Health & Fitness · Calories & Diet
Calorie Calculator — Calories to Lose or Gain Weight
Find your daily calorie target for weight loss or gain: your maintenance calories from the Mifflin–St Jeor equation and activity level, the deficit for your chosen pace, the time to reach a target weight, and a check against safe minimums.
A ready-made version of the BMR & TDEE Calculator.
Your inputs
Quick start — try a typical case
Healthy weight loss is usually 0.25–1 kg (0.5–2 lb) a week.
In kg or lb, matching your units. Leave 0 to skip.
Your result Live
Eat to Lose 0.5 kg a Week
1,957 kcal/day
A deficit of 550 kcal a day from your 2,507 kcal/day maintenance
- BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
- 1,618 kcal/day
- TDEE (maintenance)
- 2,507 kcal/day
- Calories for Your Goal
- 1,957 kcal/day
- Time to Reach Your Target
- About 16 weeks (3.7 months) from 70.0 kg
- Eat · 78%1,957 kcal/day
- Deficit · 22%550 kcal
Calories by activity level
5 rowsAbout 7,700 kcal equals 1 kg of body weight; real loss slows over time as your body adapts, so treat the timeline as a rough guide.
Population-average estimates for healthy adults, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before major changes to diet or exercise, or if you are pregnant or have a health condition.
How this is calculated
Mifflin–St Jeor BMR = 10w + 6.25h − 5a + 5 (men) or − 161 (women) · TDEE = BMR × activity · Goal = TDEE ± pace × 7,700 ÷ 7
- w, h, a
- Weight (kg), height (cm), age (years)
- Harris–Benedict (1984)
- Men 88.362 + 13.397w + 4.799h − 5.677a; women 447.593 + 9.247w + 3.098h − 4.330a
- Katch–McArdle
- 370 + 21.6 × lean body mass (kg)
Your BMR is the energy your body uses at complete rest; TDEE adds everything you do in a day. Eating at your TDEE keeps weight steady. A daily deficit of about 550 kcal loses roughly 0.5 kg a week; a surplus gains it. Mifflin–St Jeor is the most accurate general equation; Katch–McArdle can be better if you know your body fat.
Assumptions & sources
- Healthy, non-pregnant adults; activity multipliers are averages.
- Minimum intake check: 1200 kcal (women) / 1500 kcal (men) a day without medical supervision.
- 1A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals — Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1990)
- 2The Harris Benedict equation reevaluated — Roza AM, Shizgal HM, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1984)
- 3Aim for a Healthy Weight — calorie targets for weight loss — National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH)
Calculator ID HLTH-TDEE-001/calorie · version 2.0.0
Common questions
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
About 500–550 kcal a day below your TDEE loses roughly 0.5 kg a week. Don't go below about 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) a day without medical advice.
What's the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is what you'd burn lying still all day; TDEE adds walking, work and exercise. TDEE is the number to eat at to keep your weight steady.