Free tool

Calories &
Macros

The exact method — your BMR, your daily movement, your training, your goal. Then the protein, fat and carb split. Sixty seconds.

Not your workouts — those get added next. Most nine-to-fivers are 1.2. Be honest with yourself.

Eat this
2,400Calories a day
Your TDEE: 2,400 cal · Maintenance
160g
Protein
640 cal · 2.0g/kg
Anchored first. 1.6g/kg is where the benefit plateaus — above that you're just paying for expensive urine.
72g
Fat
648 cal · 30% of calories
Always 30% of your calories, whatever your goal. It's the middle of the accepted range — enough for your hormones, joints and vitamins, without eating your carbs.
280g
Carbs
1,120 cal
Whatever's left — and that's the fuel. Our sessions run on the clock. Cut carbs and you won't finish them.
Step 1 — BMR (what you burn doing nothing)1,780 cal
Step 2 — × your daily movement2,136 cal
Step 3 — + your training, spread over 7 days+171 cal
Step 4 — your TDEE2,307 cal
Step 5 — your goal adjustment−15%

At this rate you'd expect to lose around 0.4kg a week. Anything much faster than that isn't fat — it's muscle and water.

Now the important bit

That number is a guess. Two weeks from now you'll have the real one.

Every calculator on the internet — including this one — is running a formula built on population averages. It gets you in the neighbourhood. It doesn't know your metabolism, your job, how much you fidget, or how honest you were about your step count.

The scale is the only thing that actually knows. So use the number above as a starting point, then let your own body correct it:

1

Eat that number — properly, consistently — for two weeks. Not four days.

2

Weigh yourself every morning, same time, same conditions, before food.

3

Compare your week 1 average to your week 2 average. Never day to day — daily weight is water, and it will do your head in.

4

Moving too fast? Take away 200 calories. Not moving at all? Add 200.

5

That's your real number. Two weeks of your own data beats any formula on the internet.

Got the number. Now what?

Knowing what to eat is the easy half.
The other half is knowing what to do in the gym.

The Engine Room is the program — built by Chris Dennis, who ran strength & conditioning at the Geelong Cats for eight years. You keep your gym membership. We give you the plan you follow once you get there.

First week free. Then $1 a day. Cancel anytime.

Start your free week
Try a free session first
I'm a coach, not a dietitian. This is general information about energy balance — it's the method I use myself, not a personalised prescription. If you have a medical condition, take medication, are pregnant, or have any history of disordered eating, speak to an accredited practising dietitian or your GP before changing how you eat.