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How Many Calories Should I Eat to Lose Weight?
Fewer than you burn — but 'how many exactly' is the question that decides whether the next three months work. This calculator answers it for your body: it estimates your daily burn, subtracts a sustainable deficit, and gives you a target you can actually live on, with the working shown.
Your Facts
Fill in the form and press Calculate — your personal label prints here.
As a rough map: most women lose weight steadily somewhere between 1,400 and 1,900 kcal per day, most men between 1,800 and 2,400. But averages mislead — your number depends on your size, age, and honest activity level, which is why generic '1,200-calorie plans' fail tall, active, or heavier people so reliably.
Run your numbers below. You'll get a maintenance figure plus two loss targets: gentle (−250 kcal/day) and steady (−500 kcal/day), both floored at a safe minimum intake.
The calculation behind your target
Step one estimates your basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation — the formula with the best accuracy record in comparative research. Step two multiplies by your activity level to get total daily burn (TDEE). Step three subtracts the deficit: 250 kcal for roughly a quarter kilogram per week, 500 for roughly half a kilogram (one pound).
The floors matter: we never show a target below 1,200 kcal for women or 1,500 for men, in line with guidance on the minimum intakes that reliably supply micronutrients. If the subtraction lands below the floor, the honest answer is a smaller deficit plus more movement — not less food.
Picking your pace: −250 or −500?
The steady target (−500 kcal/day) suits people with more than about 10 kg to lose, higher starting TDEEs, and a preference for visible weekly progress. The gentle target (−250) is often smarter for the last 5 kg, for smaller bodies where 500 kcal is a quarter of total burn, and for anyone whose history says aggressive plans end in rebound.
You're allowed to move between them. A common and effective pattern is steady loss for 8–10 weeks, a two-week maintenance break, then reassessing. Weight loss is not a moral performance — it's an energy ledger, and the ledger doesn't care whether you balanced it quickly or slowly.
What to expect, month by month
Weeks one and two usually flatter you: glycogen and water leave first, so the scale can drop 1–2 kg beyond true fat loss. Weeks three and four often 'stall' as water rebalances — this is the point where most diets are abandoned, precisely when fat loss is proceeding normally underneath.
From month two onward, expect the arithmetic pace — about 0.5 kg per week at −500 — with noise around it. Recalculate your target after every ~5 kg lost, because a lighter body burns less. And if the trend truly flattens for three honest weeks, that's data: your TDEE has adapted or tracking has drifted, and the fix is measurement, not self-blame.
- Weigh 3–7 mornings a week, same conditions, and judge only the weekly average
- Keep protein at 1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight to protect muscle
- Lift weights 2–4 times a week so the weight you lose is fat, not muscle
- Recalculate your calorie target after every 5 kg of loss
- Plan a 1–2 week maintenance break every 8–12 weeks
Frequently asked questions
Most women lose weight steadily on 1,400–1,900 kcal per day, but the right number depends on size, age, and activity — a 1.75 m active woman may lose on 2,100 kcal while a smaller sedentary woman needs closer to 1,400. Calculate your personal maintenance first, then subtract 250–500 kcal. Don't go below 1,200 kcal without medical supervision.
Typically 1,800–2,400 kcal per day, depending on size and activity. Calculate your own TDEE and subtract 250–500 kcal rather than borrowing someone else's number; a floor of 1,500 kcal applies without medical supervision.
Almost anyone loses weight at 1,200 kcal — but for most people it's needlessly aggressive, hard to sustain, and risks muscle loss and nutrient gaps. It's the floor for women, not the recommendation. A moderate deficit from your actual TDEE usually produces better six-month results than a crash from day one.
At a steady 500 kcal daily deficit, roughly 20 weeks — about five months — allowing for stalls, breaks, and real life. A 250 kcal deficit doubles that. Faster is possible but progressively costs more muscle and more rebound risk; slower with strength training generally looks better in the mirror at the end.