- For Weight LossDiscover meals designed with your goals in mind.
- For ConvenienceGet deliciously convenient meals made in minutes.
- For an Active LifestyleFuel your passion and performance.
- Home Care PackagesMeals designed for all appetites, made fresh and delicious.
- For NDIS ParticipantsMaintain your independence with delicious healthy meals.
- Customer Success StoriesBe inspired by our amazing customer success stories.
- Supporting Weight Loss MedicationsMaximise the effectiveness of medications for weight loss.
What is a Calorie Deficit Calculator?
The Lite n’ Easy Pack Recommender has a built-in Calorie Deficit Calculator used to recommend the best pack for you based on your goals.
Calorie Deficit Calculator
A Calorie is an amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of water by 1 degree Celsius. The Calorie is the unit of measure used to describe the energy content of food, and the energy cost of exercise. Australia uses the metric system, which means that kilojoules (kJ) are the official unit of measure for energy content. However, Calories are a smaller number, which means you will often see them used in Australia instead of kilojoules. 1200 Calories per day is a lot easier to track than 5,040kJ! To convert kilojoules to Calories, simply divide by 4.2.
When we consume food, energy is released, and used to fuel exercise and other biological processes. Any energy that isn’t used is stored, largely in the form of body fat. This is how weight gain occurs – by consuming more Calories than we need to maintain our current body weight. To achieve weight loss, we need to consume fewer Calories than we burn. This causes our body to break down its fat stores to release the energy needed to fuel all necessary bodily functions. This is known as a “Calorie deficit”.
Understanding your energy requirements
Our body’s Calorie needs are affected by many factors including our weight, height, age, sex, and activity levels. There are many different formulae that can be used to calculate how many Calories your body requires to maintain its current weight. One of the most accurate formulas is the Mifflin St Jeor equation, which is detailed here:
| Women | (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) - (5 x age in years) – 161 |
| Men | (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) - (5 x age in years) + 5 |
The number you calculate using this equation is known as your “resting metabolic rate” (RMR).
Impact of exercise
The Mifflin St Jeor equation will calculate how many Calories are required to fuel basic biological functions but not exercise. Exercise requires additional Calories. The amount you exercise, and the intensity of it, will impact how many additional Calories you require.
To account for your activity levels, multiply your baseline Calories by an activity factor as follows:
Sedentary (little to no exercise, desk job): RMR x 1.2
Lightly active (exercise 1 to 3 days per week): RMR x 1.375
Moderately active (exercise 3 to 5 days per week): RMR x 1.55
Active (exercise 6 to 7 days per week): RMR x 1.725
Very active (exercise twice per day): RMR x 1.9
The number you calculate using your RMR multiplied an activity factor is your “total daily energy expenditure” (TDEE). Note that these figures are just a guide, and some trial and error will be required to work out your actual TDEE.
How much Calorie deficit to lose 1kg per week?
If you are embarking on a weight loss journey, it’s important to understand how many Calories you should consume to lose weight. Once you have worked out your TDEE, the next step is to calculate how many Calories you should consume to achieve a Calorie deficit, and therefore weight loss.
If you were to break down 1kg of body fat it would provide 7,700 Calories worth of energy. This means that to lose 1kg of body fat in one week, you need to create a deficit of 7,700 Calories over the course of a week. This means consuming 1,100 Calories less than your TDEE each day.
Long term health
For many people, a Calorie deficit of 1,100 Calories per day is too aggressive, and not sustainable. It will result in very few Calories being available for healthy food which increases your risk of nutrient deficiency. It will also lead to hunger, which makes it very difficult to stick with a meal plan.
Aiming for a more modest weight loss of 0.5kg per week can be more manageable, as it requires a smaller Calorie deficit of only 550 Calories per day. This allows you to have more variety in your diet and is more likely to keep your hunger at bay.