Most adult women need roughly 1,600 to 2,400 calories a day to maintain their weight, and most adult men need roughly 2,000 to 3,000. Where you sit inside those ranges depends on your age, your size, and how much you move. To lose weight, your target sits below your maintenance number; to gain, above it.

Your maintenance calories are the number of calories you can eat each day while your weight stays the same. The reliable way to figure them out is a two stage method. First, estimate the number with a proven formula. Second, verify it with a short tracking test, because a formula gives you a prediction while

To measure your BMI, you need two accurate numbers, your height and your weight, and one formula. With pounds and inches the formula is BMI = 703 × weight ÷ height². With kilograms and meters it is BMI = weight ÷ height². Most people get the formula right and the measuring wrong, so this guide

The proper weight for a 6 foot male is approximately 136 to 184 pounds (62 to 83 kg). That is the healthy weight range for a man who is 6 feet (72 inches) tall, based on a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9, the range the CDC classifies as healthy weight for adults.