How does Nutrola calculate my starting calorie and macro goals?

After onboarding, Nutrola builds your goals from the details you enter. It estimates your resting metabolism with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, multiplies that by an activity factor (from your weekly workout frequency and gender) for daily energy use, then adjusts for your goal and pace. Protein, fat, and carbs are split from that total. They are estimates, not medical advice.

What information do the goals come from?

Nutrola uses the answers you give during onboarding:

• Gender, age, height, and weight feed the metabolism estimate.
• Weekly workout frequency (how many days a week you exercise) sets your activity level.
• Your goal (lose, maintain, or gain weight) and your goal weight decide whether Nutrola subtracts or adds calories.
• Your chosen pace (how fast you want to change weight per week) sets how big that calorie adjustment is.

If you want to review or change any of these later, see Edit your birth date, gender, height, and units and How do I change my goal weight?.

Step 1: Estimating your metabolism (BMR)

Nutrola first estimates your Basal Metabolic Rate, the calories your body uses at rest, with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, a widely used formula recommended by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. It uses your weight, height, and age, with a small offset based on gender. If you select "other" for gender, Nutrola averages the male and female results.

Step 2: Adding your activity (TDEE)

Your resting estimate is then multiplied by an activity factor to approximate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, the calories you burn across a normal day. The more days per week you train, the higher the factor. It ranges from roughly sedentary (little or no exercise) up to extra active (very hard exercise daily), and the factors are set slightly differently for men and women.

Step 3: Adjusting for your goal and pace

From your daily energy estimate, Nutrola applies your goal:

• Lose weight: a calorie deficit. The size of the deficit follows your chosen pace, calculated from the energy-balance figure that about one kilogram of body weight is roughly 7,700 calories. The deficit is capped so it stays moderate, and there is a minimum calorie floor so the target does not drop too low.
• Maintain weight: your daily energy estimate is used as-is.
• Gain weight: a calorie surplus, again scaled to your pace (smaller targets use a gentler surplus).

If your goal weight is within about half a kilogram of your current weight, Nutrola treats your goal as "maintain" regardless of the button you picked.

Step 4: Splitting calories into protein, fat, and carbs

Once your calorie target is set, Nutrola divides it into the three macros:

• Protein is set per kilogram of your body weight (higher when your goal is to lose weight, to help with fullness and muscle, and nudged up if you train often). It is then converted to grams.
• Fat is set as a percentage of your total calories (around the high-20s percent), adjusted a little by activity level.
• Carbs get whatever calories are left over. Carbs are capped at a reasonable maximum (about 45 percent of calories, or 250 grams, whichever is lower). If that cap kicks in, your displayed calorie total is recalculated to match.

Because of rounding and that carb cap, the macro grams shown may not multiply back to the exact calorie number down to the last calorie. That is expected.

Are these numbers exact or personalized medical advice?

No. They are algorithmic estimates based on population formulas, not a personalized medical or dietary plan. Everyone's metabolism differs, so treat them as a starting point and consider checking with a doctor or registered dietitian before making big changes, especially if you have a health condition. You can override any value yourself at any time, see Change your calorie goal and macro targets and Is there a minimum or maximum I can set for calories or macros?.

Can I change them after onboarding?

Yes. Your goals are not locked to the formula. You can edit your daily calories and each macro directly, and you can set extra targets like steps, water, sleep, and calories burned. See Change your calorie goal and macro targets and How do I set my step, water, sleep, and calories-burned goals?.

Note that updating your weight or goal weight later does not automatically recalculate your calorie and macro targets. If you want new numbers, edit your goals yourself. See Why didn't my calorie goal change after I updated my weight or goal weight?.

If your calories or grams look off because of units, check whether you are on metric or imperial, see How do I switch between metric and imperial units?.

Still need help? In the app, open Profile/Settings → Support & Legal → Contact us to chat with our support assistant, or email us at support@nutrola.app.