Weight loss

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.

8 min readUpdated May 2026

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 target

Adjust from real signals

The first calorie target is an estimate. The better plan is the one that responds to what happens after you start.

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 plan

Avoico is for general wellness and nutrition planning. It is not medical advice and is not a replacement for care from a qualified healthcare professional.