Health
Calorie Deficit Calculator
Estimate your maintenance calories, choose a weight-loss pace, and get a practical daily calorie target.
Estimated calorie needs vary by genetics, body composition, medications, sleep, stress, and tracking accuracy. Use this as a planning estimate, not a medical prescription.
How calorie deficit math works
This calculator estimates basal metabolic rate with Mifflin-St Jeor, multiplies it by an activity factor to estimate TDEE, then subtracts the calorie deficit needed for the selected weekly weight-loss pace.
A common planning rule is that roughly 3,500 calories correspond to about one pound of body weight. Real-world weight change is not perfectly linear, so the target should be adjusted using trend data over several weeks.
Method reference: BMR uses the published Mifflin-St Jeor resting energy equation.
Daily target
Avoid very low calorie targets without professional supervision. Energy needs are estimates and should be adjusted with real-world progress.