Enter your age, sex, height, weight, activity level and goal. Your maintenance calories (TDEE) and calories for each goal are calculated, and the daily grams for the fat range (20–35% of calories) and the saturated fat limit (under 10%, plus the stricter 6% for reference) are shown in a bar graph and a table.
Enter height in cm and weight in kg. The results are estimates for healthy adults, not medical advice. If you have a condition that calls for adjusting what you eat, are pregnant or are still growing, talk with a doctor or a registered dietitian.
Result and graph
Enter your age, sex, height, weight and goal in the fields on the left and press "Calculate". The result and a bar graph will appear here.
Table of Contents
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What you can do on this page
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What is this calculation used for?
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How to Use
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Formulas and figures
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Symbols and terms
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Good to know before you start
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How to calculate it in Excel
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How to calculate it in Google Sheets
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How to calculate it in Python
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How to write it in LaTeX and other math languages (copy and paste)
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How to have ChatGPT do the calculation
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DataChef Features
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Related Features
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NumberChef Calculators List
What you can do on this page
- Enter your age, sex, height, weight and activity level, and you see on the spot your maintenance calories (TDEE) and how many grams of fat to eat per day for each goal (lose, maintain or gain)
- It shows in grams the fat range from the AMDR of the US Dietary Reference Intakes (20–35% of calories) and the saturated fat limit from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (under 10%). For reference, it also shows the stricter limit of the American Heart Association (6%)
- The results come in a table of 5 goals (maintain, lose about 1 lb or 2 lb a week, gain about 1 lb or 2 lb a week) × 4 values, plus a bar graph for your chosen goal
- Calories are turned into grams with the Atwater factor (1 g of fat = 9 kcal), the same factor used for US Nutrition Facts labels
- A plain-language explanation of the formulas and copy-and-paste formulas for Excel, Google Sheets and Python are all on this page
The results are estimates for healthy adults based on formulas. Everyone is different, and this is not medical advice. If you have a condition that calls for limiting or adjusting what you eat, such as high cholesterol, diabetes or kidney disease, always follow the advice of your doctor or registered dietitian. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or still growing, your needs are different, so check with a health professional first.
What is this calculation used for?
Managing saturated fat when your cholesterol is high
If a checkup shows that your LDL ("bad") cholesterol is high, saturated fat is usually the first thing to look at in your diet. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise keeping it below 10% of calories, and the American Heart Association suggests 5–6% for people who need to lower LDL.
For someone eating 2,000 kcal a day, 10% is about 22 g and 6% is about 13 g. One tablespoon of butter alone has about 7 g of saturated fat. Knowing your own limit in grams lets you decide "I have had enough today" with numbers instead of by feel. (Improving cholesterol also depends on medicine and on your body, so if you are under treatment, your doctor's advice comes first.)
A lower limit so you do not cut fat too far when dieting
When dieting, it is tempting to cut fat first because it is high in calories. But fat is used to build hormones and cell membranes and is needed to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Cutting it too much can lead to dry skin, hormone problems and constipation, which is one reason the AMDR has a lower limit of 20% of calories.
If your calorie target for weight loss is 1,700 kcal, 20% is about 38 g. Knowing the floor in grams, "even when cutting, not below this", puts a brake on going too far.
Choosing foods with the Nutrition Facts label
US Nutrition Facts labels always list Total Fat, Saturated Fat and Trans Fat in grams. If you know your own daily range, you can tell on the spot what share of your day a food is.
For example, if your range is 41 to 72 g, a pastry with 25 g of fat is about 60% of your low end and about a third of your high end by itself. Once you can think "what share of today's fat is this one item?", you start choosing differently in the store.
Picturing your fat as tablespoons of cooking oil
One tablespoon of cooking oil is almost pure fat, about 14 g. If your daily range is 41 to 72 g, that is about 3 to 5 tablespoons of oil. In real life, meat, fish, dairy and eggs also contain fat, so the oil you use for cooking can only be part of it.
