Calorie Calculator to Gain Weight: Your Daily Surplus

How the calorie calculator to gain weight works

1. Step one: resting energy from Mifflin St Jeor.
2. It scales that up for your daily activity, which gives maintenance.
3. It adds the surplus you choose.
4. It sets protein at 1.6 g for each kilo you weigh, or higher if you pick it.

Want to see each step? Use the BMR calculator and the maintenance tool.

Calorie calculator for weight gain: men

Thin men with fast metabolism often underestimate how much they move. If the scale does not budge after two weeks, add 200 kcal.

Calorie surplus calculator: women

Women gaining from a low weight often feel full quickly. Smaller, more frequent meals and calorie dense foods help.

Bulking calorie calculator: lean bulk vs dirty bulk

A lean bulk keeps the surplus small and steady, accepting slower gains with less fat. A dirty bulk eats far above needs, often with fried food and sweets; it adds weight fast but much of it is fat that later needs cutting. For most people, especially beginners, a lean bulk of 250 to 350 kcal over maintenance works best.

Beginners in their first year of lifting can gain muscle faster than experienced lifters, so the same surplus does more for them.

Indian foods that make gaining easier

• A glass of full fat milk with a banana and a spoon of peanut butter: about 400 kcal.
• Paneer bhurji with two roti: about 500 kcal and 25 g protein.
• Eggs, two or three a day, boiled or as an omelette.
• Peanuts, roasted chana and dry fruits as snacks.
• Curd rice or a lassi after lunch.
• Ghee on roti and dal, a teaspoon at a time.

The food calorie tool totals a day of meals, and the protein lookup shows the protein in each.

Calorie calculator for muscle gain: training matters

Extra calories without training go mostly to fat. Lift three or four days a week, working each muscle group twice, and add a little weight or a few reps each week. Sleep 7 to 9 hours. Protein of about 1.6 g per kg spread over four meals supports the growth; set yours with the protein calculator.

When to stop the surplus

Check your waist as well as your weight. If the waist grows faster than about 1 cm for every 2 kg gained, the surplus is too big. When you reach your goal, drop back to maintenance for a few weeks to settle.

Babies and children

This calculator is for adults. Newborns typically add 0.6 to 0.8 kg a month early on, which is the ideal weight gain for a newborn in the first three months, and children grow on their own curves; see the baby weight chart and talk to the paediatrician about any concern.