How Many Calories Should I Eat to Lose Weight?

Weight loss comes down to one principle: eat fewer calories than your body burns. That gap is called a calorie deficit, and it's the single most reliable lever for losing fat. This guide walks through how to find your own number — and points you to the calculators that do the arithmetic instantly.

Step 1: Find your maintenance calories

Before you can eat in a deficit, you need to know your maintenance level — the calories that keep your weight stable. This is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE): the energy your body uses at rest plus everything you burn moving and exercising. Estimate yours with the TDEE calculator.

Step 2: Subtract a sensible deficit

A kilogram of body weight stores roughly 7,700 calories (about 3,500 per pound). So a daily deficit of about 500 calories adds up to roughly 0.45 kg (1 lb) of loss per week. For most people, a deficit of 300–750 calories per day is the sweet spot: fast enough to see steady progress, gentle enough to protect muscle and stay consistent.

Rather than do this by hand, the calorie deficit calculator shows your maintenance level and the daily target for several loss paces, and it caps intake at a safe minimum so you never cut too far.

Step 3: Turn calories into a food plan

A calorie target is easier to hit when you know how to spread it across protein, carbs, and fat. Protein is especially important in a deficit — it keeps you full and helps preserve muscle. Use the macro calculator to split your target into daily macros, or the protein calculator if you just want your protein goal.

Step 4: Track the trend and adjust

Daily scale readings swing with water and food weight, so judge progress by the two-to-three-week trend, not day to day. As you get lighter your maintenance falls, so recalculate every 5–10 kg (10–20 lb) lost. If the scale trend is genuinely flat for a few weeks, trim another 100–200 calories.

A quick example

Say your TDEE is 2,400 calories. A moderate 500-calorie deficit puts your target at 1,900 calories a day, for roughly 0.45 kg (1 lb) of loss per week. Set protein high, keep the deficit consistent, and let the weekly trend — not any single day — tell you whether it's working.

These are general estimates for healthy adults, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, under 18, have a medical condition, or a history of disordered eating, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before cutting calories.