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Calorie Calculator: TDEE, BMR and Your Daily Calorie Target

Free · No sign-up · Updated October 2026
Estimate your BMR and TDEE with the Mifflin-St Jeor formula, get a daily calorie target to lose, keep or gain weight, a protein range, and hawker meal comparisons.
Sex
years
cm
kg
Goal

Daily calories to lose about 0.5 kg a week

1,720 kcal

An estimate: track your weight for 2 to 3 weeks and adjust.
BMR (at rest)
1,620 kcal
TDEE (maintenance)
2,220 kcal
Lose 0.5 kg a week
1,720 kcal
Gain 0.25 kg a week
2,470 kcal
Protein, minimum (0.8 g/kg)
56 g
Protein if strength training (up to 1.6 g/kg)
112 g

Your target in hawker meals

About 570 kcal a meal if you eat three meals a day. Calories per plate as published by the Health Promotion Board.

  • Fish soup bee hoon (no milk)326 kcal · 19% of your day
  • White carrot cake402 kcal · 23% of your day
  • Braised duck with yam rice540 kcal · 31% of your day
  • Black carrot cake556 kcal · 32% of your day
  • Chicken rice, skin removed635 kcal · 37% of your day
  • Fish soup bee hoon with milk and fried fish642 kcal · 37% of your day
  • Roasted duck rice714 kcal · 41% of your day
  • Nasi ayam penyet936 kcal · 54% of your day

Fits one meal's share Over one meal's share

How this works

BMR (basal metabolic rate, the energy you use at rest) is estimated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age, plus 5 for men or minus 161 for women. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, your maintenance calories) is BMR multiplied by a standard activity factor, from 1.2 for a desk job with little exercise to 1.9 for a physical job plus training.

The weight-change targets add or subtract a fixed amount from TDEE: 500 kcal a day less for about 0.5 kg a week, 250 kcal for about 0.25 kg, using the common rule of thumb that a kilogram of body fat holds about 7,700 kcal. Real loss slows over time as your body adapts, so treat the number as a starting point and adjust after two or three weeks of weighing yourself.

Protein is shown as 0.8 g per kg of body weight (the usual minimum for adults) up to 1.6 g per kg, the level beyond which a 2018 meta-analysis found no extra muscle gain from strength training. Hawker meal calories are the Health Promotion Board's published figures per plate. All results are estimates for healthy adults; pregnancy, medical conditions and teenagers need individual advice.

FAQs

How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

Eat about 500 kcal a day below your TDEE to lose roughly 0.5 kg a week. For a 30-year-old man who is 170 cm, 70 kg and lightly active, TDEE is about 2,220 kcal, so the target is about 1,720 kcal a day.

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR is the energy you burn at complete rest, while TDEE adds your daily activity. A 30-year-old woman who is 160 cm and 60 kg has a BMR of about 1,290 kcal and a TDEE of about 2,000 kcal if she exercises 3 to 5 days a week.

How many calories are in a plate of chicken rice?

The Health Promotion Board puts chicken rice with the skin removed at 635 kcal a plate and roasted duck rice at 714 kcal. Fish soup bee hoon without milk is one of the lighter hawker options at 326 kcal.

How much protein do I need a day?

Most adults need at least 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight, so 56 g for a 70 kg person. If you do regular strength training, up to about 1.6 g per kg (112 g at 70 kg) helps build muscle; more than that brings little extra benefit.

Sources