HesapHanem

Refeed Day Calorie Calculator

Enter maintenance calories and your desired refeed surplus percentage.

Result

2,880 kcal
480 kcal
120 g

How it is calculated

The tool adds a percentage on top of your maintenance intake. extra calories = maintenance × surplus % ÷ 100 and refeed calories = maintenance + extra calories. Maintenance is in kcal per day and the surplus is a percent of that maintenance figure (20 means 20%, not 20 percentage points of anything else). The extra energy is then turned into carbohydrate grams with the standard carbs g = extra calories ÷ 4, since a gram of carbohydrate supplies about 4 kcal. So the tool assumes every extra calorie is carbohydrate; the baseline part of the day is not split into macros. A surplus of 0 returns your maintenance. Results are rounded to whole kcal and grams.

Worked example

Maintenance 2,400 kcal and a 20% refeed surplus. Extra calories: 2,400 × 20 ÷ 100 = 480 kcal. Refeed day total: 2,400 + 480 = 2,880 kcal. Extra carbohydrate: 480 ÷ 4 = 120 g. So the refeed day is your normal day with roughly 120 g more carbs on top. A 10% surplus would give 2,640 kcal and 60 g of extra carbs.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering your current dieting calories instead of true maintenance; the surplus is then taken from the wrong base and the refeed may still be a deficit.
  • Typing the surplus as a decimal (0.2 instead of 20), which gives an extra of well under 1% of maintenance.
  • Reading 120 g as your whole carbohydrate target for the day; it is only the extra above what you normally eat.
  • Confusing a refeed with a diet break: this tool plans a single raised day, not a week at maintenance.

About this calculator

A refeed day is a planned, short-term return to eating above maintenance calories — typically maintenance plus a chosen surplus percentage — with most of the extra calories deliberately consumed as carbohydrates, used periodically during an extended calorie-restricted diet or cut. The physiological rationale is that sustained caloric restriction lowers leptin (a hormone that regulates hunger and energy expenditure) and depletes muscle glycogen stores, and a short high-carbohydrate surplus can partially and temporarily restore both.

Bodybuilders, physique competitors, and endurance athletes in a prolonged deficit use refeed days to blunt some of the metabolic adaptation and training-performance decline that comes with extended dieting, and to provide psychological relief from restrictive eating — distinct from a full 'diet break', which resets to maintenance for several days or weeks rather than a single elevated day.

This calculator takes your maintenance calories and desired refeed surplus percentage and returns your refeed-day calorie target, along with the extra calories and the grams of carbohydrate they equal. It counts all of the extra calories as carbohydrate at 4 kcal per gram, so adjust that figure yourself if you plan to eat some of the extra as protein or fat.

Was this helpful?

You can pick up to 3 reactions.

Comments

  • Be the first to comment.

Popular calculators

Loan Calculator

Monthly payment, total interest and full amortization schedule.

Percentage Calculator

Percent change, percent of, and ratio calculations.

Discount Calculator

Calculate final price, savings, and discount amount.

BMI Calculator

Body mass index from height and weight (metric or imperial).

Age Calculator

Compute your exact age in years, months and days from a birth date.

Compound Interest Calculator

Calculate the final amount and interest earned with compounding.

All Calculators