There is no single calorie number that is right for everyone. How many calories you should eat a day depends on your body size, how active you are, and whether you want to lose, maintain or gain weight. The honest answer is a range you can work out in a couple of minutes, not a magic figure. Here is how to find yours and, more importantly, what to do with it.
Start with your maintenance calories
Your maintenance calories are the amount that keeps your weight stable. This is your TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure: everything your body burns in a day, from staying alive to walking to the shop. Work it out first, because every goal is just an adjustment from this number. Our guide on how to calculate TDEE walks through it, or use a quick estimate from the rough ranges below.
Rough daily ranges
These are general starting points for maintenance, not prescriptions. Your real number depends on height, weight, age and activity.
| Profile | Rough maintenance |
|---|---|
| Smaller, less active adult | ~1,600–1,900 kcal |
| Average, moderately active adult | ~2,000–2,400 kcal |
| Larger or very active adult | ~2,500–3,000+ kcal |
Adjust for your goal
- To lose weight: eat below maintenance. A deficit of around 300–500 kcal a day is a sustainable pace for most people. More on the maths in what is a calorie deficit and how many calories to lose weight.
- To maintain: eat roughly at maintenance and let small day-to-day swings even out.
- To gain: eat a modest surplus, around 250–500 kcal above maintenance, ideally paired with strength training.
Why the number is only half the story
Two days at the same calorie total can feel completely different. A day built on protein, fibre and whole foods keeps you full and steady, while the same calories from ultra-processed snacks can leave you hungry an hour later. That is why hitting a number is a starting point, not the whole job. Getting enough protein and not just counting calories makes the same target far easier to stick to.
You do not have to count forever
Counting calories is a useful way to learn portions, but plenty of people lose weight without it. If the daily logging grates, our guide on how to stop counting calories covers the habits that replace it.
Your calories, worked out for you
forme sets a daily calorie and macro target from your body and goal, then tracks it from a quick scan, so you spend less time doing maths and more time hitting the number.
The bottom line
To find how many calories you should eat a day: estimate your maintenance, then adjust up or down for your goal. Most people land somewhere between 1,600 and 2,800 kcal. Treat it as a guide you refine over a few weeks, not a rule. This is general information, not personalised medical or dietary advice.