How is my calorie goal worked out?
It is an estimate from your profile, your activity and your goal type, with a safety minimum.
This needs an account. Sign in to the app first.
Steps
- On Home, tap Diet to open the Food Diary, then tap the Goals tab.
- If the screen asks, complete your profile with age, sex, height and weight.
- Choose a Goal Type and an Activity Level. The Target number updates.
- To use your own number, type it in the calories box under Macro Targets.
- Tap Save Goals.
How the estimate is made
The Goals tab uses your age, sex, height and weight, and the Mifflin-St Jeor formula, to estimate the calories your body uses in a day. It then adjusts that number for your Activity Level.
Your Goal Type changes it again. Fat Loss sets a lower target, Maintain keeps it the same, and Lean Bulk sets a higher one. The screen shows the size of each change.
The safety minimum
For Fat Loss, the target is never set below a minimum for your sex, and never cut deeper than the app allows. People under 18, and people with a very low BMI, are held at their maintenance number. The screen tells you when this happens.
If you type a lower number yourself in the Food Diary, SOS warns you and asks you to confirm. In Nutrition Goals, a calorie number you type is saved as you typed it, unless it is below the lowest number SOS can save. Then the screen says so, keeps what you typed and does not save it. The Macro Calculator has its own, simpler minimum.
Before you save goals
Until you save goals, the Food Diary uses built-in placeholder numbers for its ring. They are not worked out for you.
What this is not
The numbers are general estimates. They do not know your health conditions, allergies, medicines or eating history. A registered dietitian can build a plan that fits you.
If you have ever had an eating disorder, check with your treatment team before you track calories or weight. The Food Diary shows this note above every tab until you close it. You can also hide the numbers.
What happens next
Change your profile or activity when your life changes, and the estimate follows.