How many calories should I eat a day?

There's no single right number. How many calories you need depends on your age, size, sex and how active you are. Here's how to get a sensible starting point.

General guidelines

The NHS uses around 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men as a general guide. Your own needs may be higher or lower.

BMR: what your body burns at rest

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the energy your body uses just to keep running — breathing, circulation and keeping warm. A widely used estimate is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation:

Men: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age) + 5
Women: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) − (5 × age) − 161

TDEE: what you burn in a day

Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) adds activity on top of BMR. It's usually estimated by multiplying BMR by an activity factor — roughly 1.2 if you're mostly sitting, up to about 1.9 if you're very active.

Adjust for your goal

To maintain: eat around your TDEE.
To lose weight: eat a little below it — see our calorie deficit guide.
To gain muscle: eat slightly above it and train regularly.

Treat it as a starting point

Every formula is an estimate. Log your food for two to three weeks, watch your weight trend, and adjust. Loggah's calculator gives you a starting target, and the app tracks how you're doing against it.

This guide is general information, not medical advice.

Get your first month of Premium free

Loggah is coming soon. Register your interest and we'll send your code at launch.