Free tool
Calorie burndown chart generator
Pick a date or pick a deficit. We project the weight curve from today to goal and show you the daily calorie target needed to actually get there.
Required daily deficit
625
kcal/day — over 84 days (12.0 weeks)
- BMR
- 1758 kcal
- TDEE
- 2724 kcal
- Daily food budget
- 2099 kcal
- Total deficit to goal
- 52,500 kcal
- Time to goal
- 12.0 weeks
- Rate of loss
- 1.25 lb/week
Re-run this calculator every time you drop ~5% of your starting weight. TDEE shrinks with body mass, so a 500 kcal/day deficit early on becomes a 350 kcal/day deficit later. The CalBurndown app updates this continuously as you log weight.
Buy it back
Open the CalBurndown app to log 625 kcal and see what to walk, ruck, or stand to stay on budget.
Formula & assumptions
BMR uses the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, the most accurate predictive formula for resting metabolism in normal-BMI adults (~82% within 10% of measured RMR):
BMR_male = 10·W + 6.25·H − 5·A + 5 BMR_female = 10·W + 6.25·H − 5·A − 161 W = body weight (kg), H = height (cm), A = age (years)
TDEE = BMR × activity multiplier:
sedentary 1.20 (little to no exercise) light 1.375 (1–3 workouts / week) moderate 1.55 (3–5 workouts / week) active 1.725 (6–7 workouts / week) very active 1.90 (twice daily / hard labor)
Burndown math: 1 lb of stored fat ≈ 3,500 kcal of energy, so days to goal = (Δweight × 3,500) / daily_deficit. Required deficit = (Δweight × 3,500) / days_to_goal.
Caveat: real TDEE drops as you lose mass (a smaller body burns less), and metabolic adaptation slows things further. We use the static model on this page; re-run the calculator each time you drop ~5% of your starting weight to keep the deficit honest. The CalBurndown app does this automatically as your weight log updates.
References
Mifflin, M. D. et al. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51(2), 241–247.
Hall, K. D. (2008). What is the required energy deficit per unit weight loss? International Journal of Obesity, 32(3), 573–576.
NIDDK Body Weight Planner — public-domain reference implementation that adds metabolic adaptation to the Mifflin baseline. niddk.nih.gov/bwp