How your targets are calculated
Last updated: September 29, 2026
Lecker estimates a daily calorie and macro target from the details you enter. These are general estimates, not medical advice, and they are not tailored to any medical condition, pregnancy, or eating disorder. Talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian before making significant changes to how you eat, and especially if any of those apply to you.
Resting energy
Your resting energy is estimated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age, then +5 if you selected male and −161 if you selected female. It was derived from indirect calorimetry in 498 adults and is the equation the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends for healthy adults.
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, Scott BJ, Daugherty SA, Koh YO. "A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990;51(2):241–247. doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/51.2.241
Activity
That resting figure is multiplied by an activity factor for how much you move: 1.2 sedentary, 1.375 lightly active, 1.55 moderately active, 1.725 active, 1.9 very active. These are the standard physical activity level (PAL) bands.
- FAO/WHO/UNU. "Human energy requirements: report of a joint FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation." Rome, 2004. fao.org/4/y5686e/y5686e00.htm
Losing or gaining weight
Weight goals adjust that daily total: −250 kcal for slow loss, −500 for moderate, −750 for faster, +300 for gaining. Because roughly 7,700 kcal is stored in a kilogram of body fat, those work out at about 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 kg a week. Health services generally consider 0.5 to 1 kg a week a safe rate; Lecker deliberately does not offer anything faster.
- NHS inform. "Tips for losing weight safely." nhsinform.scot
- Hall KD, Sacks G, Chandramohan D, et al. "Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight." The Lancet, 2011;378(9793):826–837. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60812-X
Real weight change is noisier than any equation: water, glycogen and the way energy expenditure falls as you lose weight all move the number. Treat a projection as a direction, not a promise.
Protein, carbs and fat
Eating styles split your calories into macros: Balanced 32/38/30, High protein 40/35/25, Lower carb 35/20/45, as protein/carbs/fat by share of calories. All sit inside the acceptable macronutrient distribution ranges for adults, which put protein at 10–35% of calories, carbohydrate at 45–65% and fat at 20–35%; the lower-carb and high-protein presets are at the edges of those ranges rather than outside them.
- Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. Washington DC: National Academies Press, 2005. doi.org/10.17226/10490
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies. "Scientific opinion on dietary reference values for protein." EFSA Journal, 2012;10(2):2557. doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2557
Food and nutrition data
Barcode scans and product searches read from Open Food Facts, a free, open database contributed to by the public. Entries vary in completeness and accuracy, so check the numbers against the packaging when they matter to you. Nutrition for dishes that Lecker generates or rebalances is estimated from typical values for the ingredients and portions, and is an estimate rather than a measurement.
- Open Food Facts. openfoodfacts.org
What this is not
Lecker is a cooking and tracking tool. It does not diagnose, treat or monitor any condition, and its estimates are not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, managing diabetes or another condition, recovering from an eating disorder, or under 18, please speak to a healthcare professional before following any target the app suggests.