Health
Calorie needs
A maintenance estimate from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.
Result
Enter age, weight, and height. The result is an estimate of maintenance, then a rough shift if you pick one.
How this works
The basal estimate is Mifflin-St Jeor. For men it is 10 times weight in kilograms, plus 6.25 times height in centimeters, minus 5 times age, plus 5. For women the last term is minus 161. Activity multiplies that: 1.2 sedentary, 1.375 light, 1.55 moderate, 1.725 active, 1.9 very active. That product is an estimate of maintenance.
The goal shifts are the old rule of thumb that about 500 calories a day lines up with half a pound a week, and about 1,000 with a pound. That rule is rough, and it is not a prescription. If the result falls under 1,200 calories, the page says so.
An example
A 30-year-old man, 80 kilograms, 180 centimeters, sedentary. Basal estimate is 1,780 calories. Maintenance at the sedentary multiplier is 2,136. A half-pound shift subtracts 500 from that.