Daily calories and macros to cut, maintain or bulk, with more fuel on the days you lift.
Capped at the minimum we recommend for your bodyweight (8 kcal per lb). Going lower usually costs muscle.
Same weekly total, shifted toward the days you lift. The difference is carbs.
Maintenance – · BMR – ()
| Goal | Per day | Per week |
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Your daily calorie needs come in two parts. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is what your body burns at rest just to keep you alive. Maintenance calories (often called TDEE, total daily energy expenditure) add everything else: training, walking, working, even digesting food. The calculator estimates your BMR with a published formula, multiplies it by an activity factor, then adjusts for your goal.
Instead of vague labels like "moderately active", activity is described by how often you work out, from little or no exercise (×1.2) up to daily training plus a physical job (×1.9). If you're between two options, pick the lower one. Most people overestimate how active they are.
The weekly change uses the rule of thumb that about 3,500 calories equals a pound of body fat (7,700 per kg). Real-world results are usually a bit slower, because your body adapts as your weight changes. Recalculate every 5–10 lb (2–5 kg). The calculator won't suggest fewer than 8 calories per pound of bodyweight; below that, keeping muscle gets hard.
Protein comes first. Most research supports about 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight (0.7–1 g per lb) for people trying to build or keep muscle, with the higher end useful during a cut. Fat defaults to 0.8 g per kg, enough for hormones and health, and carbs fill the rest, since they fuel hard training. You can change both under Advanced options.
Some calculators offer a random "zig-zag" pattern. For lifters, it makes more sense to tie the extra calories to training. Pick how many days a week you lift, and the calculator gives those days 10% more calories and spreads the difference across your rest days, so the weekly total doesn't change. The extra is best eaten as carbs around your workout.
Want a goal weight to aim for? Try the Ideal Weight Calculator for Lifters, then enter it under Advanced options to see roughly when you'll get there. And if you want to see your strength and bodyweight side by side, GymGod logs both.
For most lifters, about 20% below maintenance is a good starting point: enough of a deficit to lose roughly 0.5–1% of bodyweight a week, small enough to keep training hard. Keep protein high (around 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight) and keep lifting heavy so your body has a reason to hold on to muscle.
A lean bulk of about 10% above maintenance is enough for most people. Beginners can gain muscle quickly and may do well with a little more; experienced lifters gain muscle slowly, so a bigger surplus mostly adds fat.
Mifflin-St Jeor is the most accurate general formula for estimating resting calories. If you know your body fat percentage, Katch-McArdle can be better for lean, muscular people because it is based on lean mass. Harris-Benedict is the oldest and tends to estimate a little high. All of them are starting points: weigh yourself for two to three weeks and adjust by 100–200 calories if the scale isn't moving the way you want.
It's optional, but many lifters like it. Shifting some calories, mostly carbs, toward lifting days can help performance and makes rest days a little lighter, while the weekly total stays the same. What matters most for your weight is the weekly average.
We don't suggest less than 8 calories per pound of bodyweight. Going lower makes it hard to keep muscle, train well, and stick with the diet, and it isn't a good idea without medical supervision.
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GymGod logs your workouts and bodyweight together, so you can see whether the scale is moving for the right reasons.
