How Many Calories Should I Eat

Your Calorie Number is Simpler Than You Think

To figure out how many calories you should eat, you don’t need a complex calculator that asks for your shoe size; just multiply your current bodyweight in pounds by 14. This simple number is your estimated daily maintenance calories. You’ve probably felt the frustration of using five different online calculators and getting five different answers-2,150, 2,400, 1,980. It’s paralyzing. They make you feel like you need a science degree to figure this out, but the truth is, all those calculators are just making an educated guess. Our goal isn't to find a perfect, magical number on day one. It's to find a reliable starting point that we can adjust based on real-world results. For a 180-pound person, the starting point is 2,520 calories (180 x 14). This is your 'maintenance' level-the energy required to maintain your current weight with moderate activity. For the next week, your only job is to eat this number. Don't try to lose weight. Don't try to gain it. We are gathering data. This single step removes all the guesswork and puts you back in control. It’s the foundation for everything that follows.

The 500-Calorie Gap: The Only Math That Matters for Fat Loss

Fat loss isn't about eating 'clean' foods or avoiding carbs after 6 PM. It’s about a simple energy balance equation governed by a 500-calorie gap. A pound of body fat contains approximately 3,500 calories of stored energy. To lose one pound of fat, you must create a cumulative deficit of 3,500 calories. By creating a 500-calorie deficit each day (500 calories x 7 days), you create a 3,500-calorie deficit per week, resulting in one pound of predictable fat loss. This is non-negotiable. The biggest mistake people make is getting impatient and creating a massive deficit, like 1,000 calories or more. While this causes rapid weight loss initially, it’s a trap. Your body responds to this perceived starvation by shedding precious muscle mass and slowing your metabolism, making future fat loss harder. A sustainable 500-calorie deficit protects muscle and keeps your metabolism from crashing. For muscle gain, the logic is reversed. You need a modest surplus of 250-300 calories above maintenance. This provides the necessary fuel to build new muscle tissue without adding significant body fat. Anything more than a 300-calorie surplus will primarily be stored as fat. The 500-calorie gap for loss and 300-calorie surplus for gain are the guardrails that ensure you’re changing your body composition, not just chasing a number on the scale.

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The 3-Step Protocol to Find Your True Calorie Target

This isn't a guess; it's a personal experiment to find the exact number your body responds to. Follow these three steps precisely, and you'll know your true calorie target for fat loss or muscle gain within two weeks. No more confusion.

Step 1: Calculate Your Starting Point (The Baseline Week)

Your first task is to establish your personal maintenance baseline. Forget the generic calculators. For the next 7 days, you will eat a specific number of calories without trying to lose or gain weight. This tells us how your body uniquely responds.

• The Formula: Your Current Bodyweight (in pounds) x 15.
• Example: If you weigh 200 pounds, your starting calorie target is 200 x 15 = 3,000 calories per day.
• The Action: For 7 consecutive days, eat 3,000 calories. Use an app like MyFitnessPal or Carbon to track your intake. Be as consistent as possible. Weigh yourself on the morning of Day 1 and the morning of Day 8. Do it right after you wake up, after using the bathroom, and before eating or drinking anything. This consistency is critical.

Step 2: Analyze the Data and Make the First Cut

After 7 days, your scale will tell you the truth. Your weight on Day 8 compared to Day 1 dictates your next move. There are only three possible outcomes:

• Scenario A: Your weight stayed the same (within 1 pound). Congratulations, your baseline calculation was accurate. Your maintenance is 3,000 calories.
• For Fat Loss: Subtract 500 calories. Your new daily target is 2,500.
• For Muscle Gain: Add 300 calories. Your new daily target is 3,300.
• Scenario B: Your weight went up by more than 1 pound. This means your actual maintenance is lower than calculated. Your body runs more efficiently. Subtract 250 from your baseline. Your true maintenance is 2,750.
• For Fat Loss: Subtract 500 from this new number. Your daily target is 2,250.
• Scenario C: Your weight went down by more than 1 pound. This means your actual maintenance is higher. Your metabolism runs faster. Add 250 to your baseline. Your true maintenance is 3,250.
• For Fat Loss: Subtract 500 from this new number. Your daily target is 2,750.

