How many calories in calories

Calories in Food and Exercise

Definition of Calories for Eating and Burning Them

Wendy Bumgardner is a freelance writer covering walking and other health and fitness topics and has competed in more than 1,000 walking events.

Melissa Rifkin is a Connecticut-based registered dietitian with over 15 years of experience working in the clinical setting.

A calorie is a measure of energy expenditure and stored energy. The calories referred to in diet (calories eaten) and exercise (calories burned) are kilocalories (kcal).

One kilocalorie is equal to the amount of heat that will raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius at sea level. One kilocalorie is equal to 4186.8 joules and 1000 calories (small calories) as referred to in science labs for heat energy.

Understanding Calories in Food

Calories in food are grouped as fats, alcohol, carbohydrates, and proteins. Different nutrients have more or fewer calories packed into the same weight (higher or lower calorie density). Nutrition labels in the U.S. use these rules of thumb: 

Although fiber is a carbohydrate, it is not easily digested by the body, so calories from fiber are estimated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be 1.5 calories for 1 gram.

By checking the nutrition facts label on food, you can see how many calories in a serving come from each of these sources.

Calories and Weight Loss

A pound of body fat stores roughly 3500 calories (kcal) although this number is an estimate. To lose a pound of fat in a week, a general guidelines is to reduce your calorie intake by approximately 500 fewer calories (kcal) per day than you expend in metabolism and exercise. However, it is important to take this guide with a grain of salt. There are other factors (in addition to the simple calories in/calories out equation) that can influence weight loss.

The number of calories that you burn in a day includes basal metabolic rate calories burned just to keep the body functioning, plus additional calories burned in physical activity. Your body will burn calories to maintain body temperature, breathe, circulate blood, digest food, eliminate wastes, build and repair cells and tissues, and maintain brain and nervous system activity.

The range of daily calorie burning is from 1600 calories (kcal) for a sedentary woman or an older person to 2800 calories (kcal) for active men, very active women, and teenage boys. You can check your calories burned per day with a calculator based on your height, weight, age, and activity level.

Using a fitness monitor and app to track calories eaten and calories burned can assist people who want to achieve a calorie deficit to lose weight. Tracking activity with a fitness monitor helps eliminate overestimates on the side of calories burned, while honest tracking of what is eaten can highlight where food calories are coming from. Keep in mind that the numbers provided by these devices are only estimates.

Calories Burned in Physical Activity

Physical activity burns calories beyond the basal metabolic rate. Your muscles use both readily available and stored energy sources in your body.

The exercise calories burned during cardiovascular activities such as walking, running, swimming, and cycling depend on the intensity of the exercise, your body weight, and the amount of time you spend exercising.   Moderate-intensity exercises such as brisk walking burn fewer calories per minute than more vigorous-intensity exercises such as running.

For example, you can use a walking calorie chart to find out how many calories you can burn per mile based on your weight and speed. Walking burns approximately 90 calories per mile for a 160-pound person.

Depending on the duration and intensity of exercise, your body burns available blood sugar, glycogen stored in the muscles and liver, fat and, if required, even begins to burn muscle protein.

Some people aim to exercise at 60% to 70% of their maximum heart rate to burn body fat. In that fat-burning zone, 85% of the calories you burn are from fat. However, you’ll burn more total calories per minute if you exercise at a higher intensity.

The «fat-burning» zone is more tolerable for many people and might allow you to exercise for a longer period of time. But if you work out for a shorter period of time, a higher intensity session will help you to burn more calories

Fitness monitors and pedometers often estimate calories burned based on your weight, number of steps taken, speed, pace, and intensity. It is generally more accurate if the exercise intensity is measured by the heart rate during exercise. You may use hand grip pulse monitors on a treadmill or elliptical trainer for a more accurate estimate.

More and more fitness bands and smartwatches have pulse detectors built in to monitor your exercise intensity. A chest strap heart rate monitor is considered the most accurate.

How Many Calories Should I Eat Per Day?

Recommended intake ranges from 1,600 to 3,200 a day based on several factors

Malia Frey is a weight loss expert, certified health coach, weight management specialist, personal trainer​, and fitness nutrition specialist.

Mia Syn, MS, RDN is a registered dietitian nutritionist with a master of science in human nutrition. She is also the host of Good Food Friday on ABC News 4.

