Diet Calculator:
Find Your Daily Calorie & Macro Targets
Enter your stats once and get your basal metabolic rate (BMR), total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and a goal-adjusted calorie and macro target — calculated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the formula most widely validated for healthy adults. Then see it turned into an actual high-protein daily menu, not just a number.
Your Biometrics
Start Your Analysis
2,400
Calories / Day
Recommended Daily Menu
A high-protein menu built around your own numbers — most calculators stop at a target, this one shows you what to actually eat. Want more options? See our full high-protein, low-calorie food list.
Fill in your biometrics and hit “Calculate My Daily Targets” above.
How We Calculate Your Numbers
No black box. BMR comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation — (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) + 5 for men, − 161 for women. That’s multiplied by your activity level to get TDEE, then adjusted by ±400–500 calories for your goal. Mifflin-St Jeor has replaced the older Harris-Benedict equation in most clinical and fitness settings because it’s more consistently accurate for people without obesity. For the full step-by-step math, see our dedicated TDEE calculator breakdown.
BMR vs. TDEE
Your BMR is your resting metabolic rate — what you’d burn lying still all day. Your TDEE layers your actual activity on top, which is why it’s the number that should guide your eating. This calculator shows both — or use our standalone TDEE Calculator if you just want that one number on its own.
The Deficit & Surplus Strategy
One pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories, so a 500-calorie daily deficit works out to about a pound a week — sustainable without the metabolic slowdown and muscle loss that come with crash diets. For muscle gain, a smaller 300–400 calorie surplus limits fat gain while still supporting growth. Read our full calorie deficit guide for a deeper walkthrough of the “Lose Fat” logic above.
The 80/20 Rule
Weight loss is roughly 80% diet and 20% exercise. This calculator gives you the caloric baseline; what you actually eat within that number determines whether you feel good, keep muscle, and stick with it long-term. New to this? Our step-by-step guide to starting a diet plan covers the whole process.
Fitness for Metabolism
Strength training builds muscle — the engine of your metabolism. More lean mass raises your BMR, meaning you burn more even at rest. Training 2–4x a week while in a deficit helps protect that muscle instead of losing it along with fat. No gym needed — see our full-body strength training at home guide.
Track Food, Not Just Numbers
Once you know your target, log meals to hit it consistently. Our food calorie calculator lets you search individual foods and build a daily log against the number above.
Check Your BMI Too
Calories tell you how much to eat; BMI tells you whether your current weight falls in a healthy range for your height. The two work together — run your numbers through our BMI calculator for the full picture.
Diet Calculator FAQ
Is the Mifflin-St Jeor formula accurate?
It’s the formula most consistently validated as accurate for estimating BMR in healthy adults without obesity, which is why it’s used here instead of older formulas like Harris-Benedict. See the full accuracy breakdown on our TDEE calculator page. Treat your result as a precise starting point, then adjust based on real progress over 2–3 weeks.
How often should I recalculate?
Recalculate every 5–10 lbs of weight change, or whenever your activity level changes significantly — a new job, a new training program, or an injury. Our calorie deficit guide covers how to adjust your target as you go.
Why is protein important?
Protein has the highest thermic effect of the three macronutrients and directly helps preserve muscle mass while eating below maintenance — which is why this calculator prioritizes protein first when splitting your macros. Browse our high-protein, low-calorie foods list to put that into practice.
Can I eat anything I want and still hit my target?
Staying under your calorie number works for weight loss regardless of food source, but nutrient density still matters for energy, health, and how much of the weight you lose is fat versus muscle.
How do I calculate this by hand?
The Mifflin-St Jeor formula multiplies your weight, height, and age into a BMR, then multiplies that by an activity factor (1.2–1.725) for TDEE. Our TDEE calculator shows every step of the math. The calculator above automates it and adds the goal adjustment and macro split for you.
Does this work if I eat out a lot?
Yes. Once you have your daily target and macro split, most restaurant chains publish their own nutrition figures on their sites, so you can build a meal that fits your remaining calories for the day. Or log it directly with our food calorie calculator.
Can this replace a food-tracking app?
Think of this page as step one — setting your number — and a food-logging app as step two. Our own food calorie calculator can handle that second step, or use any app of your choice to track progress against your target.
What’s the difference between a diet calculator, a calorie calculator, and a TDEE calculator?
They overlap but aren’t identical. Our calorie calculator estimates maintenance calories. A TDEE calculator isolates total daily burn. A diet calculator, like this one, goes further — turning those numbers into a goal-adjusted target, a macro split, and an actual daily menu.