TDEE calculator. Your maintenance number in 30 seconds.

Start about 20% below your TDEE. The calculator shows that number as "Eat this to lose fat". For most people it is 350 to 600 calories a day under maintenance, which takes off roughly 0.7 to 1.2 pounds a week. That pace is slow enough to keep up until it works.

BMR, your basal metabolic rate, is what your body burns at complete rest just to keep you alive. TDEE adds everything on top of that: walking, working, training and digesting food. Your TDEE is always higher than your BMR, so eating at your BMR is a bigger cut than most people realize. After you calculate, your BMR is the first line of the Activity Breakdown.

It uses the Mifflin St Jeor equation, which estimates your resting burn within about 10% for most people. Your activity level adds more room for error, so treat the result as a starting point. Eat at your target for two to three weeks, weigh in a few mornings a week, and adjust by 100 to 200 calories if the scale is not moving the way you want.

Pick the one that matches an average week, not your best one. A desk job with three or four workouts a week is usually Lightly Active or Moderately Active. If you are stuck between two levels, take the lower one. Overestimating activity is the most common reason a calorie target stops working.

Not with this calculator. Your activity level already counts your workouts, so adding exercise calories on top counts them twice. Fitness trackers also tend to overestimate what a workout burns.

The macro cards show protein grams for three different splits. When I build a plan, I start most people at about 0.9 grams of protein per pound of goal weight. Protein keeps you full and protects muscle while you eat less. If that is far more than you eat now, build up to it over a couple of weeks.

For most adults, yes. Under about 1,500 calories a day it gets hard to eat enough protein and fiber, hunger climbs, and most people rebound. That is why this calculator never shows a fat loss number under 1,500 and why I do not build plans below it. If your doctor has you on a lower calorie plan, follow your doctor.

Every 10 to 15 pounds you lose or gain, and whenever your activity changes for good, like a new job or a new training schedule. A smaller body burns less, so the number that took off the first 10 pounds slows down for the next 10.

The usual reasons, in order: portions are bigger than you think, the activity level is set too high, or it has been less than two weeks and water weight is hiding the fat loss. Most people underestimate what they eat, so check portions first. Then drop 100 to 200 calories and give it two more weeks.

Yes. Eat a little above it: the calculator shows about 15% over maintenance as "Eat this to build muscle". Pair that with strength training where you add weight or reps over time, and enough protein. Gaining about half a pound a week is a sensible pace for most people.

A little. The formula takes about 5 calories a day off your resting burn for every year of age, mostly because people tend to lose muscle as they get older. Strength training and enough protein slow that down.

This calculator takes pounds and feet. One kilogram is 2.2 pounds, so 70 kg is about 154 lbs, and one inch is 2.54 centimeters. The plan questions at brownricebandit.com/start take metric if you prefer.

Not on its own. Those change your energy needs in ways this formula does not cover. Use it for a rough idea, and get your numbers from your doctor or a registered dietitian.