How many calories per day should I eat to lose weight?

Let’s start off by learning what it takes to lose a pound. A pound of body fat equals approximately 3500 calories. So, in order to lose one pound in a week’s time you will have to lower your daily caloric intake by 500 calories:
500 calories x 7 days in a week = 3,500 calories
Use this figure to keep your goals realistic. Any diet touting that you will lose 10lbs in a week is not healthy and unrealistic for the majority of people. On most of those diets the weight you lose is water weight, which you start to gain back the second you take a sip of water. Two to five pounds of fat loss a week is about the most you want to lose.

How Many Calories To Lose Weight

As stated before, in order to lose weight, no matter what diet you follow, you need to create a calorie deficit. In other words, eat fewer calories than you burn and/or exercise to burn more calories. But just how many calories should you cut from your diet? Figure out how many calories you are currently eating per day by recording your caloric intake for a few days or by simply multiplying your current body weight by 14 if you’re a woman and 15 if you’re a man.  Now reduce that amount by approximately 15%.

Current daily caloric intake X 15% = Amount of daily calories to cut

For example, if you are eating 3000 calories a day, the amount you are taking in to maintain your current weight, you should reduce this number by 15% by eating 450 fewer calories per day.

3000 calories X 15% = 450 calories to cut from daily diet

Another possible option is to burn 450 more calories per day through exercise. For optimal results you will want to combine a proper diet with regular physical activity.  Learn more about how many calories you should consume by downloading our free low calorie diet plan.
As you can see, cutting out 450 calories a day is almost a pound of weight per week. And of course, 15% is a middle ground number. If you are comfortable cutting 20% of your daily calories out of your diet then go ahead. Just don’t overdo it. Cutting too many calories can possibly lead to losing muscle mass instead of fat, may lower your metabolism and create other health problems. Plus, it’s hard to keep up for an extended period of time.  If you really want to lose more calories in a day try combining exercise with your diet. That will give your weight loss the one, two punch.