Find your maintenance calories and a daily target to lose, maintain or gain weight — with guard rails that stop a crash diet.
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That pace would push you below a safe minimum, so the target is held at the limit. A gentler pace gets you there without crashing.
Track it every day. Luntrack uses this exact method and adjusts as your weight and training change.
Basal metabolic rate is the energy your body burns at rest. We use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, the one dietitians use most: 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age, then +5 for men and −161 for women.
BMR multiplied by an activity factor from 1.2 (desk job, no exercise) to 1.9 (hard training or a physical job). That's roughly what keeps your weight steady.
About 7,700 kcal is one kilogram of body mass, so a pace in kg per week becomes a daily deficit or surplus. A deficit is never more than 25% of maintenance or below 1,200 kcal (1,500 for men), and a surplus is capped at 500 kcal — more than that is mostly fat.
For general fitness guidance only — not medical advice. If you're pregnant, have a medical condition or take medication that affects appetite or fluids, check with a doctor first.
Equations like Mifflin-St Jeor are usually within about 10% for most people. Treat the result as a starting point: track for two or three weeks, watch your weight trend, and adjust by 100–200 kcal if it isn't moving the way you planned.
For most people 0.5 kg (about 1 lb) a week is sustainable. Faster is possible when you have more to lose, but the calculator won't let the deficit pass 25% of maintenance.
The activity factor already includes your usual training. If you add something unusual — a long run you don't normally do — eating back some of it is reasonable. Luntrack shows the calories you burned next to the ones you ate, so you can see the day's real balance.
Most people underestimate maintenance. Very low targets make you hungry, tired and more likely to quit — the guard rails are there on purpose.