Is 1 kg a week realistic?

It depends entirely on your maintenance. At 3,000 kcal it means eating 1,900 — demanding but ordinary. At 2,100 it means eating 1,000, which is below what general guidance treats as a floor. The rate is not the thing to fix; the share of maintenance is.

Why did my loss slow down without me changing anything?

Because maintenance falls as body mass does, so the same intake produces a smaller deficit each month. That is expected behaviour rather than a plateau to push through, and it is why targets are worth recalculating as weight changes.

Calorie Goal Calculator

Calculate daily calorie deficit/surplus.

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Calorie Goals Guide

Understanding the principles of calorie balance is the foundation of effective weight management.Your body needs a specific amount of energy (calories) to maintain basic life functions - this is called basal metabolic rate (BMR). Additional calories are burned during physical activity and daily activities. The equation between calories consumed and expended determines whether you'll lose, maintain, or gain weight.

Calorie deficit - how to achieve it safely?To lose 1 kg of fat, you need to burn approximately 7700 kcal more than you consume. A safe and sustainable deficit is 300-500 kcal per day, which allows losing about 0.5 kg per week. Too aggressive a deficit can lead to muscle loss, metabolism slowdown, and the yo-yo effect. Also remember that the minimum daily calorie intake is approximately 1200 kcal for women and 1500 kcal for men.

Calorie surplus for muscle building.If your goal is to build muscle mass, you need to consume more calories than you burn. The optimal surplus is 200-500 kcal per day, combined with strength training. Excess calories will be stored as fat, so finding the balance is key - clean bulk requires precise tracking of intake and activity.

Practical tips. Remember that calorie quality is just as important as quantity.Protein, fats, and carbohydrates are macronutrients that must be in the right proportions in your diet.Regularly recalculate your needs because they change with weight and physical activity levels.Patience is key - healthy weight loss is 0.5-1 kg per week, and healthy muscle gain is 0.25-0.5 kg per week.

A 1 kg per week goal is a 52% deficit for one person and 37% for another

Weight-loss targets are quoted in kilograms per week, which hides how demanding they are. One kilogram a week needs a 1,100 kcal daily deficit — 52% of a 2,100 kcal maintenance and only 37% of a 3,000 kcal one. The same headline number is a mild adjustment for a large person and an unsustainable one for a small person.

How it works

Converts a target rate of change into the daily calorie deficit or surplus it requires.
Shows what that leaves you eating, which is the number that decides whether the plan survives.
Expresses the deficit as a share of maintenance, so the demand is comparable between people.

1 kg of body mass ≈ 7,700 kcal

daily deficit = target kg per week × 7,700 ÷ 7
intake = maintenance − daily deficit

deficit as a share of maintenance = daily deficit ÷ maintenance

Worked example

Four target rates for someone whose maintenance is 2,100 kcal.

0.25 kg/week → 275 kcal deficit → eat 1,825
0.50 kg/week → 550 kcal deficit → eat 1,550
0.75 kg/week → 825 kcal deficit → eat 1,275
1.00 kg/week → 1,100 kcal deficit → eat 1,000
the same 1 kg/week for a 3,000 maintenance → eat 1,900

At a 2,100 maintenance, one kilogram a week means eating 1,000 kcal — below the level general guidance treats as a floor without supervision. At 3,000 the same target leaves 1,900, which is demanding but ordinary. The goal did not change; the person did.

Reading the result

Setting the deficit as a percentage of maintenance rather than a kilogram target makes it comparable. A 20% deficit is 420 kcal at a 2,100 maintenance and produces 0.38 kg a week — modest on paper and far more likely to still be happening in three months.
The 7,700 kcal per kilogram figure describes body tissue in general, not fat alone. Early weight change includes water and glycogen and moves faster than the arithmetic predicts, which makes the first fortnight a poor guide to the rate you are actually achieving.
The deficit shrinks as you do. A smaller body has a lower maintenance, so a fixed intake produces a smaller and smaller gap — holding one intake for a year does not produce a year of the same rate.
Very low intakes are a clinical matter rather than an aggressive choice. Anyone considering one, and anyone who is pregnant, managing a medical condition or has a history of disordered eating, should set targets with a clinician rather than a calculator.

Common questions

Is 1 kg a week realistic?: It depends entirely on your maintenance. At 3,000 kcal it means eating 1,900 — demanding but ordinary. At 2,100 it means eating 1,000, which is below what general guidance treats as a floor. The rate is not the thing to fix; the share of maintenance is.
Why did my loss slow down without me changing anything?: Because maintenance falls as body mass does, so the same intake produces a smaller deficit each month. That is expected behaviour rather than a plateau to push through, and it is why targets are worth recalculating as weight changes.