Week 2
Now that you know what you're actually doing, let's figure out what makes sense from here.
If you stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing, your body would still burn calories keeping your heart beating, your lungs working and your brain running. That's your BMR.
It is not a target. Nobody should be eating at their BMR.
Estimate
This uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, a well-established estimate of energy needs. Every number it returns is an estimate, not a prescription.
Use your FIRST goal weight — not your final one
If you're at 200 lbs and eventually want 145, enter your current weight and set your first goal at around 180. You'll redo these numbers every 10–15 lbs, or every 8–12 weeks, because your needs change as your body does.Sex assigned at birth (for the equation)
Activity level
Fill in age, weight and height to see your estimates.
The comparison that matters
Your week 1 average
—cal
Estimated maintenance
—cal
Log your awareness week and fill in the calculator to see this comparison.
This comparison points to possibilities, not conclusions. It can't tell you anything about your health, hormones or metabolism.
Should you eat even less? Not automatically.
Very low intake tends to make a plan harder to sustain. It's commonly linked with more hunger, lower energy, worse training performance, difficulty meeting your nutrient needs, and a much higher chance of the whole thing falling apart.
When intake has been very low for a long stretch, some people work on gradually increasing calories back toward a more appropriate intake before attempting a deficit again. You'll often hear this called “reverse dieting.” It's simply a slow, structured increase in food. It doesn't repair a damaged metabolism and it doesn't create special metabolic benefits — those claims aren't something I can make.
The answer to stalled progress isn't always “eat less.”
Sometimes it's more consistent tracking, more protein, more movement, better sleep, or a period of eating at maintenance. If your intake looks unusually low, or you have any medical concerns, please get individualized guidance from a qualified healthcare professional rather than cutting further on your own.
Build my deficit
The question isn't “how little can I eat?” It's “what's a reasonable deficit I can maintain on a busy Tuesday and a birthday weekend?”
A quick, important note
I'm sharing the strategies and tools that helped me better understand my own eating habits and weight-loss journey. I'm not a doctor or a registered dietitian, and nothing here is medical advice. Every number in this app is an estimate — individual needs vary, and calculators can't account for everything.
If you have a medical condition, a history of disordered eating or an eating disorder, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have any other circumstance affecting your nutritional needs, please work with a qualified healthcare professional before changing how you eat.