MAINTENANCE
CALORIES
Find the exact calorie level that keeps your weight perfectly stable.
Your Details
Your Maintenance Intake
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Maintenance Calories / Day
Per Week--
Per Month--
⬇ 10% Deficit (slow cut)--
⬇ 20% Deficit (standard cut)--
⬆ 10% Surplus (lean bulk)--
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What Are Maintenance Calories?
Maintenance calories are the precise calorie intake at which your body weight stays perfectly stable over time. This is equivalent to your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). Knowing your maintenance intake is the critical first step for any body composition goal — it is the baseline from which all cutting and bulking protocols are built.
RM
Built by Ren Martin
Sports coach · 20+ years in fitness · Used this calculator personally
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if I'm eating at maintenance?
If your weight is stable (within 1kg variation) over 2–3 weeks while eating consistently, you are close to maintenance. Track your food intake for 2 weeks without changing anything, then average your daily intake — this gives a reliable empirical maintenance estimate that accounts for your real-world NEAT and metabolic rate.
What should I eat at maintenance?
Maintenance calories means eating at your TDEE — not to gain or lose, but to sustain your current body weight. At maintenance, the macronutrient split is more flexible than during a deficit or surplus. A common starting point is 25–30% protein, 40–50% carbohydrates, and 25–30% fat. Protein remains important at maintenance to sustain muscle mass.
How long should I eat at maintenance before cutting or bulking?
If you have been in a prolonged caloric deficit, spending 2–4 weeks at maintenance (a 'diet break') restores leptin levels, reduces cortisol, improves training performance, and makes the next phase more effective. For those who have been bulking, a maintenance phase of 2–4 weeks allows the body to 'normalise' before beginning a cut.
Should I eat at maintenance or cut right away?
If you have been in a prolonged caloric deficit, a period at maintenance calories (often called a 'diet break' or 'reverse diet') can help restore metabolic rate, hormone levels, and glycogen stores before another cut. Research supports diet breaks of 2–4 weeks for improving long-term fat loss outcomes.