How Many Calories Do You Need Each Day To Lose Weight?

How Many Calories Do You Need Each Day To Lose Weight?

Daily Calorie Needs for Females

Important: these are averages and provide a guideline only.

Age/years	Sedentary	Low activity	High activity
2-3	1100	1250	1400
4-5	1200	1350	1500
6-7	1300	1500	1700
8-9	1400	1600	1850
10-11	1500	1800	2050
12-13	1700	2000	2250
14-16	1750	2100	2350
17-18	1750	2100	2400
19-30	1900	2100	2350
31-50	1800	2000	2250
51-70	1650	1850	2100
71+	1550	1750	2000

Daily Calorie Needs for Males

Age/years	Sedentary	Low activity	High activity
2-3	1100	1350	1500
4-5	1250	1450	1650
6-7	1400	1600	1800
8-9	1500	1750	2000
10-11	1700	2000	2300
12-13	1900	2250	2600
14-16	2300	2700	3100
17-18	2450	2900	3300
19-30	2500	2700	3000
31-50	2350	2600	2900
51-70	2150	2350	2650
71+	2000	2200	2500

How Many Calories Do You Need to Reduce By?

In weight loss studies carried out by health scientists, women who ate 1000 calories less than their daily requirement lost around 2 pounds per week. This is considered a healthy and sustainable level of weight loss. The same rule applies to men. So, how many calories should you be eating?

The following two tables show the average calories requirements for males and females at various ages for varying levels of activity, i.e. sedentary (no exercise, rarely active), low activity (walking, housework, some play) and high activity (regular exercise, generally more active in work and life).

This is a general guide to the amount of calories you need to be in deficit to lose a specific amount of weight:

• If you are in a deficit of 500 calories per day you will lose approximately 1 pound per week
• A calorie deficit of 750 calories will help you lose about 1.5 pounds per week
• A calorie deficit of 1000 calories will help you lose about 2 pounds per week (about 1 kg weight loss per week)
• To lose 20 pounds in a year you will need to eat 200 calories less per day than you were eating when your weight was stable
• To lose 20 pounds in 1 month you would need to eat 2400 calories less per day (this is why very overweight people who have been eating around 4000 calories per day can lose weight quicker than lighter people, as they can reduce their intake by 2400 calories per day and still eat enough to sustain themselves).