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Cutting Calorie Target Calculator

Enter your TDEE and weekly fat loss goal.

How it is calculated

You enter your maintenance calories (TDEE, kcal per day) and a weekly fat-loss goal in pounds. The tool assumes each pound of fat equals 3,500 kcal: weekly deficit = pounds × 3500, daily deficit = weekly deficit ÷ 7, and target = TDEE − daily deficit. All three figures are shown rounded to whole kcal. As a safety limit, the tool gives no result if the target would fall below 1,000 kcal/day, and both inputs must be above zero. Kilograms are not accepted as such: convert first (1 kg ≈ 2.2 lb).

Worked example

Someone with a TDEE of 2,300 kcal/day wants to lose 1.5 lb a week. Weekly deficit = 1.5 × 3500 = 5,250 kcal. Spread over seven days that is 5,250 ÷ 7 = 750 kcal per day. The target is 2,300 − 750 = 1,550 kcal. The tool therefore shows a target of 1,550 kcal, a daily deficit of 750 kcal and a weekly deficit of 5,250 kcal.

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Common mistakes

  • Typing the weekly goal in kilograms. A value of 0.5 is read as half a pound, giving a 250 kcal deficit, not the roughly 550 kcal a half-kilo goal (about 1.1 lb) would need.
  • Entering your resting calorie burn (BMR) instead of TDEE. The deficit is taken off whatever you type, so using BMR leaves the target far too low.
  • Aiming for a large weekly loss on a low TDEE. With a TDEE of 1,500, 1 lb a week gives exactly 1,000 kcal, and 1.2 lb a week would drop below the limit so no result is shown.
  • Treating 3,500 kcal per pound as exact. It is a rule of thumb, so actual loss varies and the figure works best as a starting point to adjust from your own weekly weigh-ins.
  • Forgetting that TDEE changes as you lose weight. Recalculate it after a few kilos rather than keeping the same target for months.

Sources

About this calculator

A cutting calorie target is the daily intake used during a fat-loss phase: your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) minus a deficit sized to your weekly fat-loss goal. The math leans on the classic rule of thumb that one pound of body fat holds about 3,500 kcal (roughly 7,700 kcal per kilogram), so losing 1 lb a week means eating about 500 kcal less than TDEE every day, and 1.5 lb a week means about 750 kcal less.

Coaches and dieters generally keep the deficit in the 500–750 kcal/day range — steep enough to see weekly progress but shallow enough to preserve muscle, energy, and hormone balance. This calculator is a staple for people actively dieting, as well as for bodybuilders and physique coaches planning a structured "cut" phase after a muscle-building bulk. Hall et al. (Lancet, 2011) showed that this static rule overstates long-run change, because energy expenditure adapts as weight changes, so over months real change is slower than this projection.

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  • Editorial team

    Your TDEE input is usually an estimate, so the target is only as good as it is. A sensible check is to follow it for two or three weeks and compare weekly average body weight with the pace you planned. If the trend is off, the usual fix is to revise the TDEE you enter rather than trust the formula blindly. Remember the weekly goal is in pounds, so convert kilograms first. How did your actual weekly change compare with the plan?

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