A calorie deficit means you eat and drink fewer calories than your body uses. Your body covers the gap from its fat stores, and you lose weight. For most people, eating about 500 to 600 calories a day less than they burn is a safe, steady place to start. Below you'll find how to get your number, how fast to go, and how to stay full while you do it.
What a calorie deficit is
Calories measure the energy in food and drink. Your body spends that energy all day, on breathing, keeping your heart beating, moving and digesting food. When you take in less than you spend, you are in a calorie deficit, and your body relies on its fat stores for fuel.
Here is an everyday example. Say your body uses about 2,400 calories on a normal Dubai workday, with breakfast at your desk, a delivery lunch, dinner at home and a couple of coffees. Keep the same day, but drop the sugary iced coffee, serve yourself a smaller scoop of rice and swap the evening crisps for fruit. If that brings you to about 1,800 calories, you have a 600-calorie deficit, and nothing about your day had to change except a few choices.
For reference, the NHS uses 2,000 calories a day for an average woman and 2,500 for an average man to stay at the same weight. Your own number depends on your age, sex, body size and how active you are.
How to find your deficit
- Find your maintenance calories. That is what you burn in a normal day. Our TDEE calculator works it out from your age, height, weight and activity.
- Take off 500 to 600. NHS Better Health suggests reducing your intake by around 600 calories a day as a safe and sustainable way to lose weight. Our calculator uses 500, the gentle end of that range.
- Keep a floor. Harvard Health advises that calorie intake should not fall below 1,200 a day for women or 1,500 for men, unless a health professional is supervising you.
- Check after two or three weeks. If the scale hasn't moved, look at drinks, cooking oil and portion sizes first. If you are losing more than 1 kg a week, eat a little more.
| Step | Example |
|---|---|
| Maintenance from the calculator | 2,400 calories |
| Minus 600 | 1,800 calories a day |
| Floor check | Above 1,200 for women and 1,500 for men |
You don't need to count every calorie forever. NHS Better Health suggests weighing portions when you start, just to see whether your usual serving matches the label. After that, your plate and your hand do the job.
How fast is safe to lose weight
Aim for 0.5 to 1 kg a week. That is the NHS advice, and the CDC gives the same range in pounds (about 1 to 2 pounds a week). The CDC also says people who lose weight at a steady pace are more likely to keep it off than people who lose it quickly.
A small loss still counts. The CDC notes that losing 5% of your body weight can improve your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. For an 80 kg person, that is 4 kg.
Crash diets are a different thing. The NHS says very low calorie diets are not suitable or safe for everyone, and are usually only recommended when your weight is affecting other health conditions, with support from a dietitian. If you want to go faster than 1 kg a week, talk to a doctor first.
This guide is general information, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, have a medical condition or take medication, check with your doctor before you start a calorie deficit.
Why protein and fibre keep you full in a deficit
The hard part of a deficit is hunger. Protein and fibre are your two best tools against it.
Protein. A 2004 review of the research found convincing evidence that higher-protein diets make people feel fuller than lower-protein diets, and that high-protein meals lead people to eat less afterwards. Protein also helps you keep muscle while you lose fat. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) says people who lift weights may need 2.3 to 3.1 g of protein per kg a day during a calorie deficit to keep as much muscle as possible. In practice, put a palm-sized piece of meat or a hand-sized piece of chicken or fish on every plate. Our high-protein meals guide has more ideas.
Fibre. Soluble fibre forms a gel in your gut that slows digestion, which may help reduce hunger, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The NHS says adults should aim for 30 g of fibre a day, but most only eat about 20 g. Easy wins are oats, wholegrain bread, brown rice, potatoes with the skin on, beans, lentils, vegetables and fruit.
Volume. Fill half your plate with vegetables, as the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate suggests. You get a full plate while the protein and carbs stay in proportion.
