Calories to lose weight for a 55 kg woman
About 1,450 kcal on training days and 1,300 kcal on rest days, with 110 g protein, if you are 26, 158 cm and train 3–5 days a week. Your maintenance is about 1,933 kcal.
How the number is worked out
- Resting energy (Mifflin-St Jeor): 10 × 55 + 6.25 × 158 − 5 × 26 − 161 = 1,247 kcal.
- Times 1.55 for moderate activity = 1,933 kcal to stay the same weight.
- Minus 500 kcal to lose weight, rounded to 50 = 1,450 kcal. Rest days are 150 kcal lower.
- Protein at 2 g per kg = 110 g. Fat at 25% of calories = 40 g. Carbs fill the rest: 160 g.
By how active you are
| Activity | Maintain | Training day | Rest day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desk job, little exercise | 1,496 | 1,000 | 850 |
| Light: 1–3 workouts a week | 1,715 | 1,200 | 1,050 |
| Moderate: 3–5 workouts a week | 1,933 | 1,450 | 1,300 |
| Active: 6–7 hard sessions a week | 2,151 | 1,650 | 1,500 |
By age (moderately active)
| Age | Resting | Maintain | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1,277 | 1,979 | 1,500 |
| 26 | 1,247 | 1,933 | 1,450 |
| 30 | 1,227 | 1,902 | 1,400 |
| 35 | 1,202 | 1,863 | 1,350 |
| 40 | 1,177 | 1,824 | 1,300 |
| 50 | 1,127 | 1,747 | 1,250 |
Height matters too: every 5 cm taller adds about 31 kcal to resting energy, or about 50 kcal a day at moderate activity.
What to expect
A 500 kcal daily gap is about 0.5 kg of fat a week, so losing 5 kg takes roughly 11 weeks. Expect the scale to jump around by 1 kg from water and salt; judge the trend over 2–3 weeks.
A vegetarian Indian day at this target
This day lands at 1,452 kcal and 105 g protein. Most of the protein comes from whey shake (with water) (48 g), palak paneer (15 g), paneer sandwich (12 g).
| Food | Portion | kcal | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 274 | 12 g | |
| Paneer sandwich | 1 sandwich | 274 | 12 g |
| Lunch | 346 | 18 g | |
| Palak paneer | 1 katori | 247 | 15 g |
| Roti | 1 roti | 99 | 3 g |
| Evening snack | 316 | 53 g | |
| Sprouts salad | ½ katori | 76 | 5 g |
| Whey shake (with water) | 2 scoops | 240 | 48 g |
| Dinner | 517 | 22 g | |
| Moong dal | 1 katori | 176 | 9 g |
| Mixed veg sabzi | ½ katori | 61 | 2 g |
| Plain rice | ½ katori | 98 | 2 g |
| Paneer bhurji | ½ katori | 138 | 8 g |
| Curd | ½ katori | 45 | 2 g |
| Day total | 1,452 | 105 g | |