Calculator · starting point
Your numbers to grow.
Calories, protein, training, and when to adjust. One minute.
Your numbers to grow
2,750kcal a day
Your starting point to gain weight. Not your final number. The scale gives you that.
100–140g of protein a day
About 25 g per meal. 4 meals.
+0.6 to 0.9kg a month
What your weekly average on the scale should climb. No more, no less.
Your full plan
Step by step.
This is a reference, not a promise. Formulas miss. Your real number shows up on the scale in 3 weeks. Don't count the calories from your watch: they usually run high. If you're under 18, have a medical condition, or weighing food makes you anxious, talk to a professional first. Based on the science of muscle growth and energy expenditure (Galpin, Pontzer and others). Fitting it to you is my job.
How it works out your numbers. First it estimates what you burn at rest with two classic formulas (Mifflin-St Jeor and Harris-Benedict) and, if they don't agree, it uses the average. Then it adds how much you move day to day, the gym, and any sport you play on the side (only part of the sport counts, because your body makes up for it). That's your maintenance, and it never lands below 30 or above 40 kcal per kilo. On top of that it adds an extra based on your case: more if you're skinny and starting from zero, less if you're skinny fat. Protein goes from 1.6 to 2.2 g per kilo a day (about 0.7 to 1 g per pound). It's a starting point: the scale over the next 3 weeks tells you if it got it right.
Now you've got your numbers.
Working them out is the easy part. Hitting them 12 weeks straight, and knowing what to change when the scale stalls, is the hard part.
That's what I do with you.
Every month you put it off is another month of guessing.
