Dieter - Calorie calculator

The calculator estimates roughly how much you burn in a day and how much you can eat for your chosen target weight and pace. The plan library then uses that number.

Where to find it

Open the Progress tab and tap the purple banner at the top. The My calories screen opens.

What you need to enter

In the About you section:

Sex
Date of birth: you pick it from a calendar.
Height
Activity level, from Sedentary (office work, little or no exercise) to Very active (physical work or training twice a day).

You also need your weight. The calculator always takes the latest reading from the Progress tab. If you don't have one yet, enter your weight in the Current weight field or tap Add a reading. Every new reading recalculates everything.

You can switch units (kilograms and centimetres, or pounds and feet) in the settings, under Unit preference.

Your numbers

Maintenance: what you burn in a day at the activity level you gave. We work it out with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and round it to 50 kcal, because it's an estimate, not a measurement.
Target: how much to eat to move towards your target weight at the chosen pace.
BMI: worked out from your weight and height.

Target weight and pace

In the Weight goal and pace section, enter your Target weight and choose a Pace, for example 0.5 kg a week. Each pace shows how many calories a day it corresponds to. If none of them suits you, choose Another pace….

You don't set the direction separately, it follows from the numbers. A target weight below your current weight means Reduce, above it means Gain.

Below that you'll see how much is left To go, your daily Deficit or Surplus, the Suggested intake and the estimated Time in weeks.

If you're no more than half a kilogram away from your target weight, the calculator works out weight maintenance. Your weight can change that much from one day to the next, so there's no point chasing that difference with a surplus or a deficit.

The calculator's limits

The calculator won't suggest everything you could type in. When one of its limits kicks in, it tells you plainly:

Weight loss faster than 1% of body weight a week: the numbers then apply to a pace of 1%.
Below your resting metabolic rate: the target doesn't go below what your body uses at rest.
Below 1200 kcal: the calculator stops at this threshold.

This is arithmetic, not a promise. The equation tells you how many calories the chosen pace corresponds to, but it doesn't know what you actually eat or how your body responds. Weigh yourself every now and then, and the calculator will work out your target again.

What the number is for

The banner in Progress shows your daily calories and the range you're looking for plans in.
Plan library: turn on My calories in the filters to see plans within your range. Each plan shows how far it is from your number, for example "−81 kcal from yours".
Active plan: if the plan's average falls outside your range, you'll see a note about it. More in the Active plan article.

You set the width of the range in the Finding plans section, in the Filter width field. The default is ±200 kcal, and you can enter anything from 50 to 1000.

After making changes, tap Save. Until you save, the numbers on screen are only a preview.