Weight Loss Calculator

Reaching a target weight comes down to how many calories you eat relative to how many you burn, and this calculator translates that balance into a daily intake figure and a rough timeline. Pinning down your caloric needs is what separates steady, lasting progress from the cycle of losing and regaining. With an intake target in hand, you can set goals you can actually hold to and watch the trend line move through 2026 rather than guessing.

The engine behind the estimate is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which calculates your Basal Metabolic Rate, the calories your body spends simply staying alive at rest. Multiplying that BMR by an activity factor produces your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE. From there, a deficit of 500-750 calories per day maps to losing roughly 1-1.5 pounds per week, the pace 2026 health guidelines endorse because it lets your body adjust gradually instead of triggering a metabolic slowdown.

Treat the output as a starting estimate rather than a fixed prescription, since metabolism, genetics, and underlying health conditions all push individual results in different directions. Cutting calories far below the recommended deficit tends to backfire, opening the door to nutrient gaps and muscle loss that undermine the very progress you are after. Building meals around whole, unprocessed foods and staying physically active does more for long-term health than the scale alone ever captures.