Fat Loss Protocol Calculator

It is a rule-of-thumb starting point that works well for moderately active people. It assumes a TDEE around 14 to 16 calories per pound. If you are sedentary, drop to 13. If you do hard manual labor or train 6+ days per week, use 16 or 17. After 2 weeks of tracking, adjust based on your actual weight trend.

A 3,500 calorie deficit equals roughly 1 pound of fat. 500 per day for 7 days produces a 1-pound-per-week loss. This is the safe upper end for natural lifters per Helms et al. 2014. Faster loss rates risk muscle loss and metabolic adaptation.

Body fat is metabolically inert. Calculating protein from total weight at high body-fat levels gives unrealistically high targets that are unnecessary and expensive. Lean body mass is the muscle and organs that actually need amino acids.

Yes, the math checks out. Two 20 to 30 minute walks per week burn roughly 350 calories. Over 6 weeks that is 2,100 calories or about 0.6 pounds. Cutting weekday drinks saves 1,500 to 3,500 calories per week which scales to 1.5 to 2 pounds over 6 weeks. The numbers compound over longer durations.

You can but you should not for long. Loss rates above 1 percent of bodyweight per week start eating into muscle and crashing your metabolic rate. The 500 calorie deficit hits this safe rate for most people. Add habit changes for more loss, not deeper cuts.

The projection assumes linear loss which never quite happens. Real loss is bumpy because of water retention, sodium, glycogen, menstrual cycle, and adaptation. Over 6 to 12 weeks the average usually lands within 15 percent of the projection if you stay compliant with calorie and protein targets.