Verywell / Theresa Chiechi

Eating a certain number of calories daily can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Research further indicates that, when following a balanced diet, consuming the best number of calories for you can also help improve your health and boost longevity.

When determining how many calories you should eat per day, it helps to first understand the established recommended calorie intakes. From there, you can consider other factors to find the right calorie intake for you, given your body and health-related goals. Here is what you need to know about daily calorie consumption.

Recommended Calorie Intakes

Knowing the recommended calorie intake guidelines can provide a better idea of your calorie range. These vary based on whether you are an adult, a teen, or a child.

Adults

The recommended calorie intake for adult women ranges from 1,600 calories per day to 2,400 calories per day, according to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For men, the amount is slightly higher, ranging from 2,200 to 3,200 calories per day.

If you are somewhat sedentary or older, your calorie needs are likely toward the bottom of the range. You may be closer to the top if you are fairly physically active, pregnant, or breastfeeding.

Teens

These amounts increase slightly in the later teen years. The range for girls aged 14 to 18 is 1,800 calories per day to 2,400. The recommended calorie intake for boys in this same age range is somewhere between 2,000 and 3,200 calories.

Children

Children between the ages of 2 and 3 need between 1,000 and 1,400 calories daily. Where they fall in this range depends on how active they are.

At 4 to 8 years of age, the range starts at 1,200 calories daily and increases to 1,800 calories for girls and 2,000 calories for boys. At 9 to 13 years, the calorie range is 1,400 to 2,200 calories per day for girls and 1,600 to 2,600 calories daily for boys.

Infants and young children are generally good at self-regulating their calorie intake, so it may be more helpful to ensure they have a balanced diet versus watching how many calories they consume.

Factors That Affect Your Target Calorie Intake

As the recommended calorie intake guidelines suggest, the number of calories you need per day can vary based on various factors. Among them are:

Additional factors that can affect how many calories your body uses for energy, thus also impacting how many you should consume, include your hormones, some medications (such as steroids and some diabetes medicines), and your overall health.

The Nutrition Facts label on foods provides information based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet. But people can have different calorie needs. Determining your individual needs can help you maintain a healthy weight.

Using Weight Loss Calculators

Then it adds the calories needed to gain weight or subtracts the calories required to help you lose weight. It can figure out how many calories you should eat to maintain weight as well.

Inputting accurate information can help determine your daily caloric needs. If you’re unsure how active you are during the day, keep an activity journal for a week or look at data from your fitness tracker to get a quick estimate.

Next, the calculator will ask you about your goals. It’s important to be realistic during this step. Your goal weight may differ from an ideal or «perfect» weight. Try to set goals that you believe are attainable. Once you reach your goal, you can always set a new one.

If you are trying to lose weight, a healthy rate of weight loss is 0.5 to 2 pounds per week. If you are trying to gain weight, adding 1 to 2 pounds per week is a healthy goal.

Reaching Your Goal Weight

After entering your information into the calorie calculator, you’ll receive a daily calorie goal. This is the number of calories you should eat daily to reach your desired weight in the set time frame.

To Lose Weight

If weight loss is your goal, a calorie deficit is factored into your recommended daily caloric intake. A calorie deficit is simply an energy shortfall—consuming fewer calories than you use—so your body burns stored fat (excess weight) for fuel.

You can create a calorie deficit by eating less than your body needs. You can also burn extra calories by increasing your physical activity. Combining the two (a balanced diet and exercise) is a healthy strategy for losing weight.

While it may be tempting to restrict your calorie intake dramatically, a very low-calorie diet (fewer than 800 to 1000 calories per day) can backfire. You should only do so with a doctor’s supervision to ensure that the diet meets your nutritional needs.

Other dietary strategies that can assist with weight loss include:

To Gain Weight

If you are trying to gain weight, your daily calorie goal will include a calorie surplus. The key to making this gain healthy involves following a few simple guidelines:

To Maintain Weight

Several pieces of research have sought the best ways to maintain one’s current weight, especially after successful weight loss. Many of these studies report that results are mixed as to what strategies may work best.

However, many of these studies did find that following a higher-protein diet might help with weight maintenance. A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols was also suggested as an effective approach to sustaining a healthy weight.

