Calculation of Calorie Budget
The planning tool prepares an initial calorie budget for you during mobile app or online account setup. Please use My Weight Goal & Plan > Weight & Calories section in mobile apps or the Plan > Weight & Calories page on the web to review and update your target weight, target date, weekly rate and/or calorie budget.
Weight Maintenance Calories calculation is based on your age, personal activity level, body weight, and body height.
Assuming that to lose a pound, you needed to consume 3,500 fewer calories per week, the system calculates daily calorie deficit needed and subtracts it from your current "maintenance" calories.
Please see How is Calorie Budget Calculated for more details on these calculations.
Limitations
Calculation of the Calorie Budget is limited to a maximum rate of 2 lb/week for weight loss and 1 lb/week for weight gain.
The reason for the 2 lb/week limit for weight loss is that creating a larger calorie deficit can trigger metabolic adaptation, making the common rule of “3,500 calories = 1 pound of fat” less accurate.
While the system cannot automatically calculate a Calorie Budget for goals exceeding these thresholds, you can manually override the calculated budget if you are following a healthcare provider’s recommendation.
This can be done via the My Weight Goal & Plan > Weight & Calories section in the mobile app or the Plan > Weight & Calories page on the website.
Other Factors and Adjustments
In the My Weight Goal & Plan > Weight & Calories section, you can adjust your Target Weight, Target Date, and Weekly Rate. In the Personal Info section (under the Me tab), you can update your height, date of birth, activity level, and other personal details.
In My Weight Goal & Plan > Macros, you can customize your fat, carbohydrate, and protein targets. Some people prefer to reduce fat intake, others focus on lowering carbohydrates, and some choose to reduce both proportionally. As you set up your plan, the system applies checks and balances to ensure that the total calories from macronutrients align with your Calorie Budget.
This is calculated using the standard formula:
- 1 gram of fat = 9 calories
- 1 gram of carbs = 4 calories
- 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
You can also enable Calorie Cycling (and optionally Macros Cycling) to set different calorie and macronutrient targets for different days of the week.
For more information, see our planning guidelines on setting calorie and nutrient goals.