What a deficit day can look like
Here is one day built from dishes on the Sanos menu, using the same plate idea of half vegetables, a quarter protein and a quarter carbs.
| Meal | Dish | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Fresh Herbs Omelette (eggs, fresh herbs, side salad) | Protein first thing, plus greens |
| Lunch | Kale Salad (kale, quinoa, edamame, cherry tomato, avocado, asparagus, lemon dressing) | Fibre from kale, quinoa and edamame |
| Snack | Steamed Edamame | Beans between meals count toward your fibre |
| Dinner | Grilled Chicken (herb-marinated chicken, steamed vegetables) | Lean protein with a pile of vegetables |
If you cook at home, copy the shape of each meal. For a full week with a shopping list, use our 7-day weight loss meal plan. If you'd rather have the portions handled, the Sanos Weight Loss Meal Plan is built on lean protein, fibre-rich vegetables and low-GI carbs in controlled portions, approved by nutritionists and delivered anywhere in Dubai.
Common mistakes (drinks, sauces, weekend brunches)
When a deficit stalls, start with the calories that are easy to forget. The NHS reminds you to count drinks, the oil you cook with, toppings and sauces.
Drinks
Juice, fizzy drinks, smoothies and iced coffees with syrup all count. The NHS suggests keeping juice and smoothies to one small glass (150 ml) a day, with a meal. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, almost as much as fat, and a standard glass of wine can have up to 158 calories (NHS). Make water, tea and coffee without sugar your default.
Sauces and oil
Ask for dressings and sauces on the side when you order, and add them yourself. At home, measure oil instead of pouring it. A Royal Papworth Hospital NHS guide suggests a portion of oil about the size of the tip of your finger, and no more than two a day.
Portions that grow
The NHS gives a clear example. A packet of rice says a 75 g portion is 260 calories. Cook more and serve yourself 150 g, and you are eating 520. Weigh your rice or pasta once to see what you really serve, then use your fist as the guide.
Weekend brunches
A Dubai brunch puts a buffet in front of you for hours. You don't have to skip it. Fill your first plate with protein and salad, pick the one or two things you really want, drink water between other drinks, and go back to normal at your next meal. What you eat across the whole week matters more than one meal.
Cutting too hard
Eating far below your needs is hard to keep up, and the NHS says very low calorie diets are not safe for everyone. Stay at or above 1,200 calories (women) or 1,500 (men) unless a health professional is supervising you.
Short sleep
Long office days and late dinners eat into sleep. NHS Better Health says poor sleep may make you more likely to choose high-calorie foods, and too tired to exercise or cook. Protect your sleep the way you protect your training.
FAQ
What is a good meal plan for a calorie deficit?
One you can keep up. Put protein in every meal, make half the plate vegetables, add a fist of carbs, and land about 500 to 600 calories below what you burn. Our 7-day weight loss meal plan gives you a full week to cook, and how to choose a meal plan in Dubai helps if you'd rather order one.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
Start with your maintenance number from the TDEE calculator and take off 500 to 600 calories. Don't go below 1,200 a day for women or 1,500 for men without a health professional supervising you (Harvard Health).
Why am I not losing weight in a calorie deficit?
First check whether the deficit is as big as you think. Look at drinks, cooking oil, sauces and portion sizes, which the NHS lists as easy things to miss. Weigh your usual portion of rice or pasta once. Poor sleep can also push you toward high-calorie food (NHS Better Health).
Is a 1,500 calorie meal plan good for weight loss?
It depends on what you burn. If your maintenance is around 2,000 to 2,100 calories, 1,500 is a deficit of 500 to 600, which fits the NHS advice. If your maintenance is lower, 1,500 may be close to what you burn. For men, Harvard Health treats 1,500 as the lowest you should go without supervision. Check your number with the TDEE calculator first.
Sources
- NHS Better Health: Calories and weight loss
- NHS Better Health: How to lose weight
- NHS: Understanding calories
- NHS: Obesity treatment
- NHS: How to get more fibre into your diet
- NHS: Water, drinks and your health
- NHS: Calories in alcohol
- CDC: Steps for losing weight
- Harvard Health Publishing: Calorie counting made easy
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Healthy Eating Plate
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Fiber
- Halton and Hu: The effects of high protein diets on thermogenesis, satiety and weight loss, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2004
- ISSN position stand: protein and exercise (Jäger et al., 2017)
- Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: Healthy eating and your weight (PDF)
- Sanos menu with ingredient lists