Daily calorie estimate

Mifflin-St Jeor by default, same activity multipliers as typical TDEE calculators. Faster weekly rates are shown as math, not as a recommendation.

BMR formula

Results

BMR

Maintain

Min recommended

Custom weekly rate

lb/week

—

Calories/day

Zigzag calorie cycling

Same weekly total as a flat diet, with high and low days so intake is not identical every day.

Schedule 1: two high days, five low days

Schedule 2: gradual up and down

If you keep eating at maintenance

Estimated extra weekly loss from raising activity while still eating the current maintain calories.

How this is calculated

BMR is calories at rest. Maintenance multiplies BMR by an activity factor. A pound of body weight is treated as about 3,500 calories, so 0.5 lb/week is a 250 calorie daily gap, 1 lb/week is 500, and 2 lb/week is 1,000.

Mifflin-St Jeor (men): 10W + 6.25H - 5A + 5
Mifflin-St Jeor (women): 10W + 6.25H - 5A - 161
Harris-Benedict (men): 13.397W + 4.799H - 5.677A + 88.362
Harris-Benedict (women): 9.247W + 3.098H - 4.330A + 447.593
Katch-McArdle: 370 + 21.6(1 - F)W
W = kg, H = cm, A = age, F = body fat as a fraction

Harvard Health suggests at least 1,500 calories/day for men and 1,200 for women unless a doctor is supervising. Going lower than that, or trying to lose more than 2 lb/week, can drop metabolism, burn muscle, and is not a good idea to do on your own.