Coach HubStarting calories: estimate, deploy, correct
Every client needs a starting number. Calories, macros, the meal plan and every later adjustment hang off it. The good news: "roughly right" is all you need. The body will tell you what's true inside two weeks.
A starting number is a hypothesis. The client's response is the test.
How to get the number
Use an equation-based calculator. Internally we average two well-known equations, Mifflin-St Jeor and Harris-Benedict, adjusted for activity. Averaging smooths out where either one over- or under-shoots.
Then sanity-check it against the person in front of you:
| Factor | Which way it pushes |
|---|---|
| Very short or very tall | Down or up 100–200 kcal |
| Well above or below an average bodyweight | Scale with it (heavier = more) |
| Desk job, low steps | Lower start |
| Active job (tradie, hospitality, nurse) | 100–300 kcal higher |
| 5+ sessions a week | Nudge up |
| 2–3 sessions a week | Nudge down |
| Long history of dieting or under-eating | Lower than the calculator says, their output is likely suppressed |
As a gut check, a fat-loss start for an average 75–85 kg man usually lands around 2,200 kcal, and for an average 55–65 kg woman around 1,750 kcal.
Don't get stuck in the calculator
Two calculators will disagree by 200 kcal. That's fine. Pick a number, get it in front of the client, and let the data correct it. Don't run calculators in a loop hunting for the perfect answer. The perfect plan is the one they'll follow, not the one with the perfect number.
Reading the first two weeks
For a fat-loss start, you're looking for a clear downward trend in the 7-day average (not a single weigh-in):
- On target: roughly 0.5–1% of bodyweight a week. The number was right.
- Faster, with no extra hunger: you may have undershot. Usually fine for a few weeks, but watch performance and hunger.
- Flat or rising: check adherence first (Module 6), then adjust.