Fuel your exercise routine like a pro with this handy tool

Trigger warning: This article details weight loss and exercise plans, this may be triggering to those with disordered eating.

Want to make sure you're eating enough to fuel your exercise regime? Use our calculator to find out how many calories you need.

Everyone has a different rate of metabolism, but it's generally understood that if you want to reduce body fat, you need to burn more energy (calories) than you take in.

Similarly, if you want to up your exercise or hit fitness goals, you may need to be taking on more energy to fuel it.

Calories are a good way to get a rough idea of how much energy you're taking in and what you're burning. But it's important to remember they don't tell the whole story.

For instance, nutrients like protein, fibre and carbohydrates are great for feeling fuller for longer and fuelling physical activity. And the amount of these that each food contains varies hugely.

The point is, 200 calories worth of brown pasta is going to do different things in your body than 200 calories of biscuits. Both have their place, but they bring different benefits.

If your weight is healthy and stable, there's no need to count calories. If you eat a little more or less than you need in a day, you may naturally compensate for it on another day.

This calculator asks you for your activity level (before you do any exercise) to calculate how many calories you need in a regular day. If you're an office worker who drives to work and does little activity in your day-to-day life, you'll be in the sedentary category. If you have a physically demanding job that requires almost continuous lifting and/or other strenuous exertion, you'll be in the fifth category.

Then enter the exercise you're doing (or plan to do), and the calculator will tell you how many calories it will burn. If you want to maintain your weight, you can add these calories to your daily requirement.

If your BMI is above a healthy range and you'd like to manage your weight, the NHS advises cutting around 600 calories a day, external to bring it down steadily. Or, combine a smaller calorie reduction with an exercise programme that adds up to a daily calorie deficit of 600.

In the UK, the NHS, external says adults should aim for at least two-and-a-half hours of moderate exercise (that could be brisk walking, cycling or dancing) or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise (like running, swimming or football), per week.

An easy way to work out the right exercise for you is to understand Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). It's a scale of 0–10, based on your feeling of breathlessness when you exercise.

Lying on the couch will be zero. If you're putting your shoes on, you're up to 0.5. When you find it more challenging to hold a conversation due to breathlessness you're at 5, and when conversation requires maximum effort you're at 8. If you can't talk at all, you've hit 9–10.

It's worth noting that the NHS also advises strength training (this could be weight lifting, yoga or pilates) on two or more days a week. Even carrying heavy shopping bags counts!

You might be surprised by how many calories your exercise session will burn. If you weigh 60kg, 30 minutes of cycling will burn around 120 calories, swimming around 180 calories and jogging around 210 calories.

If you want to keep your weight in check, you don't want to over-estimate this. But remember, exercise is good for our general and mental health, external as well as weight management, so don't be put off if it seems like it's not burning many calories.

Originally published December 2019. Updated March 2026.

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