How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
The useful answer is not the lowest number you can tolerate. It is a target you can repeat, measure, and adjust without turning every week into a reset.
Start from maintenance
Maintenance calories are the rough amount your body needs to stay around the same weight. A weight loss target usually starts below that number. The size of the deficit decides how aggressive the plan feels.
A moderate deficit is often easier to follow than a dramatic cut. It leaves more room for protein, normal meals, social flexibility, and training energy.
Estimate your starting target
Use the calculator to estimate calories, protein, carbs, and fat, then turn the target into a meal plan.
Calculate my targetAdjust from real signals
The first calorie target is an estimate. The better plan is the one that responds to what happens after you start. If weight stalls despite a consistent effort, there are common reasons worth checking.
Weight trend over several check-ins
How consistently you hit the plan
Hunger and energy
Training quality
Whether meals feel repeatable
Make the calorie target usable.
Avoico turns your calorie target into meals, portions, macros, and weekly adjustments.
View weight loss planFrequently asked questions
How many calories should I eat a day to lose weight?
Most people lose weight on 300–600 calories below their maintenance level per day. This creates a deficit of 0.3–0.6 kg per week, which is sustainable for most schedules and activity levels. Going lower is possible but increases hunger and risk of muscle loss.
Is 1200 calories a day enough to lose weight?
1200 calories is very low for most adults and is only appropriate for people with a small body size and very low activity level. For most people, 1400–1700 calories provides a meaningful deficit while leaving room for enough protein, nutrients, and energy to function well day to day.
How do I calculate my maintenance calories?
Use the Mifflin-St Jeor formula to estimate BMR (basal metabolic rate) based on height, weight, age, and sex, then multiply by an activity factor. A simpler approach is to eat at a consistent calorie level for two weeks and observe whether weight holds steady, rises, or falls.
What is a healthy rate of weight loss per week?
0.5 to 1 kg (1–2 lbs) per week is considered a sustainable and healthy rate for most people. Faster loss is possible but often leads to more muscle loss, greater hunger, and lower adherence over time.
Why am I not losing weight in a calorie deficit?
Common reasons include underestimating portion sizes, inconsistent weekends, water retention masking fat loss on the scale, and a deficit that is too small to produce visible weekly change. Most people are in a smaller deficit than they think. Tracking more carefully for two weeks usually reveals the cause.
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Macro calculator
Estimate a starting calorie and macro target.
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Make the same target feel easier.
Not losing in a deficit?
Check the most common reasons weight stalls.
Want this turned into your own meal plan?
Avoico uses your calories, macros, preferences, restrictions, and weekly progress to build meals you can actually follow.