The method

The app initially estimates your daily calorie burn at 15 calories per pound of body weight. This assumes you're doing the workouts and cardio in your plan.

For weight loss, your starting target is up to 10% below that estimate, limited by your chosen pace. For Gain muscle or Build muscle, lose fat, you start at maintenance: the estimated calories needed to keep your weight steady.

If your weight is changing at your chosen pace, the check-in recommends keeping your target.

Protein: 1 g per pound of goal weight for weight loss; otherwise, 0.8 g. If your body-fat estimate is above 15% for men or 22% for women, the app uses 1 g regardless of your goal.

Fat: 0.4 g per pound of goal weight. The remaining calories go to carbs.

Your calorie target is the same on training days and rest days.

To see your calculations, open Coach › How your coach built this.

If you log an average of 2,300 calories a day and your weight trend stays steady, the app estimates that you burn about 2,300 calories a day. This depends on how complete your food logs and weigh-ins are.

The app leaves the first two weeks out of this calculation to allow for early water-weight changes. After about three weeks, with enough logs and weigh-ins, it can use your records to update the estimate.

Apple Watch calorie estimates appear alongside the app's estimate for comparison. They aren't added to your calorie target.

Individual weigh-ins fluctuate. The app smooths them into a trend line so check-ins can assess changes over time.

Regular weigh-ins give the app more data to work with.

Check-ins run every two weeks. They look at your weight trend, food logs and training over that period.

A check-in needs at least 7 weigh-ins and 10 logged days in the two weeks. With less, it keeps your targets as they are and tells you why.

Calorie targets stay in place for at least four weeks before a check-in can suggest an adjustment based on your weight trend. A check-in every two weeks doesn't mean a new target every two weeks.

Each check-in recommends one next step: keep your plan, change calories or training, take a lighter training week (a deload), or take a diet break.

For weight loss, a slower trend may lead to a lower calorie recommendation once you've had enough time and consistent logs at your current target.

For muscle gain, you start at maintenance for a month. If your weight trend hasn't increased, a check-in may suggest 5–8% above maintenance. With a body-fat estimate above 15% for men or 22% for women, the app keeps the target at maintenance and suggests a weight-loss goal instead.

Routine calorie adjustments are capped at 250 calories a day or 15% of your target, whichever is smaller.

If your logged intake differs too much from your target, the check-in keeps the target unchanged. It needs more time with intake close to the target to assess it.

After 10 or more weeks of dieting, a check-in may suggest a two-week diet break at maintenance. A diet break can exceed the usual calorie-adjustment cap.

Nothing changes until you say yes. Decline, and your targets stay as they are and the same change won't be suggested again. You can undo an accepted change later.

Chose Leave it to me during setup? Then the app keeps tracking and changes nothing until you ask.

You choose how many days you can train and how much time you have. The plan starts there. If you miss a workout or go over your food target, you can log it and carry on.