Calorie deficit calculator

You lose weight when you eat fewer calories than your body burns. That gap is your calorie deficit. A deficit of about 550 calories a day adds up to roughly 0.5 kg of weight loss a week, since about 7,700 calories make up 1 kg of body fat.

Most guidelines recommend losing 0.25 to 1 kg a week. Slower loss is easier to keep up and helps you keep muscle. This calculator never goes below 1,200 calories a day for women or 1,500 for men, because eating less than that without supervision makes it hard to get enough nutrients.

• Slow: about 275 calories less a day
• Steady: about 550 calories less a day
• Faster: about 825 calories less a day

• Fill half your plate with vegetables, and pick lean protein like fish, chicken or tofu.
• Cut back on sugary drinks, milk tea and extra rice first; they add up fast.
• Walk more. Even 7,000 to 10,000 steps a day helps.
• Sleep 7 to 8 hours. Poor sleep makes you hungrier.
• If you have diabetes, kidney or heart disease, or take medicine, see a doctor before changing how you eat.

Please keep these in mind before acting on your result:

• The target is based on your TDEE, so it carries the same 10% or so uncertainty.
• It uses the common rule that about 7,700 calories equals 1 kg of body fat. Real weight loss usually slows over time because your body burns less as you get lighter, so the timeline is likely optimistic.
• Early weight loss is partly water, so the first week or two can look faster than the weeks after.
• The 1,200 and 1,500 calorie floors are general safety limits, not personal advice.
• If you have diabetes (especially on insulin), kidney or heart disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding, are under 18, or have had an eating disorder, please plan weight loss with a doctor instead of using this tool.

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