Table of Contents
How the app programs your diet
The app will take into account your body, workout schedule, daily activity levels, and diet goals to create a personalized diet plan. As you check in your foods and weigh in over the course of your diet, the app will recommend weekly nutrient adjustments based on your progress.
Daily calories and macro targets are provided based on your schedule for that day, which are broken down into specifically timed meals with individual macro targets. Our program is designed for consistency instead of perfection, so the goal is only to be within 5g of any given macro, and everything in the app takes this in to account.
Restrictions on diet goals
We limit the maximum allowed length of all fat-loss and muscle-gain diets to 16 weeks or less.
We limit the maximum allowed weekly weight-loss rate to 1% of body weight per week to be well within safe bounds. Our heaviest allowed user (158.7 kg) is limited to 1.6 kg / week, while the literature shows that up to 2.5 kg / week is safe.
References
BMI limits
The app does not allow users to use the app to continue losing weight if their BMI drops below 17. A BMI of 17 is categorized by the WHO as “mild thinness” and does not predict ill health except for extenuating circumstances.
References
Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)
To calculate your personalized safe caloric limits, the app calculates a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) for your specific body information and schedule. All increases or decreased to your nutrients are anchored around this calculation of how much energy your body needs to maintain the same weight and function at its best. In order to lose weight, you have to eat less than your TDEE, and in order to gain weight, you have to eat more than your TDEE.
Our TDEE calculation starts from your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the amount of energy per day that you’d need if you were asleep the entire day. It then takes into account the duration and intensity of your workouts and your basic activity level for the day in the form of an Activity Factor (AF) along with your age in years (A), your height in centimeters (H), and your weight in kilograms (W).
References
Minimum safe macros
Calorie decreases come from fat and carbs, but never protein. Fats will never be dropped below 15% of your daily calories. Every meal will always have at least 5 grams of fat and 5 grams of carbs. If your diet ever reaches the point where you’d need to drop below those numbers, you’ll no longer be able to decrease nutrients, and the app will recommend paths forward to raise your caloric intake before losing more weight.
References