TDEE / calorie calculator — how much to eat?
Enter your profile and your training level. We estimate your daily expenditure (TDEE), your calorie targets for bulking, maintenance and cutting, and — most importantly — your macro split.
Mifflin-St Jeor estimate. The real reference stays the change in your weight over 2-3 weeks.
Or just ask Vance
The calculator estimates from numbers. Vance adjusts based on your real progress.
How many calories to bulk or cut?
Your TDEE is your maintenance level: eating that number of calories keeps your weight stable, no gain and no loss. From there, you adjust based on your goal:
- Bulking: your TDEE +300 to +500 kcal (a small surplus limits fat gain).
- Cutting: your TDEE −300 to −500 kcal (to lose fat while keeping your muscle).
The calculation is a starting point, not an absolute truth. The real judge is the scale over 2 to 3 weeks: if your weight doesn't move as expected, adjust by ±100 to 200 kcal. The real trend always beats the formula.
How do you split your macros?
Once your calories are set, how you split them across macronutrients matters almost as much:
- Protein (~1.6-2 g/kg): the absolute priority. It builds and protects your muscle, especially when cutting. At 4 kcal/g.
- Fat (~0.8-1 g/kg): essential for hormones. Never go below ~0.6 g/kg. At 9 kcal/g.
- Carbs (the rest): your training fuel. It's the lever you adjust based on your goal. At 4 kcal/g.
The table above gives you your baseline at maintenance. When bulking, add the calories mostly from carbs; when cutting, that's the first thing you trim. Protein barely moves.
Nutrition: keep it simple
You don't need to weigh everything to the gram to make progress. It's your bodyweight, tracked every week, that drives the adjustment: climbing too fast → eat a bit less, stalling on a cut → dig a bit deeper. The rest is consistency.
AIVancePro keeps nutrition light — it's not a food tracker where you log every meal. Vance gives you your targets, tracks your weight over time and recalibrates your calories when your progress drifts, so you stay focused on training.
Frequently asked questions
What is TDEE?
TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the total amount of energy your body burns in a day, rest included. It's your maintenance level — eating that much keeps your weight stable. It's the starting point for figuring out how much to eat to bulk or to cut.
How many calories to bulk or cut?
To build muscle, aim for your TDEE +300 to +500 kcal (a small surplus limits fat gain). To cut, drop to your TDEE −300 to −500 kcal to lose fat while keeping your muscle. This calculator gives you all three targets directly: cut, maintenance, bulk.
How do you split your macros (protein, carbs, fat)?
Simple rule of thumb: 1.6 to 2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight (the priority for building and keeping muscle), around 0.8 to 1 g of fat per kg, and the rest of your calories from carbs (your training fuel). When cutting you mostly drop carbs; when bulking you raise them. Protein stays roughly constant.
Why am I not losing weight in a deficit?
Most of the time it's not your metabolism — it's the math. Either you're eating more than you think (untracked snacks, drinks, weekend meals), or your deficit was too small to begin with and your TDEE has dropped as you've lost weight. Track your bodyweight over 2 to 3 weeks: if the scale truly isn't moving, your real intake equals your real expenditure. Cut another 150 to 200 kcal and re-check. Don't trust a single day — water weight hides real fat loss.
How do I know if my TDEE is accurate?
You don't, not from the formula alone — no equation is exact to the calorie. We use Mifflin-St Jeor, the most accurate estimate for resting metabolism today, but it's a starting point. The real judge is the scale over 2 to 3 weeks. Eat your estimated maintenance for two weeks: if your weight holds steady, your TDEE is right. If it drifts, adjust by ±100 to 200 kcal.
Do I have to count every calorie?
No. You can make progress without weighing every food. Your weekly bodyweight tells you whether you're eating too much or too little, and you adjust from there. Counting to the gram is useful at an advanced level, not for getting started.
Does my TDEE change over time?
Yes. The heavier you are, the higher your expenditure; when cutting, it drops a little (your body adapts). Recalculate your TDEE every 4 to 6 kg of change, and trust the real trend of your weight above all.
How much protein per day exactly?
Aim for around 1.6 to 2 g per kg of bodyweight. For 75 kg, that's 120 to 150 g of protein per day, spread across your meals. It's the most important macro for building muscle and holding it while cutting — never skimp on it, even when you cut calories.
I'm stuck bulking, how many calories should I add?
If your weight hasn't moved for 2 to 3 weeks while bulking, your surplus has melted away (your body spends more now that you weigh more). Add 150 to 200 kcal per day, mostly from carbs, and watch again over 2 weeks. Breaking a bulking plateau is usually just eating a bit more — not training more.