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Goal planners

Cutting calculator

A complete cutting plan: calorie target, macros, and a week-by-week weight projection.

Your stats

Daily calorie target
2,154kcal / day

−750 kcal vs your TDEE of 2,904.

Weekly rate
1.50lb/wk
% bodyweight
0.80% / wk
End weight (12 wk)
182.0lb

Macros

  • Protein
    200g
    37% · 800 kcal
  • Carbs
    193g
    36% · 774 kcal
  • Fat
    64g
    27% · 580 kcal

Weekly projection

WeekProjected weight (lb)
1198.5
4194.0
8188.0
12182.0

How a cut should work

A good cut takes you from current weight to leaner weight without losing the muscle you built. That means three things going right at once: a modest calorie deficit, enough protein to protect muscle, and continued heavy resistance training to signal the body to keep the muscle it has.

The pace ceiling most coaches use is 1 % of bodyweight per week. Above that, the share of weight lost as muscle climbs sharply, and hunger and training quality both deteriorate. The pace this calculator recommends most often — 0.5–0.75 %/wk — sits in the comfortable, sustainable band.

How the plan is built

TDEE          = Mifflin–St Jeor BMR × activity multiplier
weekly loss   = bodyweight × pace %
daily deficit = weekly loss × 3,500 / 7
target kcal   = TDEE − daily deficit (minimum 1,200)

protein g  = max(protein g/lb × bodyweight,  preset protein %)
carbs g    = remaining kcal × carb share / 4
fat g      = remaining kcal × fat share  / 9

Protein is held at the floor you select even if your chosen diet style would otherwise put it lower — losing muscle in a cut is the one thing worth being conservative about.

Frequently asked questions

What pace should I cut at?
For most lifters, 0.5–0.75 % of bodyweight per week is the sweet spot — fast enough to make visible progress over a 10–14 week cut, slow enough to keep training quality and muscle. Aggressive cuts at 1 %/week work, but they are taxing and harder to sustain past a few weeks.
Why does protein stay high in a cut?
When you are in a calorie deficit, protein is what protects muscle. Multiple studies show that 1.0–1.4 g per pound of bodyweight noticeably reduces muscle loss during a cut compared to lower intakes, especially when paired with continued resistance training.
How long should I cut for?
Most coaches cap a single cut at 12–16 weeks before taking at least a one-week diet break at maintenance. Longer continuous cuts compound metabolic adaptation and hunger. If you have more weight to lose, plan in cycles of cut → maintenance → cut.
Should I cut more on workout days?
Optional. Calorie cycling (eating slightly above target on hard training days and below on rest days, averaging to your target) makes the cut feel easier for some people and has small training-quality benefits, but it is not necessary. Hitting the weekly average matters most.
What about cardio?
Cardio is a tool, not a substitute for the deficit. Most lifters do best keeping cardio modest (2–4 short sessions per week) during a cut so that fatigue does not eat into lifting performance. Step counts of 8–12k per day are a reliable, low-cost addition.

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