Weight Loss Time by Daily Calorie Intake
How long 90 kg to 80 kg takes at every intake from 1,400 to 2,350 calories, and the weight each intake eventually settles at. The second column is the one worth reading first: this person's maintenance at 80 kg is 2,375 calories, so an intake above that settles higher than the goal and never arrives, however patient you are.
Source data and formula checked · How we check
Weight Loss Time by Daily Calorie Intake reads goal reached on straight off daily calories eaten, for 14 values from 1400 to 2350. Every row is computed from the same formula the calculator uses, not measured or copied from another table, so a value between two rows can be worked out the same way. The formula is the one published by Hall KD, Chow CC. Why is the 3500 kcal per pound weight loss rule wrong? Int J Obes 2013;37:1614.
A 38-year-old man of 178 cm, lightly active, going from 90 kg to 80 kg. Accounts for the deficit shrinking as the weight falls; does not model adaptation beyond that.
| Daily calories eaten (kcal/day) | Goal reached on | Weeks to the goal | Weight this intake eventually maintains |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1400 | Sat, October 31, 2026 | 10.55 weeks | 9.07 kg |
| 1500 | Sun, November 8, 2026 | 11.67 weeks | 16.34 kg |
| 1600 | Tue, November 17, 2026 | 13.06 weeks | 23.61 kg |
| 1700 | Mon, November 30, 2026 | 14.83 weeks | 30.89 kg |
| 1800 | Wed, December 16, 2026 | 17.14 weeks | 38.16 kg |
| 1900 | Thu, January 7, 2027 | 20.33 weeks | 45.43 kg |
| 2000 | Tue, February 9, 2027 | 24.97 weeks | 52.7 kg |
| 2050 | Wed, March 3, 2027 | 28.2 weeks | 56.34 kg |
| 2100 | Fri, April 2, 2027 | 32.41 weeks | 59.98 kg |
| 2150 | Wed, May 12, 2027 | 38.11 weeks | 63.61 kg |
| 2200 | Thu, July 8, 2027 | 46.32 weeks | 67.25 kg |
| 2250 | Thu, October 7, 2027 | 59.25 weeks | 70.89 kg |
| 2300 | Wed, March 22, 2028 | 83.1 weeks | 74.52 kg |
| 2350 | Mon, June 25, 2029 | 148.9 weeks | 78.16 kg |
Questions people actually ask
- How do I read the Weight Loss Time by Daily Calorie Intake chart?
- Find your daily calories eaten in the first column and read across. At 1400 kcal/day the goal reached on is Sat, October 31, 2026; at 2350 kcal/day it is Mon, June 25, 2029. The table runs from 1400 kcal/day to 2350 kcal/day in 14 rows.
- Can I read between two rows?
- Not by splitting the difference. The goal reached on does not change by the same amount from row to row, so the midpoint of two rows is not the answer for the midpoint of two daily calories eaten values. Put the exact figure into the calculator instead — it uses the same formula that produced every row here.
- What if my daily calories eaten is outside the table?
- The chart covers 1400 kcal/day to 2350 kcal/day, which is the range people actually look up. Anything above or below goes into the calculator, which takes any figure and shows each step of the working rather than only the result. Open the weight loss timeline calculator.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- Every row is computed at build time from the formula published by Hall KD, Chow CC. Why is the 3500 kcal per pound weight loss rule wrong? Int J Obes 2013;37:1614, by the same code behind the calculator — not transcribed from another table, which is how a rounding error in one chart ends up in twenty.
Need a different number?
The chart covers the common values. For anything between the rows, the weight loss timeline calculator takes any figure and shows the working.
Source: Hall KD, Chow CC. Why is the 3500 kcal per pound weight loss rule wrong? Int J Obes 2013;37:1614, Hall KD. What is the required energy deficit per unit weight loss? Int J Obes 2008;32:573-6, Mifflin MD et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr 1990;51:241-7, NIDDK Body Weight Planner — the dynamic model this page approximates