Maintenance Calories Calculator
Maintenance calories are the number of calories your body needs each day to hold your current weight steady, no more, no less. It's the number that sits at the centre of every weight management decision, whether you're trying to lose weight, maintain a loss, gain weight, or simply understand your own metabolism better. Our maintenance calories calculator gives you a personalized baseline or starting point, so you're not guessing how much you should be eating in a day to go in a calorie deficit or surplus, depending on your weight loss or weight gain goals. Go ahead and try out our maintenance calories calculator:
Maintenance Calories Calculator
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How We Calculate Your Maintenance Calories Number
Your maintenance calories come from two pieces: your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the energy your body burns just to keep your heart beating, lungs breathing, and cells repairing, and your activity level on top of that. Our maintenance calories calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the formula most consistently validated as accurate in clinical research, to estimate your BMR from your age, sex, height, and weight. From there, we apply an activity multiplier, ranging from sedentary to very active, to arrive at your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). That TDEE is the maintenance calories number you get after using our maintenance calories calculator. In essence, you think of our maintenance calories calculator as a TDEE calculator (Total Daily Energy Expenditure Calculator) as it incorporates your activity level into the calculation as well.
Mind you, this is an estimate, not a lab measurement. Genetics, muscle mass, hormone levels, sleep, and medications like GLP-1s can all shift your number up or down. That's why, at the end of using our maintenance calories calculator, we invite you for a fully OHIP-covered, free weight management consultation with one of our accredited weight loss physicians. On this free call, you get total guidance on how to hit your weight management goals, including access to:
- Weight loss medications
- Lifestyle coaching
- Exercise routines
- Behavioral modification therapies
- Free delivery of weight loss meds to your doorstep
The best bit? All consults are OHIP-covered. All you need to do is complete a free, 2 min assessment form, no credit card needed.
Why Your Maintenance Calories Number Matters More Than You Think!
A lot of weight loss advice skips straight to "eat less" without ever establishing a baseline. Without knowing your maintenance calories, a calorie deficit is just a guess. Guessing is how people end up under-eating and stalling their metabolism, or overestimating how much they've actually cut back. Our TDEE calculator helps you find out your actual maintenance calories number, turning weight management from trial and error into a plan you can actually track.
We have done a separate blog on how to eat for weight loss without counting calories, if you’re the kind of person who likes a more loose and flexible approach to weight loss.
Built Into A Bigger Picture
At The MELT Method, your maintenance calories calculation isn't a standalone tool. It feeds directly into the four pillars our physicians build your weight loss plan around: Medication, Exercise, Lifestyle, and Thoughtfulness. Your number gets reviewed alongside your medical history, your prescription plan if one is appropriate, and your day-to-day routine, all through multiple free, OHIP-covered virtual consultations with our accredited weight management physicians.
Try out our maintenance calories calculator, then book your free assessment with us to see how that number fits into a full, physician-led plan built around your unique physical traits and weight loss goals. Get a weight loss medication like Wegovy or Zepbound prescribed and delivered for free if needed as well.