Calorie deficit calculator.
Find your maintenance calories, the daily deficit, and the exact target daily intake to hit your weekly weight-loss goal. Enter your details, pick a pace, and the result updates instantly - in pounds or kilograms.
By Markus Evers Updated September 25, 2026 Method: Mifflin-St Jeor TDEE minus a deficit at 3,500 kcal/lb
Sources
- Mifflin MD et al. (1990), American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Frankenfield D et al. (2005), Journal of the American Dietetic Association
- Wishnofsky M (1958), American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (the 3,500 kcal per pound basis)
Calculate your deficit
your numbers
Maintenance (TDEE)
0 kcal/day
Daily deficit
-0 kcal/day
Target daily calories
0 kcal/day
Estimates only, based on the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and the ~3,500 kcal/lb (7,700 kcal/kg) fat rule. Track your real weight trend for 2-3 weeks and adjust. Not medical advice.
the short answer
A calorie deficit calculator finds your target intake as maintenance calories (TDEE) minus a daily deficit. TDEE = Mifflin-St Jeor BMR x an activity factor. The deficit = your weekly loss rate x 3,500 kcal/lb (or 7,700 kcal/kg), divided by 7. So a 1 lb/week goal means a ~500 kcal daily deficit and a target of TDEE - 500.
Related: Maintenance Calories · TDEE · Macros · Calorie Surplus · Goal Weight Date · Calorie Cycling · Intermittent Fasting · Weight Loss Phases
What a calorie deficit is and how it's calculated.
A calorie deficit is eating fewer calories than your body burns in a day, so it draws on stored energy. Two numbers turn that into a target: your maintenance calories, and the pace you want to lose at.
Maintenance is your TDEE. This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for BMR - BMR = 10 x weight(kg) + 6.25 x height(cm) - 5 x age + 5 for men, - 161 instead of + 5 for women - multiplied by an activity factor from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (athlete). One pound of body fat stores roughly 3,500 kcal (one kilogram ~ 7,700), so your daily deficit = weekly loss rate x 3,500 / 7 and your target daily intake = TDEE - daily deficit. A 1 lb/week pace is about 500 kcal a day.
The full derivation, a worked example and the common mistakes are in how to calculate a calorie deficit. Run the same arithmetic the other way and you get a calorie surplus for gaining, which the calorie surplus calculator handles.
Why Mifflin-St Jeor - and when another equation is better.
This calculator uses Mifflin-St Jeor (1990), the equation validation studies rank most accurate when body composition is unknown. If you do know your body fat percentage - measure it with the body fat calculator and get lean mass from the lean body mass calculator - a Katch-McArdle estimate (370 + 21.6 x lean mass in kg) is worth comparing against the number above. The full Harris-Benedict, Mifflin-St Jeor and Katch-McArdle comparison, and when each one wins, is in how to calculate a calorie deficit.
Deficit sizes at a glance.
| Daily deficit | Weekly loss | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| 250 kcal | ~0.5 lb / 0.25 kg | Smaller bodies, low hunger tolerance, long timelines |
| 500 kcal | ~1 lb / 0.45 kg | The standard pick - steady progress most people can hold |
| 750 kcal | ~1.5 lb / 0.7 kg | Higher starting weights with appetite under control |
| 1,000 kcal | ~2 lb / 0.9 kg | Upper safe limit - muscle loss and rebound risk rise past here |
Whatever the pace, most adults should not eat below roughly 1,200 kcal (women) or 1,500 kcal (men) without professional supervision - if the calculator's target lands under those floors, choose a slower pace instead.
Hit a plateau? Zigzag your calories.
Run the same deficit long enough and the body adapts: it moves less without noticing, burns a little less, and the scale stalls. One practical answer is calorie cycling - alternating higher and lower days around the same weekly total, so dieting gets planned flexibility (a normal dinner out on a high day) without losing the deficit. The calorie cycling calculator builds that split from your weekly target, and the refeed day calculator plans the deliberate higher-carb days many coaches use on longer cuts. If the stall survives two honest weeks of tracking, recheck your TDEE above - lighter bodies burn less, so targets need updating as you lose. The weight loss phase calculator maps exactly that drift, recalculating TDEE and the deficit phase by phase as weight comes down, and our thermic effect of food chart covers the digestion-cost side of the energy equation that raw calorie math ignores.
Calorie deficit calculator FAQ.
How does a calorie deficit calculator work?
A calorie deficit calculator first estimates your maintenance calories (TDEE) using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation multiplied by an activity factor. It then subtracts a daily deficit sized to your chosen weekly weight-loss rate - about 3,500 kcal per pound (7,700 kcal per kilogram) of fat, divided across seven days - to give a target daily calorie intake.
Is this calorie deficit calculator free?
