The daily calorie benchmarks for men and women, why 1,200 is a floor rather than a target, and how to work your own number out from your BMR.
Josie Winfield
Head of Training · 2 September 2025 · 7 min read
Reviewed by
Faizana Karim
Eleven years in practice, specialising in women's hormone health
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According to Healthline, the average man requires about 2,500 calories per day to maintain his current weight, while the average woman needs closer to 2,000. If you get closer to 1,200 calories per day, this may result in some negative consequences, such as dizziness, fatigue and headaches.
Those numbers shift with age, physical activity, lean muscle mass and metabolic health. They are a clear entry point rather than a personal target.
| Group | Typical maintenance intake | Lowest intake generally considered safe |
|---|---|---|
| Average man | About 2,500 kcal a day | About 1,500 to 1,600 kcal a day |
| Average woman | About 2,000 kcal a day | About 1,200 kcal a day |
Population averages, not personal targets. Age, activity, lean muscle mass and metabolic health all move them. Maintenance figures from Healthline, minimums from the National Institutes of Health.
Eating 1200 calories per day can create a caloric deficit for some people, but not all bodies respond the same way, as it can result in negative side effects, such as dizziness, nausea and fatigue.
For sedentary women under 5ft 4in and weighing less than 140lb, 1200 calories may produce measurable fat loss. An active person, or someone carrying more lean mass, will struggle to sustain energy, preserve muscle tissue or meet essential nutrient needs at that intake.
The National Institutes of Health identifies 1200 calories as the minimum daily energy intake most adult women can tolerate without risking significant nutrient deficiencies. For men that lower threshold rises to roughly 1,500 to 1,600 calories. Eating below these baselines disrupts metabolic function, reduces thyroid hormone output and raises cortisol, all of which make fat loss harder rather than easier.
Rather than defaulting to a one size fits all number, set the deficit against your own total daily energy expenditure and hold it at 15 to 25 per cent. Anything more severe raises the risk of losing lean mass, disrupting hormones, and abandoning the diet altogether.
Research shows that losing 1 kilogram of body weight a week takes a net deficit of about 7,700 calories across seven days, roughly 1,100 calories a day. That takes both a reduction in food intake and an increase in movement.
Someone maintaining weight on 2,600 calories a day could eat 1,900 and burn 200 more through activity to get there. Larger people, and those with very high maintenance needs, find it far easier than smaller and leaner people. Once intake drops too low relative to muscle mass and output, the body adapts by slowing down, which dampens fat loss.
Rather than forcing an aggressive weekly loss, aim for 0.5 to 0.75kg a week by creating a 500 to 700 calorie daily gap. That pace preserves muscle, protects hormonal balance and is far easier to stick to.
Everybody has different energy needs, and this tool takes that into account. Use Create’s calorie calculator to generate daily calorie targets based on your body metrics, activity levels and goals, whether you are aiming to lose fat, build muscle or maintain your current weight.
The process begins with Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This figure reflects how many calories your body burns at complete rest, before any movement or digestion. BMR is the foundation of your total daily energy expenditure, often 60 to 75 per cent of the total.
After calculating your BMR, the calculator adjusts for your weekly activity level. That gives your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), the calories needed to maintain your current weight given how active you are.
From there it narrows in on your goal, cutting, bulking or maintaining, and shows how many calories to eat each day to move your body composition in that direction.
Calories are the foundation, but macronutrients write the blueprint. The calculator splits your intake into the three main macronutrient groups, protein, carbohydrate and fat, which can be shown as proportions using a pie chart maker. Those proportions shift depending on the goal and on how your body responds to each macro.
The macro split is not random. It works for your body composition, your performance and your appetite. Someone gaining size may get a higher carbohydrate recommendation to fuel training and recovery, while someone losing fat may see a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio to preserve lean mass and control hunger.
The calories your body burns at complete rest simply to stay alive, covering breathing, circulation, temperature regulation and cellular repair. It usually accounts for 60 to 75 per cent of everything you burn in a day.
Not the same as total daily energy expenditure. TDEE is BMR plus the thermic effect of food, daily movement and exercise, and TDEE is the figure your calorie target should be set against.
BMR, or Basal Metabolic Rate, measures how many calories your body uses just to stay alive. That includes breathing, circulating blood, regulating temperature and cellular repair, processes that run around the clock even when you are not moving.
Put another way: if you lay in bed all day doing nothing, your BMR is what your body would burn to keep you going.
There is no need to guess. BMR can be estimated with validated formulas, and the most commonly used is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which estimates resting energy expenditure closely across a wide population.
An example. A 30 year old woman weighing 65kg and 165cm tall has a BMR of:
(10 x 65) + (6.25 x 165) – (5 x 30) – 161 = 650 + 1,031.25 – 150 – 161 = 1,370.25 kcal a day
That figure does not include calories burned through movement, eating or digestion, just the basic life sustaining functions.
Every calorie requirement equation starts with BMR. Activity level, the thermic effect of food and exercise are then layered on to give Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). Knowing your BMR sets the floor, because it shows the point below which your intake stops covering basic health and cellular maintenance.
Have you calculated your BMR yet? It is the first step towards planning nutrition on data rather than guesswork.
And if you are reading this because you want to guide other people rather than only yourself, that is a qualification rather than a calculator. Our guide to becoming a personal trainer sets out the route.
Josie Winfield
Head of Training
Josie has worked in fitness for eight years, first as a personal trainer and now as a tutor and assessor at Create. She has competed in CrossFit at elite level and specialises in nutrition.
Reviewed by Faizana Karim, Eleven years in practice, specialising in women's hormone health.
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