How many calories should you eat to lose weight?
Weight loss comes down to a calorie deficit. Here is how to find your number and a safe pace to aim for.
Estimate the calories your body burns at rest and across your day.
Losing weight sounds complicated, but the core idea is simple: to lose weight you need to eat fewer calories than your body burns. That gap is called a calorie deficit, and everything else, from which diet you follow to how much you exercise, is really just a different way of creating one. Here is how to turn that idea into a daily number you can actually use.
Step one: find your maintenance calories
Your maintenance level, often called TDEE, is the number of calories that keeps your weight steady. It depends on your age, height, weight, sex and how active you are. A larger or more active body burns more; a smaller or more sedentary one burns less. A calorie calculator estimates this for you from a few inputs, and it is the starting point for everything that follows.
Step two: subtract a sensible deficit
Once you know roughly what you burn, you eat a bit less than that. A pound of body fat holds roughly 3,500 calories, so a deficit of about 500 calories a day works out to around a pound a week. That is a steady, sustainable pace that most people can keep up without feeling starved.
As an example, if your maintenance level is about 2,400 calories, eating around 1,900 a day points to roughly a pound of loss per week. Prefer a gentler pace? A 250 a day deficit still adds up to real progress over a couple of months, and it is easier to stick to.
Why slower is usually better
It is tempting to cut calories hard for fast results, but very large deficits tend to backfire. They are difficult to sustain, they can leave you tired and hungry, and they often lead to giving up and regaining the weight. A modest deficit protects your energy and makes the change something you can live with, which is what actually gets results over months rather than days. A common guideline is to aim to lose no more than about one to two pounds a week.
Move the other side of the equation too
You can widen the deficit by burning more, not only by eating less. Everyday movement and exercise both add to the calories you use, which is why walking more or adding a few workouts makes the eating side easier. Our calories burned calculator estimates what different activities add, so you can see how a daily walk fits into the picture.
The bottom line
Find your maintenance calories, subtract a sensible deficit of around 250 to 500 a day, and give it time. Steady beats drastic almost every time. This is general information, not medical or dietary advice, so if you have a health condition or plan a big change, check with a qualified professional first.
Frequently asked questions
How big a calorie deficit is safe?
A deficit of about 250 to 500 calories a day is a common, sustainable range, pointing to roughly half a pound to a pound of loss per week. Very large deficits are hard to keep up and are best discussed with a professional.
Do I really need to count calories?
Not forever. Counting for a few weeks helps you learn the calorie value of your usual meals and portions. After that, many people keep the habit loosely rather than tracking every bite.
Why has my weight loss stalled?
As you lose weight your body burns a little less, so an old deficit can become maintenance. Recalculate your maintenance calories at your new weight and adjust. Day-to-day water changes also hide progress, so judge by the trend over weeks.