Fried foods soak up oil in the batter, so one serving can easily have 20 to 30 g of fat. Knowing your daily budget helps you plan across the day, such as "on a day with fried food, keep the other meals lighter".
Planning a weight-gain phase (more calories, same quality)
To build muscle, you need to eat more calories than you burn, and energy-dense fat (about 9 kcal per gram) helps you get calories without eating a lot of food. But if you fill the extra calories with fried food and sweets, you will quickly go over your saturated fat limit.
The row for gaining about 1 lb a week (+500 kcal a day) shows your fat range and saturated fat limit in numbers. That helps you plan a high-quality gain, adding calories mainly from unsaturated fat such as nuts, fish and olive oil.
Formulas and figures
Daily calorie target (TDEE and goal adjustment)
Figure
Standard notation
(the usual math form)
\(E\)
\(=\)
\(B\)
\(\times\)
\(k\)
\(+\)
\(a\)
In words
(symbols replaced with words)
④
\(E\): daily calorie target (kcal/day)
\(=\)
①
\(B\): basal metabolic rate (kcal/day)
\(\times\)
②
\(k\): activity factor
\(+\)
③
\(a\): goal adjustment (kcal/day)
The formula in words
①
Take the
\(B\): basal metabolic rate (the calories you burn even at complete rest)
②
multiply it by the
\(k\): activity factor (a multiplier from 1.2 to 1.9 based on how active you are)
to get your maintenance calories (TDEE)
③
add the
\(a\): goal adjustment (negative to lose weight, positive to gain)
④
and you get the
\(E\): daily calorie target
Quick example
A 25-year-old man who is 180 cm (about 5 ft 11 in) tall and weighs 60 kg (about 132 lb) has a BMR of 1,605 kcal/day by the Mifflin-St Jeor formula. If he keeps doing light exercise (activity factor 1.375) and aims to lose weight (an adjustment of −500 kcal, about 1 lb a week), his calorie target is
\(E\): daily calorie target
\(=\)
BMR (1605)
\(\times\)
activity factor (1.375)
\(+\)
adjustment (−500)
\(1605 \times 1.375 = 2206.875 \approx 2207\)
\(2207 - 500 = 1707\)
Key idea
By default, the BMR \(B\) comes from the Mifflin-St Jeor formula: for men \(B = 10W + 6.25H - 5A + 5\) and for women \(B = 10W + 6.25H - 5A - 161\), where \(W\) is weight in kg, \(H\) is height in cm and \(A\) is age. In pounds and inches, the same formula is \(B = 4.536W + 15.875H - 5A + 5\) for men (\(-161\) instead of \(+5\) for women). If you choose the Katch-McArdle formula, it finds your lean body mass from your body fat \(F\) and uses \(B = 370 + 21.6(1-F)W\) (with \(W\) in kg). For details, see the related "TDEE Calculator" page.
The goal adjustment \(a\) is 0 to maintain, ±500 kcal for about 1 lb a week and ±1,000 kcal for about 2 lb a week. This comes from the common rule of thumb that 1 lb of body fat is roughly 3,500 kcal, so cutting 500 kcal a day for a week (\(500 \times 7 = 3500\)) is about 1 lb of fat. In metric units, the same rule of thumb is about 7,700 kcal per kg, so the metric goals (0.5 and 1 kg a week) use the same rounded 500 and 1,000 kcal. Real weight change also depends on water and muscle, so it may not follow this rule exactly.
With fast weight loss (about 2 lb a week), your calorie target can fall below your BMR. Losing weight too fast can cost you muscle and make you feel unwell, so this calculator shows a warning. It is a good idea to start at a comfortable pace (up to 1 lb a week).
