HeyOakley tools
Calorie Calculator
Estimate a realistic daily calorie starting point based on your body, activity, and goal.
A calorie target can be useful, but it should work in real life. This calculator gives you a practical estimate you can use as a starting point, then adjust over time. Formula-based maintenance often runs high—especially if activity is easy to overestimate—so treat the result as a guide, not a guarantee.
Your details
Choose what describes most weeks—not peak training blocks. See the guide below for examples.
Activity level guide
Pick the level that matches most of your week—not your best week. When in doubt, choose the lower option.
- Sedentary: Desk job or mostly sitting; little intentional exercise beyond daily life.
- Lightly active: Light movement most days or 1–3 easy workouts per week (walking, yoga, light lifting).
- Moderately active: Regular training 3–5 days per week at moderate effort, plus a generally active day-to-day routine.
- Very active: Hard training most days (6–7 per week) or a physically demanding job on top of workouts.
- Extra active: Very hard daily training (e.g. two-a-days) or heavy manual labor most days.
Your estimated calorie needs
- Estimated BMR
- 1,778kcal
- Standard estimate (weight, height, age)
- Estimated maintenance calories
- 2,756kcal
- Your daily calorie target
- 2,756kcal
- Practical range
- 2,706–2,806kcal
- Target ± 50 kcal
Maintenance may run high
Formula maintenance often runs higher than what people actually need to stay at the same weight—especially when activity is set above your typical week, or when body composition is not accounted for. If this number feels too high compared to how you have eaten in the past, try a lower activity level, switch to the lean-mass method with your body-fat estimate, or use a few weeks of logging to find what truly maintains your weight.
This is a useful estimate, not a rule you need to follow perfectly. A good target is one you can realistically return to over time.
What your calorie result means
BMR is an estimate of your baseline at rest. Maintenance calories add activity on top. Your target then adjusts up or down based on whether you want to maintain, lose, or gain—and how quickly you want to move.
When estimates run high
Standard formulas use total body weight and can overestimate resting burn when a larger share of your weight is fat rather than muscle. Activity multipliers also add a lot—a “moderately active” setting assumes more daily burn than many desk-job weeks actually provide. If the maintenance number feels unrealistic, lower your activity selection or use the lean-mass option with a body-fat estimate.
Real life changes day to day. You might eat a little more on weekends and a little less on busy weekdays and still land in a sensible range over time.
If you feel low on energy, overly hungry, or stuck in “all-or-nothing” cycles, small tweaks often beat a bigger deficit every time.
Goal comparison
Examples use moderate pace for lose and gain; your target above reflects your selected goal and pace.
Maintain weight
Eat close to maintenance when you want your weight to stay steady while you train, recover, or focus on habits.
Example: 2,756 kcal/day
Lose weight
A deficit below maintenance can support weight loss. Gentler deficits are often easier to sustain than aggressive ones.
Example: 2,205 kcal/day
Gain weight
A modest surplus above maintenance can support muscle gain or weight restoration for people who need it.
Example: 3,032 kcal/day
FAQs
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