How many calories should I eat a day?

EKCal Editorial Team5 min readReviewed 2026-07-04

Original EKCal illustration.

About this guide

Prepared by the EKCal Editorial Team using public-health and nutrition references. EKCal does not claim medical credentials; content is reviewed for clarity, calculation consistency and responsible wording.

Government guidelines suggest 2,000 kcal for women and 2,500 for men. But these are population averages that ignore the factors that actually matter: your height, weight, age, and activity level.

A 25-year-old, 80 kg man who trains five times a week needs ~3,000 kcal/day. A 55-year-old, 58 kg sedentary woman needs ~1,600. The same number doesn't work for both.

Find your exact daily calorie needs based on your personal data.

Calculate my daily calories →

Calculate daily calories

Estimate maintenance and goal calories in one tool.

Open the free calculator →

General ranges by activity level

Activity	Women (est.)	Men (est.)
Sedentary	1,600–1,800	2,000–2,200
Lightly active	1,800–2,000	2,200–2,600
Moderately active	2,000–2,200	2,600–2,800
Very active	2,200–2,400	2,800–3,200

Calorie needs by goal

Maintain weight: Eat at your TDEE.
Lose weight: Eat 300–500 kcal below TDEE. Never below 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men).
Build muscle: Eat 200–300 kcal above TDEE with high protein intake.

Why you might not lose weight at your "correct" target

Underestimating intake: Studies show people underestimate food by 20–40%.
Overestimating burn: Fitness trackers overstate calorie expenditure by 20–30%.
TDEE has dropped: As you lose weight, your body burns fewer calories. Recalculate every 4–6 weeks.
Water retention: New exercise, high sodium, or hormonal cycles can mask fat loss on the scale.

Key takeaways

There is no universal daily calorie number — it depends on your body and activity level.
Find your TDEE first, then adjust up or down based on your goal.
For weight loss, eat 300–500 kcal below TDEE. Never below 1,200/1,500 kcal.
Calorie needs decline with age — maintaining muscle through resistance training slows this.
Recalculate whenever your weight changes by 3–5 kg.

Turn the estimate into a real number

Calculator results are starting points. Eat near the estimate consistently, then compare your two- to four-week weight trend. Stable weight suggests the estimate is close to maintenance; a downward or upward trend shows the direction of the mismatch.

Do not keep cutting because of one day on the scale. Use averages and make small changes.

What the calculator cannot know

It cannot perfectly capture spontaneous movement, medication effects, endocrine conditions, pregnancy, changes in training, sleep or individual metabolism. Those are reasons to test the estimate—not reasons to abandon all structure.

A simple way to put this into practice

Choose one measurable behavior for the next seven days.
Keep the rest of your routine reasonably stable.
Review weekly averages rather than one-day results.
Adjust only after you have enough information.

Medical note: This article is general education. Seek individual advice for pregnancy, childhood, eating-disorder history, unexplained weight change, medication-related concerns or a medical condition.

Sources and evidence base

References support general principles; they do not make EKCal a substitute for clinical care. See our Editorial Policy and Sources & Methodology.