What to Know About Food and Exercise

You can eat whatever you want and lose weight if you stay within your calorie range. That said, it might be hard to stay in this range if you don’t eat nutritious foods.

Plus, empty-calorie foods don’t provide your body with the nutrients you need to live an active life. And when you eat junk food, you’re likely to get hungry more often and overeat. Conversely, healthy foods help you to feel strong, energized, and satiated.

Additionally, all calories are not created equal. Calories from nutritious food sources will help you feel full longer, fuel your daily activity, and improve your well-being. Empty calories can leave you feeling hungry, increase your food cravings, and even increase fatigue. You’ll find them in processed foods that contain added sugars, trans fat, excess fat, and calories. They may provide energy but not the fiber, vitamins, and minerals you need.

What to Eat

Health experts recommend that you fill your plate with:

Diets

There is no «best» diet because we are all so different, with different lifestyles and needs. The diet that will work best for you is the one you can maintain.

For some people, a do-it-yourself program is best. Others benefit from the structured approach of a commercial weight loss program.

To determine which is best for you, ask yourself key questions about your lifestyle. Do you cook? How much time do you have to shop for healthy food? What is your budget? Use your responses to choose a diet that best fits your needs.

Exercise

If you factored exercise into the equation when using the online calculator, you should not eat more if you exercise. Your daily calorie goal (the calculator result) has already accounted for the additional physical activity.

If you didn’t factor in exercise when using the calculator, and you added a workout session to your day, the calories burned during exercise will increase your calorie deficit. If you don’t eat back your exercise calories, the increased deficit can result in weight loss (or more significant weight loss).

However, assessing how many calories you burned can be challenging, making it easy to eat more calories than you burn after exercise. This can lead to weight gain versus weight loss or maintenance.

How to Count Daily Calories

There are different ways that you can keep track of your daily calorie intake. You can use a smartphone app or websites like MyFitnessPal or LoseIt. These services allow you to input the food you’ve eaten and your portion size and automatically calculate your daily calorie intake.

Some activity trackers, like Fitbit, help you count daily food calories and exercise calories. If you’re not a fan of tech gadgets, use a weight loss journal or write your calories in a notebook to keep track of your daily numbers.

How to Address Challenges

Many factors contribute to weight loss success. If you don’t lose weight immediately, it doesn’t mean that you have failed or done something wrong. It might simply mean that you need to stick to your program longer for weight loss to happen.

Evaluate your eating and exercise habits to see if there are adjustments you can make to reach your goal. There may also be medical reasons that you can’t lose weight. So talk to a healthcare provider if you are concerned.

Your doctor may be able to refer you to a registered dietitian for personalized nutrition advice. If you have more weight to lose, they might also talk to you about weight loss medications or weight-loss surgeries to help you lose weight.

A Word From Verywell

Determining your ideal caloric intake is a smart part of being mindful of your nutrition and, subsequently, your weight management. Although being intentional about weight is one way to contribute to your overall health, being overly focused on calorie intake can be a worrying sign of diet culture or even disordered eating. Consult a healthcare provider if you need help navigating your ideal calorie intake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Like losing weight, gaining weight depends on multiple factors. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, but adding an extra 500 calories per day is a great way to start to gain weight. Choose nutrient- and calorie-dense foods. Adding nutritious and heart-healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats is a good start.

Metabolism has a heavy genetic component; however, there are ways to boost your metabolism. Strength training is one way to increase your basal metabolic rate, which means you’ll burn more calories throughout the day, not just while you exercise.

How Many Calories Should You Eat Per Day?

Use this calorie calculator to find out how many calories you really need! Match it to your goals and activity level to help you make better nutritional choices.

Reading a food label could give you the impression that everybody needs more or less the same things, in the same quantities, to be healthy. Not so! We all have different bodies, different goals, and different lifestyles, and the way we eat should reflect that.

This calorie calculator will help you estimate the number of calories you’re burning each day, plus a daily calorie target to help you lose weight, add muscle, or maintain your current weight. This can be your launch pad to gain better control of your nutrition and better results while working toward your goals!