Daily grams of fat and saturated fat (share and calories per gram)
Figure
Standard notation
(the usual math form)
\(G\)
\(=\)
\(E\)
\(\times\)
\(r\)
\(\div\)
\(9\)
In words
(symbols replaced with words)
④
\(G\): grams of fat (g/day)
\(=\)
①
\(E\): daily calorie target (kcal/day)
\(\times\)
②
\(r\): share of calories from fat
\(\div\)
③
9: calories per gram (kcal/g)
The formula in words
①
Out of the
\(E\): daily calorie target
②
take the part given by the
\(r\): share of calories from fat (low end 20%, high end 35%, saturated fat 10%, reference AHA 6%)
③
divide it by the
9: calories per gram (1 g of fat is about 9 kcal)
to turn calories into grams
④
and you get the
\(G\): grams of fat
Quick example
For a person with a daily calorie target of 2,000 kcal, the low end of the fat range (20% of calories) in grams is
\(G\): grams of fat
\(=\)
calorie target (2000)
\(\times\)
share (0.20)
\(\div\)
calories per gram (9)
\(2000 \times 0.20 = 400\)
\(400 \div 9 = 44.44\ldots \approx 44\)
Key idea
All 4 values on this page come from the same formula; only the share \(r\) changes. The fat range, 20% at the low end and 35% at the high end, is the AMDR for adults in the US Dietary Reference Intakes. The saturated fat limit of 10% is from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which advise keeping saturated fat below 10% of calories. The reference 6% is from the American Heart Association, which suggests 5–6% for people who need to lower their LDL cholesterol, a stricter line than 10%.
The calories per gram tell you how many kcal 1 g of fat has. This calculator uses the Atwater factor (1 g of fat = 9 kcal), the same factor used for the calories on US Nutrition Facts labels.
The grams are calculated from the calories before TDEE is rounded (the same rounding order as the sister "Carb Calculator" page). The calorie target on the screen is a rounded whole number, so if you calculate by hand from it, the result can very rarely be 1 g off.
Your daily fat takes 3 steps: (1) set your daily calorie target (BMR × activity factor + goal adjustment), (2) choose the share of calories from fat (the US AMDR is 20–35% for fat, and saturated fat should stay under 10%, or 5–6% if you need to lower LDL cholesterol), and (3) divide by 9 kcal/g to get grams. If you have a health condition, the advice of your doctor or registered dietitian comes first.
Symbols and terms
Symbols
| \(E\) | Your daily calorie target (kcal/day), your maintenance calories (TDEE) plus the goal adjustment. Part of it comes from fat. From the first letter of "energy". |
| \(B\) | Basal metabolic rate (BMR), an estimate of the calories you burn in a day even at complete rest (kcal/day). From the first letter of "basal". |
| \(k\) | The activity factor, a multiplier for how many times your BMR you burn in a day. This page uses six levels from 1.2 to 1.9. |
| \(a\) | The goal adjustment (kcal/day). It is 0 to maintain, negative to lose weight (−500 or −1,000) and positive to gain (+500 or +1,000). From the first letter of "adjustment". |
| \(r\) | The share of your daily calorie target that comes from fat (or saturated fat), for example 0.20 for 20%. From the first letter of "ratio". |
| \(G\) | The daily grams of fat you want to find (g/day). From the first letter of "gram". |
| \(W\) | Body weight in kg, used in the BMR formula (in pounds for the pounds-and-inches version). From the first letter of "weight". |
| \(H\) | Height in cm, used in the BMR formula (in inches for the pounds-and-inches version). From the first letter of "height". |
| \(A\) | Age in years, used in the BMR formula. From the first letter of "age". |
| \(F\) | Body fat percentage written as a decimal (for example, 20% → 0.20). Used in the Katch-McArdle formula. From the first letter of "fat". |
Terms
| fat | One of the 3 macronutrients. At about 9 kcal per gram, it has more than twice the energy of protein or carbs (about 4 kcal/g), so it is an efficient energy source. It is also needed to build cell membranes and hormones and to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Cooking oils, butter, fatty meat, nuts and fish are rich in it. |