Yes. This is a free calorie deficit calculator with no sign-up and no limit on how often you use it. Enter your details and it will calculate your calorie deficit alongside your maintenance calories (TDEE) and a daily target for the rate of loss you pick. Coaches use the same numbers as a starting point with clients and then adjust from real weekly data, rather than treating the estimate as a fixed answer.
How big should my calorie deficit be to lose weight?
A common, sustainable target is a 500 kcal daily deficit, which projects to roughly one pound (about 0.45 kg) of weight loss per week. Faster rates like 0.75 to 1 lb per week need a larger deficit and are harder to hold. The right size depends on your maintenance calories, body size, training, and how aggressive you want the timeline to be.
How many calories should I eat to lose 1 lb a week?
To lose about one pound a week you need roughly a 500 kcal daily deficit, since one pound of fat stores about 3,500 kcal. Enter your details above to get your maintenance calories, then subtract 500 - the calculator does this for you and shows the target daily intake plus the projected weekly loss for your chosen rate.
Is the calorie deficit calculator accurate?
It gives a solid, science-based estimate, but every formula is an approximation. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation and the 3,500-kcal-per-pound rule are population averages, so your real maintenance can vary with muscle mass, metabolism, and how much you actually move. Treat the result as a starting point, then adjust based on two to three weeks of real weight trend data.
Can I lose weight too fast with a large calorie deficit?
Yes. Very aggressive deficits can cost you muscle, energy, sleep, and adherence, and they are hard to sustain. Most coaches keep weekly loss to roughly 0.5 to 1 percent of body weight and pair the deficit with adequate protein and resistance training. Slower, steady loss usually holds better than a crash diet that rebounds.
How do coaches use a calorie deficit calculator with clients?
Coaches use it to set a realistic starting target intake and a believable timeline, then review weekly check-in data and adjust. It turns "eat less" into a specific number a client can act on. On a coaching platform you set each client a calorie and macro target once, and their app tracks progress against it automatically.
How much of a deficit do I need to lose 1 kg a week?
About 7,700 kcal per kg of body fat, so 1 kg a week needs a deficit of roughly 1,100 kcal per day. For most people that is aggressive and hard to hold - hunger, training quality and muscle retention all suffer. A steadier target is 0.5 kg a week from a 500 to 550 kcal daily deficit, which this calculator sets in one click.
Is 1,500 calories a day a deficit?
Only if your body burns more than that. 1,500 kcal is a real deficit for someone whose maintenance is 2,000 kcal or above, and it is not a deficit at all for someone smaller or less active who maintains near 1,500. That is why the calculator starts from your own TDEE instead of a one-size number - and why very low intakes are worth running past a professional first.
Is the calorie deficit calculator different for women?
The equation is the same, but sex changes the arithmetic: the Mifflin-St Jeor formula subtracts 161 kcal for women where it adds 5 for men, so a woman of the same size and activity gets a lower maintenance number and a lower target. Pick your sex in the first field and the calculator handles the rest.
How do I calculate my calorie deficit?
Three steps. First, estimate your maintenance calories, meaning the total your body burns per day at your current activity level; this calculator does that with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation plus an activity multiplier. Second, subtract a sensible amount for weight loss, typically 300 to 500 calories or 15 to 25 percent of maintenance. Third, eat to the resulting number. Your deficit on any given day is simply maintenance minus what you actually ate, so if maintenance is 2,400 and you eat 1,950, you are in a 450-calorie deficit.
How many pounds per week does my daily calorie deficit equal?
Multiply the daily deficit by 7 and divide by roughly 3,500, the conventional calorie content of a pound of body fat. A 465-calorie daily deficit is about 0.93 pounds per week, and 500 per day is about 1 pound per week. Treat it as an estimate rather than a promise: water shifts hide fat loss week to week, and the true rate drifts as your body gets lighter and maintenance falls, which is why recalculating every few weeks keeps the target honest.
How coaches use a calorie deficit calculator.
Online fitness and nutrition coaches use a calculator like this to set a client's starting target and an honest timeline before week one, then adjust from real check-in data rather than treating the estimate as the answer. The judgment calls in that first target - how aggressive a deficit to run, where to floor it for very lean or very heavy clients - are in how to set a client's calorie target.
For the deeper method - estimating maintenance and splitting it into protein, carbs and fat - see how to calculate TDEE and macros for clients, the step-by-step in how to calculate a calorie deficit, and the broader playbook in how to do nutrition coaching online.
Set targets like this for every client.
A calculator gives one person one number. Coachway lets coaches set a calorie and macro target for each client once, deliver it in one client app, and track progress against it automatically through weekly check-ins - so you spend your time coaching, not recalculating. Explore the meal planner or compare the nutrition coaching platforms.
Start with CoachwayThis calculator provides general estimates for education, not medical, dietary, or clinical advice. Calorie needs vary with body composition, health conditions, and activity, and the formulas used are population averages. Consult a qualified professional before making significant changes to your diet, especially if you have a medical condition.
Coaching clients? See the calculators built for coaches ->
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