Calories & Weight Loss

For weight maintenance, a quick estimate is 14–16 calories per pound of body weight, then fine-tune by tracking weight changes for 2–4 weeks.

Most adults maintain near 14–16 calories per pound per day; confirm with 2–3 weeks of weigh-ins and tweak by 100–200 kcal.

For most adults, maintenance falls around 14–16 calories per pound (30–35 kcal/kg) of body weight, adjusted for age, height, sex, and activity.

Maintenance calories equal your TDEE: estimate BMR (Mifflin–St Jeor) and multiply by activity, or start with 25–35 kcal per kg per day.

Maintenance calories equal your TDEE: estimate using BMR × activity; a quick rule is body weight (lb)×14–17 or (kg)×30–37 kcal/day.

Weight loss calories per month: A safe target is 8,000–30,000 kcal total deficit for about 2–8 lb (1–4 kg), built from 500–1,000 kcal daily cuts.

For steady weight loss, aim for a monthly calorie deficit of about 15,000–30,000, built from a daily gap of 500–1,000 using a mix of activity and intake

A weekly deficit of about 3,500–7,000 calories helps lose around 1–2 lb (0.45–0.9 kg) at a steady pace without crash dieting.

For fast weight loss, set about 8–12 calories per pound of goal weight per day; a calculator then fine-tunes that by age, sex, height, and activity.

Use BMR × activity, then subtract 300–500 kcal; that daily target from the weight loss calculator trims about 0.25–0.5 kg per week.