If your starting macros seem too low, you’ll need to figure out whether this is reality or just a misperception. There are three scenarios...
Your macros are entirely appropriate but seem too low. This can happen for some of the following reasons:
You think that you’ve been eating more food than you really have
If you’re really eating 2,000 calories but believe you’re eating 2500, seeing a starting calorie recommendation of 1,700 for fat loss will seem too low even though it’s not.
You’re comparing your calorie recommendation with other people’s
You may believe that your calories are too low because you’ve been comparing your recommendation to that of others who eat more. It’s important to remember that no two people are the same and energy needs will differ from person to person.
You don’t weigh a whole lot
People of smaller stature who don’t weigh a whole lot require fewer calories than those who weigh more.
Your macros are actually too low because you incorrectly set your activity level.
If you underestimate your activity level your recommended calories will likely be way too low
Your macros are actually too low because your weight loss setting is too aggressive. Choosing a slower and more sustainable option will give you more calories.
Faster weight loss settings will drop calories lower than if the slider is more toward the left. By choosing slower weight loss, you’ll be able to diet on more calories while preserving muscle and protecting your metabolism, which will put you in a better position to keep lost weight off for good. Remember that the best diet is the one you can stick to.
Your macros are a little bit low because you have a faster metabolism than the average person, but the system will detect this and adjust after a week or two.
The system is designed to estimate appropriate starting calories for the average person and then adjust from there based on their individual progress. If you have a much faster metabolism than 90% of people, the system may underestimate your initial calorie needs. If this happens, you’ll likely lose too much weight (or not gain enough if your goal is muscle gain), and your calories will be bumped up after the first week or two. If you don’t want to wait for the system to catch up, please edit your calories in Diet Settings or reach out to our Coaching Team to have your calories manually increased.
If you’ve been on the system for a while and you feel that your calories are too low, one (or several) of the scenarios below are likely causing this:
You’ve been on a weight loss goal and haven’t been losing enough weight
If you don’t lose enough weight each week, calories will be dropped progressively lower until you do. Over time, as your metabolism slows and adapts to your lower food intake, calories must be cut further and further to create the deficit necessary to keep losing weight. Once they reach a certain point, it can become nearly impossible to hit your macros without giving in to the urge to binge. Once you reach this point, we recommend reverse dieting.
You recently reverse dieted and switched to weight loss without spending enough time on maintenance afterward
Switching to maintenance after reverse dieting will help your body adapt to your new, higher food intake. If you switch directly to weight loss after your reverse (or don’t spend enough time on maintenance), your metabolism may not have fully adapted, causing your reverse to be less effective than you hoped. This may result in calories being dropped lower than anticipated to achieve fat loss.
If this describes you, please reach out to our Coaching Team for help.