How Many Calories Should I Eat? Targets for Loss, Maintenance & Gain

Step one: know your TDEE

Everything starts with your total daily energy expenditure: the calories you burn in 24 hours. If you do not know yours, calculate it free with your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level, or learn to calculate TDEE by hand. All three targets below are offsets from that one number.

Target 1: fat loss, eat 300 to 500 below TDEE

One pound of body fat stores about 3,500 calories, so a 500 calorie daily deficit adds up to roughly one pound of fat loss per week. That is the standard, sustainable rate. A 300 calorie deficit loses about 0.6 pounds per week and is easier to live with; a 750 calorie deficit loses about 1.5 pounds per week and suits short, planned pushes.

Two worked examples. The 35 year old man from our guides (TDEE 2720) eats 2720 - 500 = 2220 calories per day for about a pound a week of fat loss. The 28 year old woman (TDEE 1829) eats 1829 - 500 = 1329 calories per day.

Two fat-loss rules that matter more than the exact number. First, keep protein high, around 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of body weight daily, to protect muscle. Second, keep lifting weights. A deficit without resistance training loses noticeably more muscle. This is general fitness education, not medical advice: if you have a health condition, talk to a clinician before dieting. Our terms cover the limits of what this site provides.

Target 2: maintenance, eat at TDEE

Eat at your TDEE and your weight should stay roughly stable. Maintenance is the unsung hero of nutrition: it is how you hold results between dieting phases, and it is where most people should spend most of their time.

The practical trick is that nobody hits TDEE exactly every day. Aim for the weekly average: seven days at your TDEE target. Weigh yourself two or three mornings a week and watch the trend over two to four weeks. If the trend is flat, your TDEE estimate is accurate. If it drifts up or down, adjust by 100 to 200 calories.

Target 3: muscle gain, eat 250 to 500 above TDEE

To build muscle, you need a small surplus: enough extra energy to grow, but not so much that most of the gain is fat. For most people, 250 to 350 calories above TDEE is the sweet spot. Larger or newer lifters can use up to 500.

Our examples: the man at TDEE 2720 eats about 2720 + 350 = 3070 calories per day to gain. The woman at TDEE 1829 eats about 1829 + 300 = 2129. Expect roughly 0.25 to 0.5 pounds of total weight gain per week; faster than that usually means the surplus is too big.

Just like fat loss, the number only works with training. A surplus without progressive resistance training becomes mostly fat. A surplus with lifting and high protein becomes mostly muscle.

The cutting vs bulking decision

Cut first if you have meaningful fat to lose, roughly above 20 percent body fat for men or 30 percent for women. A deficit reveals the muscle you have and makes the eventual muscle-gain phase far more productive. Bulk first if you are already lean and your goal is size and strength. One phase at a time, 8 to 16 weeks each, with maintenance breaks between: that rhythm beats trying to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously, which works only for beginners.

When your numbers stop working

TDEE is not permanent. It falls as you lose weight, because a lighter body costs less energy to run, and it can dip during long diets as the body adapts by moving less. If fat loss stalls for two full weeks, do not slash calories by 500: trim 100 to 200, or add a daily 30 minute walk, which raises TDEE without touching food. Recalculate your TDEE from scratch after every 10 pounds of change in either direction.