Simply enter you current weight, your goal weight and the time in which you wish to achieve the weight loss and click calculate (use this BMR calculator to determine your baseline daily calorie needs).
This calculator assumes that all your weight loss is fat loss. Alas, during weight loss people often lose water weight (especially if crash dieting) and muscle mass in addition to body fat. However, if you are following the above guidelines and exercising (cardio and weights), you are probably losing mostly fat and gaining muscle (this will speed up metabolism). In this case, the calculator may underestimate your fat loss because you have added muscle weight. This is why scales are an unreliable tool in measuring your fat loss progress.
Minimum Daily Calorie Requirements
- For optimal weight loss reduce your calories to 15 – 20% below maintenance (use the calorie calculator to find out what is should be).
- Reduce by at least 500 calories, but no more than 1000.
- Do not go below 1200 calories a day for women and 1800 for men or 1000 calories below maintenance level.
- Aim for 1-2 lbs of weight loss per week. If you lose weight any faster than this, it is unlikely to be FAT loss.
- Find out your approximate ideal weight, BMI or body fat percentage here.
Isn’t this pretty much useless without telling people what their BMR is? My daily deficit is 747, which, in the absence of a baseline BMR, basically tells me I need to take in -747 calories per day to hit my goal.
Ryan,
There is a link to a BMR calculator to determine your daily calorie needs. Here’s the link again: BMR calculator