This BMR calculator and TDEE calculator will help you determine how many calories you need to eat daily to lose weight. As a registered dietitian specializing in weight loss, I recommend calorie tracking as the first step when attempting to lose weight. It’s also helpful for when you hit a weight loss plateau or struggle with weight regain.

BMR Calculator 

BMR stands for basal metabolic rate, the number of calories you burn at rest (not doing anything except lying around). This BMR accounts for the number of calories your body needs 24 hours each day for your body to function (lungs to breathe, heart to beat, kidneys to filter, etc). Use the BMR calculator below first, and then take the resulting number and enter it into the TDEE calculator.

TDEE Calculator 

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure, the number of calories your body burns over 24 hours. It includes BMR, all energy expended from exercise and non-exercise activities, as well as the thermic effect of food (the calories your body burns to break down and digest your food). Use this TDEE calculator to determine the estimated number of calories you burn daily. Start with the BMR that was calculated above and enter an activity factor (determined by frequency and intensity of exercise). 

Activity Factors

• Sedentary (1.2): Little to no structured exercise, mostly sitting (desk job, driving, household tasks only).
• Lightly Active (1.375): Light exercise or sports 1–3 days per week, includes activities like casual walking, light yoga, or short workouts.
• Moderately Active (1.55): Moderate exercise or sports 3–5 days per week, could be regular gym sessions, running a few times a week, or an active job.
• Very Active (1.725): Hard exercise or sports 6–7 days per week or a physically demanding job like landscaping, construction, etc.
• Extra Active (1.9): Very hard daily exercise plus a physically demanding job, examples: athletes in training, or people doing intense workouts twice a day.

This will then give you the number of calories you need daily to maintain your weight. Subtract 500 calories per day from that to get an appropriate calorie target, which would lead to about 1 pound per week of weight loss. 

• Calorie deficit of 250 calories per day = ½ pound of weight loss per week
• Calorie deficit of 500 calories per day = 1 pound of weight loss per week (recommended)
• Calorie deficit of 750 calories per day = 1 ½ pounds of weight loss per week 

*I strongly recommend not going below 1200 calories per day as a woman and not below 1500 calories per day as a man. It’s challenging to get your nutritional needs in with that few calories (protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals). 

Calorie Deficit Recommendations

If you would like to speed up your rate of weight loss, increase your calorie expenditure with increased exercise in lieu of further decreasing calorie intake. Losing weight at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week is strongly recommended for lasting weight loss. Pushing this to a weight loss of 3 pounds per week is doable in some cases.

Troubleshooting 

Most people who start on a calorie deficit will start losing weight within the first week or two. This is great, and they can continue at this calorie deficit for as long as they need to reach their weight loss goals. For others, they may need to fine-tune things even further. The next best step is to dial in your macronutrient ratios. Then check out all the ideas I share on Instagram based on my experience working with thousands of clients over the years.

And if you’re looking for something built for busy, tired, real-life moms, I’ve got the perfect thing! Grab my free guide: 30-Minute Weight Loss System for Busy Moms. This helps you implement the systems you need for sustainable weight loss in just 30 minutes each week.