How KCALS Works

BMR is the number of calories your body burns at complete rest — just to keep your heart beating, lungs breathing and cells working. We use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (1990), the most accurate formula for the general population:

Men: (10 × weight kg) + (6.25 × height cm) − (5 × age) + 5
Women: (10 × weight kg) + (6.25 × height cm) − (5 × age) − 161

TDEE = BMR × an activity multiplier that reflects how much you move each day. Sedentary (desk job, no exercise) uses ×1.2; Extra Active (physical job + hard training) uses ×1.9. This is your true maintenance calorie level — eat at this number and your weight stays the same.

Activity Level	Multiplier
Sedentary (desk job, no exercise)	× 1.2
Lightly Active (1–3×/week)	× 1.375
Moderately Active (3–5×/week)	× 1.55
Very Active (6–7×/week)	× 1.725
Extra Active (physical job + hard training)	× 1.9

Rather than forcing everyone into a harsh 500 kcal deficit, KCALS reads your stress and motivation levels at each check-in and picks the right zone:

• 🟢 Green (low stress + high motivation) — 25% deficit for maximum fat loss
• 🟡 Yellow (middle ground) — 15% deficit for steady, sustainable progress
• 🔴 Red (high stress or low motivation) — 8% deficit to build the habit first

If your logged weight shows no meaningful change over 14 consecutive days, KCALS detects a metabolic plateau. The next plan resets your calories to 100% TDEE for one full week — a deliberate "reboot" that refreshes leptin signalling and breaks the stall.

Your calculated TDEE is an estimate. KCALS compares your actual rate of weight change against the expected rate implied by your deficit. If reality and theory diverge by more than 10%, the TDEE is automatically corrected so future targets are more accurate.

Once a week, on the day you choose, your calorie target is raised by +150 kcal above TDEE and the meal plan shifts toward complex carbohydrates. This deliberate weekly spike — called a hormetic stressor — prevents metabolic adaptation and keeps fat-loss momentum going over longer diets.

If your stress level is ≥ 8 for two or more consecutive check-ins, KCALS automatically activates Recovery Mode. Your deficit drops to just 5% of TDEE (almost maintenance) and the meal plan shifts to comfort-friendly, easy-to-digest foods. Recovery Mode turns off automatically once your stress falls below 6.

Poor sleep raises ghrelin (hunger hormone) and lowers willpower. When you log a sleep quality of 4 or below, KCALS halves your calorie deficit for that day and steers the plan toward high-protein, high-fibre foods that fight hunger most effectively with fewest calories.

When you log a workout, KCALS estimates the calories burned (based on type and duration) and adds them back to your daily target. This preserves your planned deficit even on training days — so you don't under-eat and compromise recovery.

The meal builder selects real foods from a curated database and calculates exact portion sizes to hit your daily calorie target within ±30 kcal. Foods are scored by category (protein, carb, vegetable, fat, dairy, fruit) and your preferences (cuisine style, allergies, exclusions) filter the eligible list before any selection is made.

The planner now limits cooking load like a real person would. Each day gets one heavier cooked meal, usually lunch, while the other meals lean faster and simpler. It avoids stacking two demanding mains like moussaka and bolognese on the same day.

Besides foods you dislike, you can save foods you actively want in your plan. When a weekly plan is generated or regenerated, KCALS spreads those must-include foods through the week while still respecting calories, macros, allergies and exclusions.

Every generated meal can be changed without throwing away the full week. You can replace a meal, replace an ingredient you want to avoid, or undo the last change if the previous version was better.

Meals you like can be locked so regeneration keeps them in place. You can also refresh a single day when only that day feels wrong, instead of rebuilding the entire weekly plan.

KCALS scores each day for realism: cooking effort, heavy-meal stacking, repeated ingredients, meal balance and variety. These diagnostics guide the generator toward plans that are easier to cook and less random.

Every generated plan is saved in your history. You can preview older plans, compare them with the current one, and restore a previous week safely when it was a better fit.

KCALS targets a balanced macro split at every meal:

• Protein: ~30% (muscle preservation, satiety)
• Carbohydrates: ~40% (energy, fibre)
• Fat: ~30% (hormones, vitamin absorption)

On Recharge Day these shift toward 55% carbs. In Recovery Mode the plan moves to 48% carbs / 38% protein for comfort-food satisfaction.

Mon–Fri your daily target is reduced by 150 kcal/day (saving 750 kcal). On Saturday those saved calories are added back, giving you a ~750 kcal bonus for social meals, dinners out or a treat — without breaking your weekly calorie balance.

Set a target date (holiday, wedding, reunion) and a goal weight. KCALS calculates your required weekly loss rate and tells you whether it's achievable safely (≤0.7 kg/week). If the goal is too aggressive, it shows the realistic weight you can reach by that date instead.

Choose your cuisine style (For Students / People with Minimal Time / Classic Greek / Mediterranean / World Explorer), flag any allergies, and exclude specific foods you dislike. Every meal plan generated after saving these preferences will automatically respect every single rule.

The simplest cuisine mode keeps the weekly shopping list tighter and favors repeatable, quick meals with fewer vegetables and fewer one-off ingredients. It is built for students and people who do not want to cook complicated food every day.

Smart Insights analyses your entire check-in history to surface patterns, correlations and personal statistics you would never spot by scrolling through a table. Visit your Progress page to explore it.

A GitHub-style calendar of the last 365 days. Every square is coloured green, yellow or red based on the zone of that day's check-in — so you can spot healthy streaks and rough patches at a glance.

Pure statistical analysis of your own data: how sleep quality affects your zone, how workout days shift your motivation score, your best-ever streak, overall green zone rate, weekly weight-loss pace, and the link between high stress and red zones.