Maintenance Calories: How to Find the Calories to Maintain Weight

Maintenance calories are the number of calories you can eat each day without gaining or losing weight. It's the anchor for every goal: you subtract from it to lose weight and add to it to build muscle.

Key takeaways

• Maintenance calories are what you can eat each day while your weight stays stable; they're the anchor for every goal.
• Estimate them with BMR × activity factor, then confirm with 2–4 weeks of tracking intake and weekly average weight.
• After a diet, increase calories gradually (100–200 per week) to find your new maintenance.
• Maintenance drops a little as you lose weight and rises with muscle and activity.

Estimate your maintenance calories

1. Calculate BMR with Mifflin-St Jeor. See BMR explained.
2. Multiply by an activity factor (1.2 to 1.9). See TDEE explained.

Example: woman, 29, 168 cm, 63 kg, exercises 3 times a week. BMR ≈ 1,375 kcal × 1.55 ≈ 2,130 kcal maintenance.

Confirm it with your own data

Formulas are estimates. The most accurate maintenance number comes from tracking:

1. Log everything you eat for 2–4 weeks, as accurately as you can.
2. Weigh yourself 3–7 times a week under the same conditions.
3. Compare the average weight of week 1 and the final week.
4. If your weight barely changed, your average daily intake is your maintenance.

If you lost or gained, adjust: roughly 7,700 kcal per kg of change (or 3,500 kcal per lb), divided by the number of days.

Why maintenance matters after a diet

The biggest risk after losing weight is jumping straight back to old habits. Moving to maintenance gradually helps:

• Increase calories by about 100–200 per day each week.
• Keep protein high and keep tracking for a few weeks.
• Expect a small rise in scale weight from food and water in your gut; that isn't fat gain.

Maintenance isn't fixed

It drops a little as you lose weight and rises with more muscle and activity. Recalculate after significant changes.

Track it

Nutora's maintenance goal sets a daily target around your estimated maintenance calories, and the weight log shows whether you're holding steady. Related: how many calories should I eat, body recomposition.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know my maintenance calories?

Estimate with a TDEE formula, then track intake and weight for 2–4 weeks to confirm.

Should I eat at maintenance before a diet?

Many people find it helpful to learn their true maintenance first; it makes the deficit more accurate.

Will I gain weight eating at maintenance after dieting?

Your scale weight may rise slightly from food and water, but you shouldn't gain fat if you're truly at maintenance.

Does maintenance change with age?

Yes, it usually decreases slowly over time.