How Many Calories Do I Need Each Day? Menu Verywell Fit Nutrition Weight Management Nutrition Facts Nutrition Basics Diets Meal Plans Meal Delivery Services View All News Fitness and Nutrition What to Buy How We Test Products Fitness Gear Nutrition Products Tools Recipe Nutrition Calculator Weight Loss Calorie Goal BMI Calculator Body Fat Percentage Calculator Calories Burned by Activity Daily Calories Burned Pace Calculator About Us Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Search Nutrition Basics How Many Calories Do I Need Each Day? By Shereen Lehman, MS Shereen Lehman, MS Shereen Lehman, MS, is a healthcare journalist and fact checker. She has co-authored two books for the popular Dummies Series (as Shereen Jegtvig). Learn about our editorial process Updated on November 22, 2020 Medically reviewed Verywell Fit articles are reviewed by board-certified physicians and nutrition and exercise healthcare professionals. Medical Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by Jonathan Valdez, RDN, CDCES, CPT Medically reviewed by Jonathan Valdez, RDN, CDCES, CPT Jonathan Valdez, RDN, CDCES, CPT is a New York City-based telehealth registered dietitian nutritionist and nutrition communications expert. Learn about our Medical Review Board Print Knowing how many calories you need to consume each day is essential for losing, gaining, or maintaining weight. One way to determine this with a technique called the Harris-Benedict formula, which is one method used to estimate your basal metabolic rate (BMR). By definition, BMR is your rate of metabolism (the conversion of calories and oxygen to energy) at rest. It is the minimum level of energy required to sustain vital functions such as breathing, digestion, and circulation. The Harris-Benedict formula is often used to assist weight loss by ensuring that you reduce the intake of calories below what you need to maintain weight. Calculating Your Daily Calories The Harris-Benedict formula is used to describe your basal metabolic rate (BMR) as a numeric value. Your BMR is determined by your sex, age, and body size, and calculating this number tells you how about how many calories you burn just being alive and awake. The formula for the BMR is quite complex. Step 1: Calculate Your BMR For women, BMR = 655.1 + (9.563 x weight in kg) + (1.850 x height in cm) - (4.676 x age in years)For men, BMR = 66.47 + (13.75 x weight in kg) + (5.003 x height in cm) - (6.755 x age in years) Once you get out of bed and begin to move around, you will need to adjust this figure as you expend more energy. This value, called active metabolic rate (AMR), is calculated by multiplying your BMR by an assigned number representing the various activity levels. This number ranges from 1.2 for being sedentary up to 1.9 for being very active. Calculate your AMR by multiplying your BMR and by your current level of activity. Step 2: Calculate Your AMR Sedentary (little or no exercise): AMR = BMR x 1.2Lightly active (exercise 1–3 days/week): AMR = BMR x 1.375Moderately active (exercise 3–5 days/week): AMR = BMR x 1.55Active (exercise 6–7 days/week): AMR = BMR x 1.725Very active (hard exercise 6–7 days/week): AMR = BMR x 1.9 Your AMR represents the number of calories you need to consume each day to stay at your current weight. If you want to lose weight, you need to increase your level of physical activity or decrease your caloric intake by eating less. How to Use This Information For the purpose of weight loss, the AMR provides you the means to figure out how many calories you either need to exclude and/or how many calories you need to burn through added exercise, to lose a specific amount of weight. For example, if your BMR is 1,400 (the average for American women) and you are moderately active, your AMR would be 2,170 (1,400 x 1.55). Since a pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, you would need to cut 500 calories per day to lose a pound per week. This is called your calorie deficit. If you plan to lose weight simply by diet, your daily calorie intake would be 1,670 (2,170 - 500 = 1,670). If you plan to do it by exercise alone, you would need to burn 500 calories each day above and beyond what you already do. For this reason, a combination of diet and exercise almost always achieves the best result. What Is Your Ideal Weight for Your Height? Test Accuracy Unfortunately, the Harris-Benedict formula isn't exactly perfect. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, research studies have indicated the formula is about 90% accurate around 60% of the time. That means it could be way off about 40% of the time, which is rather disheartening. Even worse, when the formula was wrong, it overestimated the calorie needs of the research subjects, meaning that they were burning fewer calories than they thought. The problems may be due to physical or genetic factors that impede or enhance metabolism in some people. Moreover, there's a good chance that many people overestimate how physically active they are. Despite these shortcomings, the Harris-Benedict formula provides you with a relatively good picture of your general caloric needs. If you don't achieve weight loss based on the calculations, simply adjust your daily calorie count up or down or recalculate your AMR based on a lower activity level. Never consume less than 1,200 calories per day without medical supervision. Doing so can send your body into starvation, slowing metabolism and increasing the risk of gallstones, gout, fatigue, irregular periods, and malnutrition. A Word From Verywell Though it really isn't difficult to grab a calculator and figure this all out by hand, there are plenty of online calculators that shortcut the process. Online calorie calculators make the perfect starting place for anyone who wants to get their calorie counts under control. You can also find nutritional calculators and exercise calculators that keep track of the calories you burn each day. Calculating Your Protein Needs With Lean Body Mass 2 Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Sabounchi NS, Rahmandad H, Ammerman A. Best-fitting prediction equations for basal metabolic rate: Informing obesity interventions in diverse populations. Int J Obes (Lond). 2013;37(10):1364-70. doi:10.1038/ijo.2012.218 Kelly, Mark P. Ph.D. Resting Metabolic Rate: Best Ways to Measure It—And Raise It, Too. Certified News. American Council on Exercise. October 2012 Additional Reading Crystal C. Douglas, Jeannine C. Lawrence, Nikki C. Bush, Robert A. Oster, Barbara A. Gower, Betty E. Darnell. Ability of the Harris Benedict Formula to Predict Energy Requirements Differs With Weight History and Ethnicity. Nutr Res. 2007 April; 27(4): 194-199. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2007.01.016. Picolo, M.; Lago, A.; Menegueti, M. et al. Harris-Benedict Equation and Resting Energy Expenditure Estimates in Critically Ill Ventilator Patients. Am J Crit Care. January 2016;25(1):e21-e29. DOI: 10.4037/ajcc2016758. By Shereen Lehman, MS Shereen Lehman, MS, is a healthcare journalist and fact checker. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? 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