Calorie Calculator

Your calorie count should put you in a slight caloric deficit of around 200-700 calories. This can help you establish a consistent, sustainable pace of weight loss. Here are your next steps to lose weight:

1. Pick a weight-loss workout plan.

A well-designed program is an essential part of turning hard numbers like calories into hard-body results! Here are the most popular ones from BodyFit:

2. Calculate your macronutrient ratio.

Calories aren’t just calories! They’re actually values that come from the macronutrients of protein, fats, and carbohydrates (as well as alcohol). Paul Salter, RD, can show you how to dial yours in for your goal in the article, «Macronutrient Calculator: Find Your Macro Ratio for Flexible Dieting and IIFYM.»

3. Learn about the best fat-loss supplements.

Supplements can help you accelerate your results once you have your calories and training in place. Krissy Kendall, Ph.D., shares her recommendations in the article, «5 Ways to Up Your Fat-Loss Supplement Game.»

4. Join a fitness community.

For over 10 years, members of BodySpace have been helping each other build their best bodies. Join a fitness community that’s over 2 million people strong!

Your calorie count should put you in a slight caloric surplus of around 500 calories. This can help you establish a consistent, sustainable pace of weight gain. Here are your next steps to gain muscle:

1. Pick a muscle-building workout plan.

A well-designed program is an essential part of turning hard numbers like calories into hard-body results! Here are the most popular ones from BodyFit:

2. Calculate your macronutrient ratio.

Calories aren’t just calories! They’re actually values that come from the macronutrients of protein, fats, and carbohydrates (as well as alcohol). Paul Salter, RD, can show you how to dial yours in for your goal in the article, «Macronutrient Calculator: Find Your Macro Ratio for Flexible Dieting and IIFYM.»

3. Learn about the best supplements for gaining muscle.

Supplements can help you accelerate your muscle-building results once you have your calories and training nailed. Krissy Kendall, Ph.D., shares her recommendations in the article, «8 Proven Supplements for Muscle Growth and Strength.»

4. Join a fitness community.

For over 10 years, members of BodySpace have been helping each other build their best bodies. Join a fitness community that’s over 2 million people strong!

Your calorie count should put you close to a level where you maintain your current weight. Here are the next steps on your journey to customize your nutrition:

1. Pick a workout plan.

A well-designed program is an essential part of staying motivated and seeing results. Here are some of our most popular programs from BodyFit:

2. Calculate your macronutrient ratio.

Calories aren’t just calories! They’re actually values that come from the macronutrients of protein, fats, and carbohydrates (as well as alcohol). Paul Salter, RD, can show you how to dial yours in for your goal in the article, Macronutrient Calculator: Find Your Macro Ratio for Flexible Dieting and IIFYM.»

3. Learn about the best health-focused supplements.

Supplements can help you accelerate your results and support your training once you have your calories and training in place. Chris Lockwood, Ph.D., shares what to take and why in the article, «Start Here: The Most Important Supplements for Every Body.»

4. Join a fitness community.

For over 10 years, members of BodySpace have been helping each other build their best bodies. Join a fitness community that’s over 2 million people strong!

Which Goal and Activity Level Should I Choose?

Maintain current weight

First time counting calories? Or not sure which goal is right for you? Then start with «maintenance.» In theory, this is where you will eat the same amount of calories that you burn and maintain your current weight. Many nutritionists say before you start cutting calories, you should spend some time at maintenance and get more comfortable with tracking your foods and portion sizes.

Lose weight

If you know that you’re ready to lose a few pounds and you’ve counted calories before, select «lose weight.» This will give you a target that is usually 200-700 calories below maintenance. This is a popular «sweet spot» for healthy, sustainable weight loss.

Gain weight

Gaining weight—especially as muscle—sounds easy enough. Train hard, eat big, right? But you may be surprised at how much more you need to eat to grow! Selecting «gain weight» will put you a few hundred calories above maintenance. If this doesn’t make the scale go up after a couple of weeks, you may need to add a few hundred more.

Activity Level

This choice should reflect the amount of activity in your life based on how you exercise and how physically active your life and/or job is. Nutritional researchers agree calorie estimates should take more into account than just the amount you exercise. Here’s how to figure out what’s right for you:

How Did We Calculate Your Calories?

