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Maintenance calories at 220 pounds
Body weight is the biggest single input to daily calorie burn. Here is what maintenance looks like at 220 pounds across activity levels — and the calculator to plug in your own age, height and sex.
Short answer
A moderately active 30-year-old at 220 pounds maintains on roughly 3,020 kcal/day (man) or 2,763 (woman) at 5'9" — and a sedentary day drops the male figure to about 2,338. Your exact number shifts with age, height and real activity, which is what the calculator computes. To lose about a pound a week from here, subtract 500 from your maintenance figure.
Your maintenance calories (TDEE)
2,623 kcal
- BMR (at complete rest)
- 1,692 kcal
- Lose ~1 lb/week
- 2,123 kcal
- Lose ~0.5 lb/week
- 2,373 kcal
- Gain ~0.5 lb/week
- 2,873 kcal
Population-average estimate (±10% is normal) — not medical or dietary advice.
About the numbers
Two honest notes on per-weight numbers: they assume the reference height and age stated in the table (the formula moves ~65 kcal per inch of height and ~50 kcal per decade of age), and maintenance falls as your weight does — the number at 220 lb stops being right once you're no longer 220 lb. Recompute as you go.
Maintenance calories at 220 lb by activity
| Activity level | Man (30, 5'9") | Woman (30, 5'9") |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 2,338 kcal | 2,139 kcal |
| Lightly active | 2,679 kcal | 2,451 kcal |
| Moderately active | 3,020 kcal | 2,763 kcal |
| Very active | 3,361 kcal | 3,074 kcal |
| Extra active | 3,702 kcal | 3,386 kcal |
Mifflin-St Jeor at the stated reference age and height — enter your own age and height in the calculator for your exact numbers.
Daily calories by activity (30-year-old man, 5'10", 160 lb)
| Activity level | Maintain | Lose ~1 lb/week | Gain ~0.5 lb/week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | 2,030 kcal | 1,530 kcal | 2,280 kcal |
| Lightly active | 2,326 kcal | 1,826 kcal | 2,576 kcal |
| Moderately active | 2,623 kcal | 2,123 kcal | 2,873 kcal |
| Very active | 2,919 kcal | 2,419 kcal | 3,169 kcal |
| Extra active | 3,215 kcal | 2,715 kcal | 3,465 kcal |
Computed from Mifflin-St Jeor for the stated reference person — enter your own stats above for your numbers. Estimates, not medical advice.
Activity multipliers (BMR × factor = TDEE)
| Level | Factor | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | × 1.2 | Desk job, little or no exercise |
| Lightly active | × 1.375 | Light exercise 1–3 days/week |
| Moderately active | × 1.55 | Moderate exercise 3–5 days/week |
| Very active | × 1.725 | Hard exercise 6–7 days/week |
| Extra active | × 1.9 | Physical job or twice-daily training |
Most desk workers who train a few times a week honestly land at 'light' to 'moderate' — overestimating activity is the most common reason calculated calories overshoot.
How we calculate this
Two published pieces of nutrition science, multiplied together:
- BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor). 10 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) − 5 × age, +5 for men / −161 for women — the calories burned at complete rest.
- TDEE. BMR × an activity factor from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extra active) — your realistic total daily burn.
- Goal targets. maintenance is the TDEE itself; ±250 kcal/day shifts weight by roughly half a pound a week, ±500 by about a pound (≈3,500 kcal per pound of fat).
Assumptions
- Equations are population averages — individual metabolic rates vary around the prediction by roughly ±10%.
- Activity factors are self-assessed and usually overestimated; when in doubt, pick the lower level and adjust to real-world results.
- TDEE falls as weight falls — recompute after every ~10 lb of change.
- An educational estimate, not medical or dietary advice; sustained very-low-calorie eating belongs under medical supervision.
Sources
Last reviewed: July 25, 2026
Frequently asked questions
How many calories should I eat a day?+
Start from your TDEE — the calories you actually burn: BMR (from your sex, age, height and weight via the Mifflin-St Jeor equation) times an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.9. A moderately active 30-year-old man at 5'10" and 160 lb lands around 2,600 kcal/day; a woman of the same stats around 2,300. Eat at that number to maintain, below it to lose, above it to gain — the calculator shows all the targets.
What is TDEE and how is it different from BMR?+
BMR (basal metabolic rate) is what your body burns at complete rest — organs, temperature, tissue upkeep. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is BMR multiplied by an activity factor to cover everything else: moving, working, exercising, even digesting. You never plan food intake at BMR — TDEE is the number that means 'your maintenance calories'.
How big should a calorie deficit be to lose weight?+
The sustainable standard is 250–500 kcal/day below TDEE — roughly 0.5–1 lb per week, since a pound of body fat stores about 3,500 kcal. Bigger deficits look faster on paper but cost muscle, energy and adherence, and metabolic adaptation shrinks their advantage. The calculator's loss targets use exactly these offsets; anything much more aggressive belongs under medical guidance.
Why am I not losing weight at my calculated calories?+
Three usual suspects, in order: the activity level was set too high (most desk workers who train a few times weekly are 'light', not 'very active'); intake is underestimated (untracked oils, drinks and weekends routinely add hundreds of kcal); and TDEE fell as weight fell, so an old number no longer applies. Recompute with honest inputs, weigh intake for two weeks, and judge by the monthly trend, not daily scale noise.
How accurate are calorie calculators?+
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation predicts measured resting metabolism within about ±10% for most people, and the activity multiplier adds its own uncertainty — so treat the output as a well-grounded starting estimate, not a lab result. The reliable method: eat at the calculated number for 3–4 weeks, watch the trend, and adjust by 100–200 kcal if your weight moves differently than intended.
Is my data stored, and is this medical advice?+
No and no. The calculation runs entirely in your browser — age, weight and height are never uploaded or stored — and the output is an educational population-average estimate, not medical or dietary advice. Pregnancy, medical conditions, medications and eating-disorder history all change the picture; a clinician or registered dietitian is the right authority for those situations.
Also try the Calorie Calculator (TDEE).