is set
It starts with your maintenance calories- the amount that keeps your weight steady, estimated from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and your activity level. To lose fat, we take a sensible percentage off that number; to build muscle, we add a modest amount. The goal is a target you can actually live with, because the best calorie number is the one you'll still be hitting three months from now. We also split it into protein, carbs, and fat so you know not just how much to eat, but what.
Eat below maintenance. Moderate beats aggressive - it protects muscle and your sanity.
Eat at maintenance. Perfect for building habits or a body recomposition.
Eat a modest surplus. Enough to grow, not so much you just add fat.
The number isn't the hard part. Doing it every day is.
Anyone can get a target. The reason most people never see results is what happens next: the guessing, the tedious logging, the "what do I even eat" at 6pm. Ask Your Coach removes all of it. Say what you ate and it logs it for you. Ask what to eat and it hands you a meal that fits these exact numbers. It learns your food, your schedule, and your goals - so the healthy choice becomes the easy choice.
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Common questions
How many calories should I eat a day to lose weight?
To lose fat, eat a few hundred calories below the calories you burn in a day (your TDEE). This calculator estimates that number with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and applies a deficit based on how fast you want to go. A moderate deficit of roughly 20% is the sweet spot for most people - fast enough to see progress, gentle enough to stick with.
How is my calorie target calculated?
We estimate your BMR (calories burned at rest) from your age, height, weight, and sex, multiply by your activity level to get your maintenance calories, then subtract for fat loss or add for muscle gain based on your chosen pace. It is the same evidence-based method dietitians use.
Is a 1,200 calorie diet a good idea?
Usually not. Very low calorie diets are hard to sustain, tank your energy and training, and often cost you muscle. Most people do far better eating more than they expect and losing fat steadily. Enter your details above and you will likely see your fat-loss number is higher - and more livable - than 1,200.
Why am I not losing weight in a deficit?
Usually the deficit is smaller than it feels - untracked bites, liquid calories, and weekend meals add up fast. Weight also fluctuates day to day from water and food volume. The fix is consistent, honest tracking over 2 to 3 weeks - which is exactly what Ask Your Coach makes effortless: just say what you ate.
Do I have to count calories forever?
No. Counting is a tool to build awareness, not a life sentence. With Ask Your Coach you just talk - say what you ate and it logs the calories for you, or snap a photo. A few seconds a day keeps you near your target without the tedious database scrolling that makes people quit.