One of the most common questions clients ask is, “How many calories should I eat?” The truth is, there’s no perfect number—just a smart starting point and a process for refining it.
Your calorie target is simply an educated estimate based on your body weight, activity level, and goal. From there, you track for a week, assess the results, and adjust.
Let’s break down how to do it correctly.
1. Use Current Body Weight to Estimate Calories
For most people, the best starting point is based on current body weight, not ideal body weight. Your current weight reflects your true energy needs—especially if you’re moderately active.
The general calorie ranges are:
- 10–12 calories per pound → Fat loss phase (deficit)
- 13–15 calories per pound → Maintenance
- 15–17+ calories per pound → Muscle gain (surplus)
Example:
A 170-pound client who wants to lose fat might start around 1,700–2,000 calories per day (10–12×170).
For someone significantly overweight (40+ lbs over a healthy target), use a midpoint between their current and goal weights to prevent underestimating lean tissue needs.
2. Adjust for Activity Level
Your step count, cardio frequency, and training intensity all influence calorie needs.
Here’s how to fine-tune your starting point:
- Under 8,000 steps/day or minimal cardio: Use the low end of the range.
- 8,000–12,000 steps/day (moderate activity): Start in the middle of the range.
- 12,000+ steps/day or frequent cardio: Use the high end of the range.
This ensures your estimate matches your true daily movement—not just gym workouts.
3. Track Accurately for 7–10 Days
Once you’ve chosen your starting calorie level, the next step is data collection. Track your daily intake and body weight for 7–10 days without changing anything.
At the end of that period:
- If weight is stable: You’ve found maintenance calories.
- If weight is dropping: You’re in a calorie deficit (fat loss range).
- If weight is increasing: You’re in a calorie surplus (muscle gain range).
You can then fine-tune intake by adjusting 150–250 calories at a time, depending on your goal.
4. Reassess and Adjust
This process works because it’s evidence-based, not emotion-based. Don’t make daily changes—look for weekly trends.
General guidelines:
- For fat loss → aim to lose ~0.5–1.0% of your body weight per week.
- For muscle gain → aim to gain ~0.25–0.5% of body weight per week.
- For maintenance → small fluctuations (1–2 lbs) are normal.
Adjust calories only when progress stalls for at least 7–10 days.
5. Remember: It’s Just the Starting Point
Every metabolism is unique. The initial number is a calculated guess, but what matters is how your body responds.
By combining this method with accurate tracking and honest feedback, you’ll quickly dial in the right calorie level for your goals—and never need to “guess” again.
Key Takeaways
- Start with 10–12x body weight for fat loss, 13–15x for maintenance, and 15–17+ for muscle gain.
- Use current body weight for most, or a midpoint if significantly overweight.
- Adjust for activity—fewer steps means lower intake, high movement means higher.
- Track 7–10 days, then adjust based on real results, not feelings.
Coach’s Note: For Advanced Readers
If you want to take a deeper dive into calorie estimation, here are a few finer points worth knowing:
- The calorie multipliers above (10–12 for fat loss, 13–15 for maintenance, 15–17+ for muscle gain) estimate total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) — not just resting metabolism. They already include normal daily movement.
- For clients with higher body fat levels, calorie needs can be slightly inflated when using total body weight. In those cases, it’s more accurate to use a midpoint between current and goal weight, since lean tissue drives most energy use.
- Use weekly averages for weigh-ins instead of daily numbers to smooth out normal water fluctuations.
- Advanced coaches may also cross-check calorie estimates using predictive formulas like Mifflin-St Jeor or Katch-McArdle, then apply an activity multiplier — but this often lands in the same range as the simple bodyweight method used above.
The bottom line: these formulas are all educated estimates. Real-world tracking over 7–10 days always provides the most accurate data for fine-tuning your calorie target.