How Many Calories Should You Eat to Lose Weight?
Published 11/12/2025 · 3 min read · Health calculators
To lose weight, eat fewer calories than you burn. Start from your maintenance level (TDEE), then subtract about 500 kcal a day for roughly 0.5 kg of loss per week — since a kilogram of fat holds about 7,700 kcal. If your TDEE is 2,200 kcal, eating about 1,700 kcal a day targets steady loss. Avoid dropping below about 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) without professional guidance.
Weight loss comes down to a calorie deficit. Here's how to estimate your maintenance calories, set a safe deficit, and turn it into a daily target.
Weight loss is a calorie deficit
Your body loses fat when it takes in less energy than it uses, forcing it to draw on stored reserves. No single food or trick changes that arithmetic — it is calories in versus calories out over time. The quality of those calories still matters for health and hunger, but the deficit is what drives the scale down.
Find your maintenance calories
Maintenance — your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE — is what you burn in a day at your current weight and activity. It comes from your resting metabolism (BMR) multiplied by an activity factor. This is your zero line: eat at it and your weight holds, eat below it and you lose. Estimate it first, because every target is built from it.
Set a safe deficit
A deficit of about 500 kcal a day loses roughly half a kilo a week — a pace most people can hold. Bigger is not better: very steep deficits cost muscle, tank energy, and usually rebound. Lighter or shorter people should use a smaller deficit, and no one should sit for long below the safe floors without professional guidance.
Make it sustainable
The best plan is the one you can keep. Enough protein protects muscle and blunts hunger, whole foods fill you up for fewer calories, and a little slack for the food you enjoy prevents the all-or-nothing spiral. Progress is rarely linear — weight fluctuates day to day — so judge it over weeks, not mornings.
Worked with our own calculator
Calorie deficit calculator
Given
- Maintenance calories (kcal)
- 1,100
- Weight to lose (kg)
- 5
- Timeframe (weeks)
- 5
Result
- Daily deficit (kcal)
- 1,100
- Target intake (kcal)
- 0
These figures are produced by the calculator below, not typed in by hand — they are recomputed whenever the tool changes.
Run it on your own figures →Frequently asked questions
- Is a 500-calorie deficit right for everyone?
- It's a common starting point, but lighter people need less and very active people can handle more. Never sit below the safe minimums without professional guidance.
- Why did my weight loss stall?
- As you lose weight your maintenance drops, so the old deficit shrinks; day-to-day water and glycogen shifts also mask fat loss. Recalculate your TDEE and give it a few weeks.
- Do I have to count calories forever?
- No. Many people count for a while to learn portion sizes and habits, then maintain by feel without tracking every meal.
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This is general information, not medical or dietary advice. Calorie needs vary with health, medication and life stage — talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before starting, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or managing a condition.
Sources
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