Calorie deficit calculator
Estimate how many calories to eat each day to lose weight. Enter your details below and get a daily calorie target built from your age, size, activity, and the pace you choose.
- Free, no card needed
- Pounds or kilos
- Built by coaches behind 40,000+ clients
Find your daily calorie target
An estimate to start from, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, managing a medical condition, or have a history of disordered eating, talk to your doctor first.
Be honest about activity
Most people overestimate it. Pick Sedentary unless your job is physical.
Start moderate
A smaller deficit you can hold beats a big one you quit.
Treat it as a first guess
Track for a few weeks, then adjust to your real trend.
Turn calories into macros
Our macro calculator splits your target into protein, carbs and fat.
Open the macro calculator →What to do with your calorie deficit results.
A number only helps if you act on it. Three steps to turn your daily calorie target into progress.
Set your goals
Set realistic and achievable fitness goals, whether that’s weight loss, muscle gain, maintenance, or simply better overall health.
Plan your nutrition
Build meals that match your calorie target with balanced macronutrients. Use our macro calculator and free cookbook to make it easy.
Think about fitness
Nutrition is only part of the equation. Pair your calorie intake with the right training. Browse our free workout plans for a place to start.
Our guide to eating the foods you like while still hitting your numbers.
Three numbers, one daily target.
The calculator estimates the calories your body needs to maintain its current weight, your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), then reduces it by the deficit level you choose. Your TDEE starts from your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the energy you burn at rest, scaled up for how active you are.
From your age, sex, height and weight.
From the activity level you pick. Gives your TDEE.
How far below maintenance you want to eat.
Your starting target for weight loss.
The four deficit levels
Each level is a share of your maintenance calories. The bigger the cut, the harder it is to sustain.
What are calories?
In nutrition, a calorie is a unit of energy: the energy your body gets from what you eat and drink. Your body breaks down the macronutrients in food (carbohydrates, protein and fat) and uses that energy for everything from breathing and digestion to training.
When you eat fewer calories than you burn, you are in a calorie deficit, and your body makes up the difference from stored energy. That deficit is the foundation of weight loss.
Fat carries more than twice the energy per gram of carbs or protein.
Calculating your calorie deficit for weight loss.
A calorie deficit calculator gives you a clear starting point: a daily target that puts you below the calories you burn, so the weight comes off at a pace you can live with.
It is an estimate, and everyone’s needs are a little different. Run your result through the macro calculator for a fuller breakdown, ask for a macro check in our Facebook group, or work with a nutrition coach to fine-tune it.
Macros Inc Live, Episode 41: Managing your calorie deficit.
More on calories and weight loss.
What is the CICO diet, and how can it help you lose weight?
Counting macros vs calories for weight loss
Managing your weight with NEAT
The secret to how all diets work
5 small healthy habits that help you lose weight
Is an online fitness coach as good as a personal trainer?
Your calculator gives a number. A coach makes it work.
A certified coach sets your targets, adjusts them as your body responds, and keeps you on track week to week. Try the full Building level free for 14 days.
No charge for 14 days, then $199/mo. Switch levels or cancel anytime.
Common calorie deficit questions.
Want a second opinion on your numbers? Talk to our team.
Got your number? Now make it stick.
Work with a certified coach who turns your calorie target into a plan you can actually follow. Start with 14 days free.