Fat-loss phase planner
How long the phase takes, how big the deficit has to be, and your starting calories and macros, sized from the tissue you will actually lose, not from a flat number. Then, if you want them, planned high days and maintenance breaks that keep the weekly deficit intact while making the phase easier to live with.
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@withme.nutritionAlexandra Lasconi, WITH ME
Your phase
Starting targets
Planned high days (optional)
Only the weekly deficit matters, so you can move calories between days. A high day is typically 40 to 60% above a low day and never more than twice a low day. Protein drops to the maintenance column, fat stays, carbs fill the rest. They are planned and tracked, not "cheat" days: no study shows they speed fat loss, but they make a phase easier to keep.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|
Maintenance breaks (optional)
Most of the slow-down happens in the first weeks of a deficit. Two to four weeks in deficit followed by one to two weeks at maintenance kept more weight off per deficit week and protected resting energy in a 30-week trial; never go more than four weeks without a break. Breaks are planned in advance, tracked, and the maintenance number is recalculated at each one (your weight has changed).
| Block | Weeks | Calories |
|---|
Where the numbers come from
During the phase
Weigh daily, compare weekly averages, measure waist and hips weekly (three times, averaged), photos monthly, and score energy, hunger, sleep, stress and mood 1 to 10 each week. Use the weekly check-in; when progress stalls, the plateau check.
Make room for life
Give yourself more time than the maths says: you can hold or add calories if you reach the goal early, but catching up is hard and self-control is a limited resource. End the phase well before any event, then move to the rebuild roadmap; never end it the week before a holiday.
How this is calculated. Fat to lose = weight × (current − target body fat %). Share of the loss that is fat, from your planning category, protein (always high here) and training: lean about 70%, normal 80%, overweight 90%, obese over 90% with two or more strength sessions; lower without training. Total loss on the scale = fat to lose ÷ that share; weeks = total ÷ (weight × weekly rate). Daily deficit = weekly loss in kg × a factor of (fat share × 7,830 + lean share × 1,200) ÷ 7, i.e. 645 to 1,120 kcal per kg; starting calories = maintenance − deficit, never below resting energy (Müller or revised Harris-Benedict, as in the maintenance calculator). Protein per kg of lean mass by age (deficit column of the WITH ME table, top of the range with more training and a bigger deficit); carbs and fat split the rest; fat never below 20% of calories; fibre 10 to 15 g per 1,000 kcal. High days: weekly calories − high days × their level, divided over the low days; high-day protein from the maintenance column, fat held, carbs fill. Breaks: deficit weeks split into blocks of 2 to 4 with 1 to 2 weeks at maintenance between them, maintenance macros from the maintenance column. Sources: Hall 2008, Layman et al. 2005, Wycherley et al. 2010, Robinson et al. 2015, Byrne et al. 2018 (MATADOR, maintenance breaks), Harvie et al. 2011, intermittent vs continuous restriction, 2015 review, Dirlewanger et al. 2000 (leptin and overfeeding), Helms et al. 2014. The category boundaries, the 40 to 60% high-day level and the 2× cap are WITH ME coaching conventions.
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The 16-week Nutrition & Lifestyle Remodel adapts every number here to your real weigh-ins, measurements and check-ins.
These tools give general estimates for healthy adults and are not medical advice. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or have a medical condition or a history of disordered eating, talk to your doctor before changing how you eat.
