How many calories do you need to lose weight?

📅 April 2026⏱ 5 min read🏷 Nutrition

Fat loss comes down to one principle: burn more calories than you consume. But the practical question — exactly how many calories should I eat? — requires two numbers: your TDEE and your target deficit.

What is TDEE?

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure — the total number of calories your body burns in a day, including exercise, movement and basic metabolic function. This is the number you compare your food intake against.

TDEE is calculated from BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate — the calories burned at complete rest) multiplied by an activity factor. A sedentary 35-year-old woman who is 165cm and weighs 70kg has a TDEE of roughly 1,850–1,950 calories/day. A moderately active man of the same age at 180cm / 85kg might be 2,800–3,000 calories/day.

🔥 Calculate Your Calorie Needs

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How big should your deficit be?

One pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories. To lose one pound per week, you need a deficit of 500 calories per day. To lose 0.5kg per week (roughly 1lb), aim for a 500–550 calorie/day deficit.

This gives three sensible targets:

Slow/sustainable (0.25kg/week): Deficit of 250 cal/day — easy to maintain, minimal hunger
Moderate (0.5kg/week): Deficit of 500 cal/day — the standard recommendation
Aggressive (0.75–1kg/week): Deficit of 750–1000 cal/day — faster but harder to sustain, higher risk of muscle loss

Why you shouldn't cut too aggressively

Large deficits (below 1,200 calories/day for women or 1,500 for men) risk multiple problems:

Muscle loss — the body breaks down muscle for energy when calories are very low
Metabolic adaptation — the body becomes more efficient and reduces TDEE, making the same deficit less effective over time
Nutrient deficiencies — it becomes very difficult to meet micronutrient needs below ~1,200 calories
Unsustainable — very low calorie diets almost always end in rebound

A simple starting approach

Calculate your TDEE, then subtract 300–500 calories. Eat consistently at that level for 3–4 weeks and track your actual weight change. If it's faster than 1kg/week, eat a bit more. If it's stalled after 3 weeks, you may need to reduce by another 100–150 calories or increase activity.

Weight fluctuates daily due to water, food in the digestive system and hormones. Use a weekly average to judge progress rather than day-to-day numbers.