Step 3: The 2-Week Rule for All Future Adjustments

Now you have your first real target for fat loss or muscle gain. You must give it time to work. Your body weight fluctuates daily due to water, salt, and digestion. Looking at the scale every day will drive you crazy. You need to follow the 2-week rule.

• The Action: Stick to your new calorie target from Step 2 every single day for 14 days. Continue weighing yourself daily, but only pay attention to the weekly average. To get the average, add up your daily weigh-ins for the week and divide by 7.
• The Check-In: At the end of 2 weeks, compare your average weight from week 2 to your average weight from week 1.
• If you're losing 0.5-1.5 pounds per week: Do not change anything. This is the sweet spot for sustainable fat loss. Keep going.
• If you're losing less than 0.5 pounds per week: Your body has adapted. Reduce your daily calories by another 150-200 and repeat the 2-week process.
• If you're losing more than 2 pounds per week (after the initial first week): You're likely losing muscle. Add 100-150 calories back in to slow the rate of loss.

This adjustment cycle is how you guarantee progress long-term. You follow a plan until it stops working, make one small, calculated adjustment, and repeat.

What to Expect: Your First 30 Days of Tracking

Knowing the numbers is one thing; knowing what it feels like day-to-day is another. The first month is the hardest because your body is adjusting. Here is the reality of what you will experience so you are not caught off guard.

• Week 1: The 'Whoosh' and the Hunger. The first week on a calorie-controlled plan, especially one lower in carbs and sodium, will cause a rapid drop of 3-5 pounds on the scale. This is almost entirely water weight, not fat. Do not get overly excited and expect this every week. You will also feel hungrier than usual as your body adjusts to a lower volume of food. This is normal. Push through it; it gets easier by week two.
• Weeks 2-4: The Grind and the Real Results. After the initial water drop, fat loss will slow to the target rate of 0.5 to 1.5 pounds per week. This is where the real, sustainable progress happens. Some days the scale won't move at all, or it might even go up a pound. This is normal fluctuation. You must learn to ignore the daily noise and trust the weekly average. This period tests your patience, but it's where the actual fat is burned.
• The First Plateau (Around Week 4-6): At some point, progress will stall. You'll follow your plan perfectly, but the weekly average weight won't drop for two consecutive weeks. This is not a failure; it is an expected biological adaptation. Your body has become more efficient at the lower calorie intake. This is the moment you use the tool from Section 3: make a small reduction of 150-200 calories and continue. This is how you break through plateaus and continue making progress for months, not just weeks.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Role of Protein and Macros

Calories determine if you lose or gain weight, but macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) determine what that weight is made of (muscle vs. fat). To preserve muscle in a deficit, set protein first. Aim for 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. A 200lb person should eat 160-200g of protein. Fill your remaining calories with carbs and fats.

"Cheat Meals" vs. Calorie Cycling

A single high-calorie meal won't ruin your week if your total weekly calories are on track. A more structured approach is a "refeed day." Once every 7-10 days, increase your calories back to your maintenance level (from Step 1), with the increase coming primarily from carbohydrates. This can help with psychological adherence and performance.

Calorie Accuracy in Foods and Apps

Food labels are legally allowed a 20% margin of error, and tracking apps are only as good as the data entered. Do not obsess over hitting your target to the exact calorie. Focus on consistency. If you are consistently tracking and your weight is trending in the right direction, your numbers are working, even if they aren't 100% perfect.

Adjusting Calories for Exercise

Do not "eat back" the calories your fitness watch claims you burned. Those devices are notoriously inaccurate, often overestimating by 30-50%. The initial formula (Bodyweight x 14-16) already accounts for an active lifestyle. Stick to your calculated calorie target regardless of your workout. Your results will be far more predictable.

What to Do When You Go Over Your Calories

If you have a day where you eat 500 calories over your target, the worst thing you can do is try to "fix" it by eating 500 fewer calories the next day. This creates a binge-and-restrict cycle. Simply accept it and get right back on your plan with the next scheduled meal. One day of overeating is irrelevant in the context of 30 days of consistency.