Bodybuilding.com’s calculator uses the Mifflin St. Jeor calculation, which is considered by our nutritionists and dieticians to be the «gold standard» of calorie calculators. Here’s how it works:

Then, this BMR count is multiplied, depending on your activity level:

Sedentary = 1.2
Lightly active = 1.375
Moderately active = 1.550
Very active = 1.725
Extra active = 1.9

Finally, the count is adjusted, depending on your goal:

Weight Loss: Reduce by 10-20%
Weight Gain: Add 500 calories

Should I Count Calories?

There are plenty of people who can maintain a healthy body composition without ever counting calories, but for many others, it is incredibly valuable.

Wondering if it’s right for you? Registered dietician Susan Hewlings, Ph.D., explains how to know in the video, «All You Really Need to Know about Calories and Food Labels.»

Advantages of calorie-focused nutrition:

Disadvantages of calorie-focused nutrition:

It’s one measurement of many, but one that definitely matters! To learn more about all the fundamental ideas of nutrition and how to match your eating to your goals, dive into Bodybuilding.com’s Foundations of Fitness Nutrition course.

How Do I Calculate the Calories in My Food?

You can do this using food labels, as well as by weighing out your food and using one of the many online nutritional databases.

Weighing food may seem like a lot of counting and not much fun, but it gets easier over time. Fitness coach Vince Del Monte says in the article, «From Here to Macros: 4 Steps to Better Nutrition» that you quickly learn to «eyeball» quantities of both calories and macronutrients after just a few weeks of practice.

Counting calories

How to count calories to lose weight

Eating fewer calories than you burn is needed to lose weight. Here is a detailed guide that explains how to count calories for weight loss.

Evidence-based Evidence-based This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts, and fact-checked by experts. We look at both sides of the argument and strive to be objective, unbiased, and honest. Last updated on April 3, 2022, and last reviewed by an expert on November 23, 2021.

To lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn.

In theory, this sounds simple.

However, managing your food intake in the modern food environment can be tricky.

Calorie counting is one way to tackle this problem and is commonly used for weight loss.

This is a detailed guide about counting calories, explaining everything you need to know.

What are calories?

Calories are a measure of energy, normally used to measure the energy content of foods and beverages.

Technically speaking, a dietary calorie is defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

You use the calories that you eat and drink for essential functions such as breathing and thinking, as well as day-to-day activities such as walking, talking, and eating.

Any excess calories you eat will be stored as fat, and consistently eating more than you burn will cause weight gain over time.

Summary: A calorie is a measure of energy. In science, it’s defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

Why calories count

It’s quite common to hear that calories don’t matter and calorie counting is a waste of time.

However, when it comes to your weight, calories do count.

This is a fact that has been proven time and time again in scientific experiments called overfeeding studies.

These studies ask people to deliberately overeat and subsequently measure the impact on their weight and health.

All overfeeding studies have found that, when people eat more calories than they burn off, they gain weight.

This simple fact means that counting calories and limiting your intake can be effective to prevent weight gain or losing weight, as long as you manage to stick to it.

One review found that weight loss programs that included calorie counting led to an average of around 7 lbs (3.3 kg) more weight loss than those that didn’t.

Summary: When you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. Counting calories can help you eat fewer calories and lose weight.

How many calories should you eat?

How many calories you need depends on factors like gender, age, weight, and activity level.

For example, a 25-year-old male athlete will need more calories than a 70-year-old woman who doesn’t exercise.

If you are trying to lose weight, you will need to create a calorie deficit by eating less than your body burns off.

Calorie Calculator & Counter

Enter your details in the calculator below to figure out how many calories you should be eating per day to either maintain, lose, or gain weight.

Estimated daily calories

Summary: The exact amount of calories you need will depend on several different factors, including your gender, age, weight, and activity levels. Use the calculator above to work out your daily requirement.

How to weigh and measure your portions

Portion sizes have increased, and in some restaurants, a single meal can provide double or triple what the average person needs in a sitting.

“Portion distortion” is the term for when you view large servings of foods as the norm. It can cause weight gain and hinder weight loss.

In general, people aren’t very good at estimating how much they eat.

Calorie counting can help you combat overeating by giving you a better understanding of how much you are consuming.

However, for it to work, you need to record food portions correctly. Here are a few common ways to measure portion sizes:

Here are some common serving sizes compared to household items that may help you estimate your portion sizes:

Calorie counting isn’t an exact science, even when you weigh and measure portions.

