How this is calculated
Two steps. First your BMR — Basal Metabolic Rate — which is what your body burns doing nothing at all: breathing, pumping blood, keeping your brain running. For most women that is somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 calories before a single step is taken.
Then your BMR is multiplied by an activity factor to give TDEE, your total daily burn. Eat at your TDEE and weight holds steady. Eat consistently below it and you lose.
The underlying formula is Mifflin-St Jeor, which is the most accurate of the commonly used equations — though still an estimate, and capable of being out by 10 to 15 percent for any particular person.
Pick your activity level honestly
This is where almost every calorie calculation goes wrong. People choose "moderately active" because it sounds like a reasonable description of themselves, and end up with a target a few hundred calories too high.
| Level | What it actually means |
|---|---|
| Sedentary | Desk job, mostly sitting, little deliberate exercise |
| Lightly active | Desk job plus exercise 1–3 days a week |
| Moderately active | Exercise 3–5 days a week, or on your feet most of the day |
| Very active | Hard exercise 6–7 days a week |
| Extremely active | Physical job plus daily training |
If you are between two levels, take the lower one. It is far easier to add food later than to work out why three months produced nothing.
How big a deficit?
A deficit of roughly 500 calories a day produces about half a kilo of loss a week. That is the sweet spot for most people — enough to see progress, small enough to live with.
Larger deficits are tempting and usually counterproductive. They cost you muscle alongside fat, leave you exhausted and irritable, and become impossible to maintain, which is why they end in the same place every time.
Do not go below about 1,200 calories a day as an adult woman without medical supervision. Below that it is genuinely difficult to get enough protein, iron, calcium and B12, and the deficiencies cost more than the speed is worth.
Protein matters more than the exact calorie number
If you only change one thing, make it protein. In a deficit it is what preserves muscle, and it is also the most filling of the three macronutrients by a wide margin — which makes the deficit itself easier to sustain.
Aim for roughly 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight. For a 65kg woman that is around 104 grams a day, which is considerably more than a typical Indian vegetarian diet provides by default.
Practical sources: dal and rajma, paneer, curd and Greek yoghurt, eggs, chicken and fish, soya chunks, roasted chana, peanuts, and a whey or plant protein supplement if you are struggling to close the gap.
If you'd rather not count
Counting calories accurately with home-cooked Indian food is genuinely hard. Portions are served rather than weighed, oil varies by dish and cook, and nobody is going to weigh three rotis every night for six months.
Scoring behaviours instead gets you to the same deficit with none of the arithmetic. Our weight loss tracker rates your walking, snacking and carbs out of 210 each day, which takes about fifteen seconds — short enough that you will still be doing it in six months.
Recalculate as you go
Your TDEE falls as you lose weight, because a smaller body costs less to run. Recalculate every five kilos or so, otherwise the deficit you set at the start quietly becomes maintenance.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories should a woman eat to lose weight?
There is no single number — it depends on your height, weight, age and how active you are. A reasonable target is around 500 calories below your maintenance level, which produces roughly half a kilo of loss per week. Most adult women should not drop below about 1,200 calories a day without medical supervision.
What is TDEE?
Total Daily Energy Expenditure: everything you burn in a day. It is your BMR, the energy needed just to keep you alive, multiplied by an activity factor that accounts for movement and exercise. Eat at your TDEE and your weight stays stable.
Which activity level should I pick?
Most people overestimate. If you have a desk job and exercise two or three times a week, that is lightly active, not moderately active. A good rule is to pick the level you think applies and then choose the one below it — then adjust after a few weeks based on what the scale actually does.
How accurate is this calculator?
It uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is the most accurate of the widely used formulas, but it is still an estimate that can be out by 10 to 15 percent for any individual. Treat the result as a starting point, then adjust based on real-world results over two to three weeks.
Do I have to count calories to lose weight?
No. Counting works for some people and is unsustainable for many others, particularly with Indian home food where portions are served rather than weighed. Changing behaviours — walking more, snacking less, moderating carbs — produces the same deficit without the arithmetic.
Why am I not losing weight even in a deficit?
Usually because the deficit is smaller than it looks. Cooking oil, chai with sugar, a few bites while cooking and weekend meals all add up and are easy to under-count. It can also be water retention masking real fat loss. Give any change three full weeks before judging it.
Medical disclaimer: this calculator gives a general estimate using standard population formulas. It is not medical advice and cannot account for your individual health, medication or body composition. Please speak to a qualified doctor or registered dietitian before making significant changes — especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or managing a health condition. See the full disclaimer.