Calculator

Calorie deficit calculator

This calorie deficit calculator works out your maintenance calories (TDEE) and the daily targets for a 10, 15, 20 or 25 percent deficit, so you can pick a pace you can live with. It never suggests less than the calorie floors Meal Planner Pro uses.

Calculate your calorie deficit

Enter your details. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

Maintenance (TDEE): 1953 kcal/day. Daily targets for common deficits:

10% deficit

1758 kcal

1365 kcal/week less

15% deficit

1660 kcal

2051 kcal/week less

20% deficit

1562 kcal

2737 kcal/week less

25% deficit

1465 kcal

3416 kcal/week less

Targets never go below 1,200 kcal, the floor Meal Planner Pro uses for women.

Estimates for healthy adults, not medical advice.

How the calorie deficit calculator sets targets

  • It estimates your BMR with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and multiplies it by your activity factor to get your TDEE.
  • Each target is your TDEE minus that percentage, rounded to the nearest calorie.
  • Targets stop at 1,200 kcal for women and 1,500 kcal for men.
  • Meal Planner Pro's own lose-weight goal uses an 18% deficit and slightly more protein (1.8 g per kg).

Worked examples

For a 30-year-old woman, 165 cm and 70 kg, lightly active with a mixed job, maintenance is about 1953 kcal, and Meal Planner Pro's lose-weight target is 1601 kcal a day.

For a 40-year-old man, 178 cm and 85 kg, moderately active with a desk job, maintenance is about 2651 kcal, and the lose-weight target is 2174 kcal a day.

Making a deficit easier to stick to

  • Keep protein high and build meals around vegetables, beans and lean protein, which fill you up for fewer calories.
  • Measure cooking oil, sauces and drinks; they are easy to under-count.
  • Judge progress over 2–4 weeks, not day to day: water weight swings hide the trend.
Not for anyone who is pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or has or has had an eating disorder. Talk to a doctor before a large or long calorie deficit.

Hit your deficit without counting every meal

Meal Planner Pro plans seven days of meals sized to your calorie target, with macros for each meal and a grocery list.

Create My Meal Plan

Plans from $8.99/week. No free plan or trial. See pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Eating fewer calories than you burn. Your body makes up the difference from stored energy, which over weeks shows up as weight loss.