3. Energy target¶
Three multiplications and one adjustment.
BMR — Mifflin-St Jeor¶
Weight in kg, height in cm, age in years.
Round to the nearest 10 kcal. The equation carries roughly ±10% error on an individual; carrying it to the unit implies a precision it does not have.
When gender is absent or "other"¶
Compute both and take the mean. Do not guess from the name, the occupation or anything else. Note it in the digest — it does not go in the client menu.
When height or weight is missing¶
| Have | Do |
|---|---|
meas_height_cm + meas_weight_kg |
Use them |
Height, no measured weight, but meas_weight_self |
Use the self-report. Record the provenance; it goes in Assumptions |
| Height, no weight at all | Cannot proceed. Ask for a weight, or for the client to accept a qualitative menu built with no energy target |
| Weight, no height | Cannot proceed. Same |
Do not substitute a population average for either. A menu built on an assumed height is a menu built on a number nobody supplied, and its portion counts are arbitrary while looking calculated.
Where the client will not give a weight (meas_weight_aware = "Yes, but I'd
rather not say" and no measurement), that is a legitimate answer, not an
obstruction. Build the qualitative menu: the full structure, the schedule, the
plate rules and the food options, with portions described in household measures
and hand sizes instead of counts. Say in Notes for you that the plan is built
on structure rather than numbers, and that this was their choice.
Activity factor¶
Judge across all six activity fields, not one.
| Factor | Picture |
|---|---|
| 1.20 | Desk job, no training. act_currently_active = "No" and act_daily_lifestyle = sedentary |
| 1.375 | 1–3 sessions/week, or an active day with no training |
| 1.55 | 3–5 sessions/week, or 1–3 sessions plus a standing/moving job |
| 1.725 | 6–7 sessions/week, or 4–5 sessions plus a physically demanding job |
| 1.90 | Physically demanding job and near-daily training |
Adjust within the band using act_session_length (under 30 min pulls down, over
75 min pushes up) and act_types (resistance and cardio push up; mind-body and
flexibility alone do not).
When the fields disagree¶
act_currently_active = "No" alongside act_sessions_per_week = 4 is a
contradiction the digest recorded rather than resolved. Take the lower
reading. An overestimated factor produces a target above maintenance for
someone who wanted a deficit, which is the failure that matters.
When activity is missing entirely¶
Fall back to client_work_activity alone: seated → 1.2, mixed → 1.375, on feet
→ 1.55, physically demanding → 1.725. This goes in Assumptions.
Goal adjustment¶
Read goal_primary, which is a list.
| Direction | Adjustment | Triggered by |
|---|---|---|
| Deficit | −15% to −20% of TDEE | "Lose weight", "Lose body fat", "Look better" |
| Maintenance | 0% | "Health", "General fitness", "Feel better in my body", "Improve health markers", "Move without pain", "Improve mobility and flexibility", "Weight isn't what I'm here for", "I'm not sure yet" |
| Surplus | +10% to +15% | "Build muscle", "Get stronger", "Perform better in a sport" — only when no deficit goal is also present |
Within the deficit band: −15% as standard, −20% only where BMI is over 30 and the client is currently active. A larger deficit is not available at any BMI.
Reconciling conflicting goals¶
"Lose body fat" and "Build muscle" together is the most common pair in the
questionnaire, and the answer is not to average them.
A deficit goal always wins over a surplus goal. Build at −15%, and let the elevated protein target from step 4 do the muscle-retention work. Trying to do both at once produces a target near maintenance that achieves neither and looks, to the client, like nothing is happening.
Where the deficit goal is "Look better" alone with no other weight goal, treat
it as maintenance — it is not reliably a fat-loss request, and a client who
wanted one has other ways to say so in this list.
"Return to training after a break"¶
Not a direction. It sets maintenance unless another goal establishes one, and it is a note for the coach rather than the menu.
Floors¶
The floor is not negotiable
The target never goes below the higher of:
- BMR × 1.1, and
- 1400 kcal for women, 1600 kcal for men
Not for a stated goal, not at the client's request, not by rounding.
Where the floor binds, the target is the floor, and Notes for you says the plan was built to a level that keeps the client fed rather than to the fastest possible rate of change. It says that without arithmetic and without apology.
Where the floor binds by a wide margin — the calculated target is more than 200 kcal below it — the underlying picture is usually a small, sedentary client with an aggressive goal. The menu is still built to the floor. Nothing else changes.
Rounding, and what to record¶
Round the final target to the nearest 50 kcal.
### Energy
BMR = (10×78) + (6.25×164) − (5×52) − 161 = 1384 → 1380
Activity: 3 sessions/wk, 45 min, seated job → 1.55
TDEE = 1380 × 1.55 = 2139
Goal: "Lose body fat" + "Build muscle" → deficit wins → −15% → 1818
Floor: max(1380 × 1.1, 1400) = 1518 — not binding
Target: 1800 kcal/day
This number is the agent's working figure. It goes in the client menu only if
nut_tracked_before = "Currently tracking", per
Scope & limits.
Previous: 2. Safety screen · Next: 4. Macro split