Calorie & Macro Calculator
Calorie & Macro Calculator
Find out how many calories you burn a day, and how many calories, protein, carbs and fat to eat for your goal.
Hitting the number means weighing the food.
Eyeballing portions is how a 2,000 calorie plan quietly becomes 2,500. The ScanFit Scanner and Food Scale bundle lets you weigh your food and then check whether your body is actually changing.
See The Bundle Estimate My Body FatYour TDEE is the number of calories you burn in a day. We work it out from your resting burn (BMR, using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation) times your activity level. Eat about 20% below it to lose fat, at it to maintain, or about 10% above it to build muscle.
What Are TDEE And BMR?
BMR is the energy your body burns just to stay alive: breathing, pumping blood, keeping you warm. Lie in bed all day and you'd still burn it.
TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure. It's your BMR plus everything you do on top: walking, working, training, even fidgeting. It's the number of calories that keeps your weight exactly where it is.
Eat below it and you lose weight. Eat above it and you gain. Everything else is detail.
How We Calculate It
We use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which research keeps finding is among the most accurate for estimating BMR in adults. Then we multiply by your activity level.
- Men: BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age + 5
- Women: BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age − 161
| Activity | TDEE = BMR × |
|---|---|
| Desk job, little exercise | 1.2 |
| Light, 1 to 3 workouts a week | 1.375 |
| Moderate, 3 to 5 workouts a week | 1.55 |
| Very active, 6 to 7 hard sessions a week | 1.725 |
| Athlete or physical job plus training | 1.9 |
Most people overestimate their activity. If you're between two levels, pick the lower one.
What Each Goal Can Look Like
Your calories point your body in a direction. A deficit leads to fat loss, maintenance keeps your shape, and a surplus with strength training supports muscle gain. These examples are only a rough guide.
How We Set Your Macros
- Calories: about 20% below your TDEE to lose fat, equal to it to maintain, and about 10% above it to build muscle.
- Protein: 2.0 g per kg of body weight when cutting, 1.8 g when building, 1.6 g when maintaining. It keeps you full and helps you hold on to muscle.
- Fat: 25% of your calories. Enough to keep your hormones and your mood in order.
- Carbs: whatever is left. They fuel your training.
Treat It As A Starting Point
No formula knows your metabolism. Think of this number as a first guess. Follow it for two to three weeks, track your weight trend, and adjust by 100 to 200 calories if nothing moves.
And watch what the weight is made of. If the scale drops but you're losing muscle with it, you're cutting too hard or eating too little protein, and a bathroom scale will never tell you.
Track What The Scale Can't See
Calories tell you what goes in. Your body tells you what happened. The ScanFit Body Scanner splits your weight into body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat and body water, so you can see if your plan is working the way you meant it to.
- Weigh your food with the ScanFit Food Scale, so your calories are real numbers.
- Scan yourself weekly and watch your fat and muscle trends in the free app.
- Syncs with Apple Health, Garmin and Health Connect, and up to 10 people can share one scanner.
You get 100 days to try it. Don't love it? Send it back.
“I wanted to be able to see my progress “internally”, not simply just my weight. I am thrilled with this scale and the measurements I am able to follow.”Deb Sholly, United States · Read on Trustpilot
Scanner + Food Scale Bundle See The Body Scanner
Not for anyone with a pacemaker or another implanted electronic device. If you're pregnant, check with your doctor first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories should I eat a day?
It depends on your age, size, sex and activity. The calculator gives you a personal estimate. For most adults the number to eat for fat loss sits about 15 to 25% below their TDEE.
How do I calculate my maintenance calories?
Work out your BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then multiply it by your activity level, from 1.2 for a desk job to 1.9 for athletes. The result is your TDEE, which is your maintenance level.
What's the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is what your body burns at rest. TDEE adds the calories you burn moving around and training, so it's the number that matters for planning your meals.
How many calories do I need to cut to lose a pound a week?
About 500 a day, since a pound of body fat is roughly 3,500 calories. In practice, a deficit of 15 to 25% of your TDEE is easier to stick to, and weight loss rarely follows the maths perfectly.
How much protein do I need?
Many active adults do well with roughly 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kg of body weight per day. That's about 0.7 to 1 g per pound.
What's the best macro split for fat loss?
There's no single best split. A common starting point is high protein (around 2 g per kg), about 25% of calories from fat, and carbs for the rest. The best split is the one you can keep eating.
How do I know if my calories are right?
Follow them for two to three weeks and watch your weight trend. If nothing moves, adjust by 100 to 200 calories. Weighing your food makes this far more reliable.
Should I eat back the calories I burn exercising?
Not on top of this number. Your activity level is already built into your TDEE, so adding workout calories as well would count them twice.
This calculator is for general information only and isn't medical advice. It's meant for healthy adults. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a history of disordered eating, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before changing how you eat.