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An estimate. Adjust it against what your weight actually does over a few weeks.
Basal rate times an activity factor
Start with what the body burns at rest, then multiply by how much you move: 1.2 for a mostly seated life, 1.55 for training three to five times a week, 1.9 for athletes and heavy physical work. The same body can need several hundred calories more or less a day depending only on that factor.
Almost everyone picks too high a level
This is the usual reason the number does not match reality. Three gym sessions a week matter less than the other hundred and sixty-five hours; if those are spent sitting, a factor below 1.55 is the honest choice. Exercise burns less than people expect, and it is a smaller slice of the daily total than it feels like.
Do not rush the deficit
Losing a kilogram of body fat takes roughly a 7,700 calorie deficit, so eating 500 fewer a day works out near half a kilogram a week. Cutting far harder than that costs muscle first, which lowers the basal rate and makes the next kilogram harder than the last.
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Frequently asked questions
Q. Which activity factor fits a desk job with three workouts?
Usually 1.375 rather than 1.55. The higher factors assume the movement continues outside training — physical work, long walks, being on your feet most of the day.
Q. Should I eat below my basal rate to lose faster?
That is generally advised against. Build the deficit from the total figure here, not from the basal rate, and keep the gap moderate enough that you can hold it for months rather than days.
Q. Why does my weight not move as predicted?
Because water shifts by a kilogram or more day to day, and because both the intake you log and the expenditure estimated here carry error. Judge by the trend over three or four weeks, not by the scale each morning.