# How Many Calories Should I Eat to Lose Weight?

> To lose weight, eat about 500 calories below your maintenance (TDEE) for roughly 1 lb per week. Here's how to find your number and make it stick.

_Published 2026-06-28 · By LensNutra Team · LensNutra_
_Canonical: https://lensnutra.com/blog/how-many-calories-to-lose-weight_

To lose weight, eat about **500 calories per day below your maintenance level**, which produces roughly **1 pound of fat loss per week**. Your maintenance level (TDEE) depends on your size, age, sex and activity — so the exact number is personal. Here's how to find it and, more importantly, how to actually hit it.

## Step 1: Find your maintenance calories (TDEE)

Your **Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)** is how many calories you burn in a day. It's built from two parts:

- **BMR** — the calories you burn at rest, estimated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation from your weight, height, age and sex.
- **Activity multiplier** — from 1.2 (sedentary) up to 1.9 (very active), covering movement, exercise and digestion.

TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier. You can get your number in a few seconds with our [free calorie & TDEE calculator](/tools/calorie-calculator).

## Step 2: Subtract a sensible deficit

Once you know maintenance, create a deficit:

| Deficit per day | Approx. weekly loss |
| --- | --- |
| 250 kcal | ~0.5 lb |
| 500 kcal | ~1 lb |
| 750–1,000 kcal | ~1.5–2 lb |

A **500-calorie deficit** is the classic starting point — meaningful progress without feeling starved. More aggressive deficits work faster but are harder to sustain and can cost you muscle.

### About the "3,500 calories = 1 pound" rule

You'll see this everywhere. It's a useful rule of thumb, but a simplification, not a law of physics. As you lose weight your metabolism adapts and your maintenance drops, so loss usually slows over time. Expect that, and adjust rather than panic.

## Step 3: Don't go too low

Very low intakes backfire — more muscle loss, more hunger, worse adherence. As a general floor, most adults shouldn't drop below **1,200 calories (women)** or **1,500 calories (men)** without medical supervision. Slower and sustainable beats fast and miserable.

## Step 4: Protein and consistency do the heavy lifting

Two things make a deficit actually work:

- **Enough protein** — it preserves muscle in a deficit and keeps you full. Aim for roughly 1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight. See [how to track macros](/blog/how-to-track-macros).
- **Consistency** — your *average* intake over weeks is what changes your body. One high day won't undo a good week; a good week won't survive a chaotic month.

## Step 5: Track without the friction

The reason most people fail isn't the math — it's the daily effort of logging. That's where a photo-based tracker helps: snap your meal, and [LensNutra](/features/ai-food-scanner) logs the calories against your goal so you always know how much you have left. Pair it with a smoothed [weight trend](/features/weight-progress-tracker) so a single water-weight spike doesn't derail you.

## The bottom line

Find your TDEE, subtract about 500 calories, prioritize protein, and stay consistent. Do that, and steady weight loss is close to inevitable.

[Calculate your calorie target now](/tools/calorie-calculator), then let LensNutra track it for you.