Maintenance Calories Explained: A Simple Guide
Maintenance calories are the approximate number of calories you need each day to keep your body weight stable over time. Your needs depend on factors such as age, sex, body size and activity level.
What are maintenance calories?
Your body uses energy for basic functions, daily movement, digestion and exercise. When your average calorie intake is close to your average energy use, body weight tends to remain relatively stable.
How are maintenance calories estimated?
A common approach is to estimate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and then account for activity. This produces an estimate of total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE. Because formulas are estimates, your real maintenance intake may be somewhat different.
How can you find your personal maintenance level?
Start with a reasonable TDEE estimate, keep your routine consistent, and look at your weight trend over several weeks rather than reacting to a single day's change. Adjust gradually when the long-term trend shows that your estimate is too high or too low.
Why does maintenance change?
Maintenance needs can change when body weight, activity, training volume, daily movement or other lifestyle factors change. A new routine may therefore require a new estimate.
Maintenance calories and your goal
If your goal is weight loss or weight gain, maintenance calories provide a useful starting point for planning an appropriate calorie change. Individual needs vary, so avoid treating a calculator result as a medical prescription.
Use the FitCalcHub TDEE Calculator
Use our TDEE Calculator to get an estimate based on your personal information and activity level, then use the result as a starting point for your nutrition planning.
Important note
Calorie estimates are not a substitute for personalized medical or nutrition advice. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, are under 18, or have a history of an eating disorder, speak with a qualified healthcare professional before making significant dietary changes.