BMR Calculator
What maintenance means
Maintenance calories are the intake at which body weight stays stable — energy in matching energy out. It is the reference point every other goal is set against.
It equals your total daily energy expenditure: basal metabolic rate multiplied by an activity factor.
The components of daily burn
- Basal metabolic rate — roughly 60–70% of the total
- Thermic effect of food — around 10%, the energy used digesting what you eat. Protein costs noticeably more to process than fat or carbohydrate.
- Non-exercise activity — walking, fidgeting, standing, daily movement. Varies enormously between individuals.
- Deliberate exercise — often the smallest component, which surprises people.
Why maintenance moves
It is not a fixed number. Losing weight lowers it, because a smaller body costs less to run. Gaining muscle raises it slightly.
There is also adaptive change: sustained calorie restriction tends to reduce spontaneous movement and modestly lower expenditure beyond what the weight change alone predicts. This is a large part of why weight loss slows after the early weeks.
Finding yours empirically
The calculated figure is an estimate. The reliable method is to track intake and weight for two to three weeks at a consistent level.
Weight stable means you have found maintenance. Drifting up or down means adjusting by 100–200 calories and observing again. Use weekly averages — daily weight swings several pounds on water and food volume alone and tells you very little.
General information, not dietary advice.