| saturated fat | Fat found mostly in fats that are solid at room temperature, such as butter, lard, fatty meat and palm oil. Too much is said to raise LDL cholesterol and the risk of heart and blood vessel disease. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise less than 10% of calories, and the American Heart Association suggests 5–6% for people who need to lower LDL. |
| unsaturated fat | A general name for monounsaturated fats, found in olive oil and similar oils, and polyunsaturated fats, found in fish oil (omega-3s such as DHA and EPA) and vegetable oils. They are common in oils that are liquid at room temperature, and eating them in place of saturated fat is said to help lower LDL cholesterol. They are the "good" side when people say fats differ in quality. |
| trans fat | Fat formed mainly when liquid oils are processed (partially hydrogenated). It raises LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL, a double harm, and has no health benefit. The WHO advises keeping it below 1% of calories. In the US, the FDA's action on partially hydrogenated oils means they have been largely removed from foods since 2018, but check labels, because small amounts can still appear. |
| cholesterol | A fat-like substance in the blood. It is often discussed as LDL ("bad") and HDL ("good") cholesterol, depending on how it is carried. Eating too much saturated fat or trans fat tends to raise LDL. |
| LDL ("bad" cholesterol) | The cholesterol that is called "bad" because, when there is too much, it builds up in the walls of blood vessels and speeds up hardening of the arteries. Eating too much saturated fat or trans fat tends to raise it. |
| HDL ("good" cholesterol) | The cholesterol that is called "good" because it helps carry extra cholesterol away. |
| TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) | The total calories you burn in a day (kcal/day), your BMR plus the calories used for exercise and daily activities. It is estimated as "BMR × activity factor". It is also called maintenance calories. See the related "TDEE Calculator" page for details. |
| BMR (basal metabolic rate) | The energy you use just to stay alive, for things like keeping your body temperature, breathing and a beating heart (kcal/day). On this page it is estimated with a formula (Mifflin-St Jeor or Katch-McArdle). |
| activity factor | A multiplier for how many extra calories you use for exercise and daily activities. Multiply your BMR by it to estimate TDEE. This page uses six levels from 1.2 to 1.9. |
| lean body mass | The weight of your muscles, bones, organs and so on, which is your body weight minus your body fat. It is found as weight × (1 − body fat percentage). The Katch-McArdle formula estimates BMR from this value. |
| Atwater factors | The energy per gram of each nutrient - fat 9 kcal/g, protein and carbohydrate 4 kcal/g. They are also used for the calories on US Nutrition Facts labels. This calculator uses the same 9 kcal/g. |
| Dietary Guidelines for Americans | The official US advice on healthy eating, updated every 5 years by the US Departments of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services. The 2020–2025 edition advises keeping saturated fat below 10% of calories, and uses the AMDR for fat (20–35% of calories for adults) from the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). The fat range and saturated fat limit on this page are based on them. |
| American Heart Association (AHA) | A US nonprofit that works against heart disease and stroke. For people who need to lower their LDL cholesterol, it suggests keeping saturated fat to 5–6% of calories. The "reference 6%" on this page is based on this advice, a stricter line than 10%. |
Good to know before you start
Here is what helps you use the calculation on this page with real understanding, not just by pressing the button.
| Percents (Grade 6) |
|
| Multiplying and dividing decimals (Grades 5–6) |
|
| Positive and negative numbers (Grade 7) |
|
| Rounding (Grades 4–5) |
|
How to calculate it in Excel
Copy the whole table below and paste it into cell A1 in Excel. It works as is.
