How Many Calories Should You Be Eating?

The number of calories required to maintain body weight is typically estimated to be approximately 15 x body weight.

With that in mind, setting calories at 12 x body weight would provide a 20% deficit and be a good starting point for most people.

This means that a woman at 140 pounds could start dieting with calories set as high as 1680.

Of course, these are all estimates and people are not formulas. Some will be able to diet on more calories and others on less, but this is a reasonable and conservative place to start.

– Coach Mark

*The exception to the above are very light women who may need to set their calories a bit lower to create a larger absolute deficit.*