However, it’s not necessary to be spot-on with your measurements. Just make sure to record your intake as accurately as you can.

You should be most careful about recording items that are high in fat and/or sugar, such as pizza, ice cream, and oils. Under-recording these foods can cause a big difference between your recorded and actual intake.

To improve your estimations, you can try using scales in the beginning to give you a better idea of what a portion looks like. This should help you be more accurate, even after you stop using them.

Summary: You can use scales, cups, and measures or portion-size estimates to determine how much you’re eating. Scales are the most accurate.

The quality of your diet still matters

Calories are useful for tracking how much you eat, but they don’t tell you much about the quality of your diet.

When it comes to foods and the human body, a calorie is not necessarily a calorie.

For example, 100 calories of broccoli will affect your health differently than 100 calories of french fries.

This is important because your overall diet and the types of foods you eat affect your health.

Additionally, the effects of different foods on hunger, appetite hormones, and the amount of calories you burn can vary considerably.

It is best to base your diet on high-quality foods from plants or animals that have been minimally processed.

High-quality foods not only provide health benefits but also make it a lot easier to consume fewer calories in the long run.

Summary: Basing your diet on minimally processed foods is beneficial for long-term health and weight loss.

5 more tips to succeed with calorie counting

Here are 5 more tips to count calories:

Summary: Aim for slow and steady weight loss, and make sure you have a plan. Reading food labels and keeping less junk food in the house can also be helpful for success.

Should you count calories?

“Calories in, calories out” certainly isn’t the only thing that matters for optimal health.

However, when it comes to weight loss, calories do count.

Although it doesn’t suit everyone, you may find that counting calories is an effective way to lose weight and keep it off.

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Calorie Calculator To Maintain And Lose Weight

The way to maintain a healthy weight is to balance the calories you consume with the amount your body uses. But how many calories do you need? While this number can be calculated exactly in a lab, you can also get an accurate estimate by using the Forbes Health Calorie Calculator. It was created with guidance from three Forbes Health Advisory Board members.

If you want to drop some weight, this calculator can help you with that goal, too. Just slide the bar to the number of pounds you’d like to lose and see your new daily calorie intake, along with the number of days it will take you to reach your goal safely. A healthy reminder: Always consult your doctor or a registered dietitian before starting a weight loss plan.

Calorie Calculator Methodology

The Forbes Health Calorie Calculator estimates the number of calories your body uses each day. If you want to lose weight, it calculates the number of daily calories you need to consume to achieve your weight loss goal. It also displays how long it will take you to reach your goal weight safely.

To Maintain Your Weight
To calculate your daily calorie needs to maintain your weight, the calculator considers your:

Each of these components requires a different amount of calories.

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2. Physical activity burns calories, so athletes need to consume more calories than people who don’t exercise. An activity factor—ranging from 1.2 for people who are sedentary to 1.9 for extremely active people—is assigned based on your physical activity level. The calculator then multiplies your RMR by this number.

3. The thermogenic effect of food makes up the remainder of your daily energy needs (approximately 10%). To find this number, the calculator takes your RMR multiplied by your activity factor and multiplies that number by 10%.

To Lose Weight
To determine your daily calorie needs to lose weight, the calculator decreases the number of calories you use each day by 25%, resulting in a new recommended daily calorie intake. Our Forbes Health Calorie Calculator panel of experts recommended this equation for safe, sustainable weight loss.

The calculator won’t display fewer than 1,200 calories a day no matter your starting weight. “If you go below that, it’s very difficult to get all the macronutrients and micronutrients you need for optimal health,” says Melina Jampolis, M.D., a Forbes Health Advisory Board member.

The Forbes Health editorial team consulted 2021 Forbes Health Advisory Board members Melina Jampolis, M.D., Toby Amidor, R.D. and Sabrena Jo, M.S., the senior director of science and research at the American Council on Exercise (ACE), for this calculator. They reviewed the methods used by this tool to calculate daily calorie needs to maintain and lose weight.

Meet Our Panelists

The Forbes Health Calorie Calculator panel consists of a physician, a registered dietitian and the senior director of science and research at the American Council on Exercise (ACE). They reviewed the methods used by this tool to calculate daily calorie needs to maintain and lose weight.