Knowing roughly how many calories you need is the foundation of any nutrition plan. The ChrysoKit Calorie Calculator uses well-established formulas to estimate your maintenance calories, then adjusts for your goal.
Why use it
Most calculators stop at maintenance. We add a target adjustment (gain, lose, maintain) so you walk away with a number you can actually use.
How to use the Calorie Calculator
- Enter your age, sex, height and weight.
- Pick an activity level from the descriptions.
- Pick a goal: maintain, lose or gain.
- Read the suggested daily intake.
Features worth knowing
Mifflin-St Jeor formula
The most accurate of the common BMR formulas.
Activity multipliers
Sedentary to very active, with concrete examples.
Goal adjustment
Adds or subtracts a sensible deficit or surplus.
Pro tips
- Calorie targets are estimates. Adjust based on what the scale and the mirror tell you over a few weeks.
- Activity level is the easiest input to overestimate. Most desk workers are 'sedentary' even if they exercise a few times a week.
- Slow changes (250-500 kcal deficit or surplus) are more sustainable than aggressive ones.
Privacy first. The Calorie Calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to a server.
Treat the Calorie Calculator as a starting line. Track for a couple of weeks, then adjust based on results.
Open the tool: Calorie Calculator →
Why the scale stalled: a deficit troubleshooting guide
The calculator said 2,100 kcal for a steady half-kilo per week; six weeks in, the scale has stopped. Before concluding the math is broken, walk the checklist that coaches actually use.
First: tracking drift. Logging accuracy decays predictably... oils, sauces, weekend meals and bites-while-cooking quietly exit the ledger. Studies of self-reported intake find underestimation of 20-40% is normal, not exceptional. A one-week return to weighing and logging everything usually locates 300 missing calories without drama.
Second: the moving target. A body 5 kg lighter burns roughly 100-150 fewer calories daily at rest and during movement. The original TDEE estimate has expired; recalculate at the new weight and the "stall" often turns out to be arithmetic.
Third: invisible adaptation. Beyond the formula's reach, bodies in deficit reduce spontaneous movement... fidgeting, pacing, taking stairs... by hundreds of calories daily without consulting you. A step counter makes this visible; a daily step floor counters it.
Fourth: water masking. Fat loss continues during scale stalls surprisingly often, hidden under water retention from stress, sodium or new training. Weekly averages and a tape measure tell the truth daily weigh-ins obscure.
Only after these four does "eat less" enter the conversation... and usually it never needs to. The number was a hypothesis; this is the experiment.