Table to find the daily calorie target
| Sex (male or female) | male |
| Weight (lb) | 160 |
| Height (in) | 70 |
| Age (years) | 25 |
| Activity factor | 1.375 |
| Goal adjustment (kcal/day; 0 to maintain, negative to lose) | -500 |
| BMR (kcal/day) | =4.5359237*B2+15.875*B3-5*B4+IF(B1="male",5,-161) |
| TDEE, maintenance calories (kcal/day) | =ROUND(B7*B5,0) |
| Daily calorie target (kcal/day) | =B8+B6 |
Table to find the daily grams of fat and saturated fat
| Daily calorie target (kcal/day) | 1861 |
| Fat range, low end (20%) (g/day) | =ROUND(B1*0.2/9,0) |
| Fat range, high end (35%) (g/day) | =ROUND(B1*0.35/9,0) |
| Saturated fat limit (10%) (g/day) | =ROUND(B1*0.1/9,0) |
| Reference: AHA saturated fat limit (6%) (g/day) | =ROUND(B1*0.06/9,0) |
After pasting, the upper rows are your inputs and the lower rows are calculated automatically. ROUND rounds to a whole number.
The BMR row in the first table uses the Mifflin-St Jeor formula in pounds and inches. Its IF function adds 5 if B1 is "male" and subtracts 161 otherwise (female). With the example numbers, you get a BMR of about 1717, a TDEE of 2361 and a calorie target of 1861.
The second table uses the calorie target of 1,861 kcal and gives a fat range of 41 to 72 g, a saturated fat limit of 21 g and the reference AHA limit of 12 g (all g/day). Just replace the numbers in column B with your own.
This page's calculator works out the grams from TDEE before rounding, so near a rounding boundary, this table (which rounds TDEE first) can very rarely be 1 g off.
The BMR row in the first table uses the Mifflin-St Jeor formula in pounds and inches. Its IF function adds 5 if B1 is "male" and subtracts 161 otherwise (female). With the example numbers, you get a BMR of about 1717, a TDEE of 2361 and a calorie target of 1861.
The second table uses the calorie target of 1,861 kcal and gives a fat range of 41 to 72 g, a saturated fat limit of 21 g and the reference AHA limit of 12 g (all g/day). Just replace the numbers in column B with your own.
This page's calculator works out the grams from TDEE before rounding, so near a rounding boundary, this table (which rounds TDEE first) can very rarely be 1 g off.
How to calculate it in Google Sheets
Copy the whole table below and paste it into cell A1 in Google Sheets. It works as is.
Table to find the daily calorie target
| Sex (male or female) | male |
| Weight (lb) | 160 |
| Height (in) | 70 |
| Age (years) | 25 |
| Activity factor | 1.375 |
| Goal adjustment (kcal/day; 0 to maintain, negative to lose) | -500 |
| BMR (kcal/day) | =4.5359237*B2+15.875*B3-5*B4+IF(B1="male",5,-161) |
| TDEE, maintenance calories (kcal/day) | =ROUND(B7*B5,0) |
| Daily calorie target (kcal/day) | =B8+B6 |
Table to find the daily grams of fat and saturated fat
| Daily calorie target (kcal/day) | 1861 |
| Fat range, low end (20%) (g/day) | =ROUND(B1*0.2/9,0) |
| Fat range, high end (35%) (g/day) | =ROUND(B1*0.35/9,0) |
| Saturated fat limit (10%) (g/day) | =ROUND(B1*0.1/9,0) |
| Reference: AHA saturated fat limit (6%) (g/day) | =ROUND(B1*0.06/9,0) |
The same formulas as in Excel, including IF and ROUND, work as is. Copy the whole table, paste it into cell A1, and replace the numbers in column B with your own.
How to calculate it in Python
sex = "male" # "male" or "female"
age = 25 # age (years)
height_in = 70 # height (inches). 5 ft 10 in = 70 in
weight_lb = 160 # weight (lb)
activity_factor = 1.375 # activity factor (1.2 to 1.9. See the "TDEE Calculator" page for how to choose)
goal_adjust = -500 # goal adjustment (kcal/day. 0 to maintain, negative to lose, positive to gain)
# BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor formula in pounds and inches) -> TDEE -> daily calorie target
bmr = 4.5359237 * weight_lb + 15.875 * height_in - 5 * age
bmr = bmr + 5 if sex == "male" else bmr - 161
tdee = bmr * activity_factor # TDEE before rounding (used for the grams)
calories = tdee + goal_adjust # calorie target before rounding
print(f"Maintenance calories (TDEE): {round(tdee)} kcal/day")
print(f"Daily calorie target: {round(calories)} kcal/day")
# Grams of fat and saturated fat (9 kcal/g is the Atwater factor for fat).
# Shares: fat 20-35% (US AMDR), saturated fat under 10% (Dietary Guidelines for Americans),
# reference 6% (American Heart Association). Work from the unrounded calories and round only at the end
fat_low = round(calories * 20 / 100 / 9)
fat_high = round(calories * 35 / 100 / 9)
sat_limit = round(calories * 10 / 100 / 9)
sat_limit_aha = round(calories * 6 / 100 / 9)
print(f"Fat range (20-35%): {fat_low}-{fat_high} g/day")
print(f"Saturated fat limit (10%): under {sat_limit} g/day")
print(f"Reference, AHA saturated fat limit (6%): up to {sat_limit_aha} g/day")
Runs with the standard library only. Change the sex, age, height, weight, activity factor and goal adjustment at the top and run it. round() rounds to a whole number (almost the same as ordinary rounding). With the example numbers, you get a TDEE of 2361 and a calorie target of 1861, a fat range of 41 to 72 g, a saturated fat limit of 21 g and the reference AHA limit of 12 g (all g/day).
How to write it in LaTeX and other math languages (copy and paste)
Daily calorie target (TDEE and goal adjustment)
E = B × k + a
E = B \times k + a
<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="block">
<mrow>
<mi>E</mi><mo>=</mo>
<mi>B</mi><mo>×</mo><mi>k</mi>
<mo>+</mo><mi>a</mi>
</mrow>
</math>
E = B xx k + a
b*k + a
E := B*k + a;
E = B*k + a;
E = B × k + a
Daily grams of fat and saturated fat (share and calories per gram)
G = E × r ÷ 9
G = \dfrac{E \times r}{9}
<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="block">
<mrow>
<mi>G</mi><mo>=</mo>
<mfrac>
<mrow><mi>E</mi><mo>×</mo><mi>r</mi></mrow>
<mn>9</mn>
</mfrac>
</mrow>
</math>
G = (E xx r) / 9
e*r/9
G := E*r/9;
G = E*r/9;
G = E × r / 9
How to have ChatGPT do the calculation
You are an assistant for fat intake calculations. Do the following calculation by actually running Python code, and base your answer only on the numbers from the execution result (do not answer by mental math or guessing). A 25-year-old man is 5 ft 10 in tall, weighs 160 lb and does light exercise (activity factor 1.375). He wants to lose about 1 lb a week (−500 kcal a day). 1. Find his BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor formula (men: BMR = 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age + 5; 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg, 1 in = 2.54 cm), multiply by the activity factor 1.375 and round to a whole number (TDEE), then add −500 kcal to get his daily calorie target. 2. Take 20% and 35% of the calorie target (the US AMDR for fat), 10% (the saturated fat limit in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans) and 6% (reference: the stricter American Heart Association limit), divide each by 9 kcal/g (the Atwater factor) and round to a whole number to get the daily grams. 3. Add a short note that the AHA's 6% is stricter than the 10% in the Dietary Guidelines and is meant for people who need to lower their LDL cholesterol. Show the formulas you used and the numbers from the execution result in a table. Also add a note that these are estimates for healthy adults, not medical advice.
How to Use
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1Enter your numbersType the numbers you want to calculate with into the input fields
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2CalculatePress the "Calculate" button
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3Check the resultThe result appears on the spot. The same page also explains the idea behind the calculation and the formula
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