A Step-by-Step Guide to Calculating Your Ideal Calorie Intake to Meet your Goals in 2024

[@AntiGravDrive]

I’ve lost a total of 55lbs following a daily calorie reduction routine and walking 3 miles 3-5 days a week. I use your meal prep recipes often. I still have 30 more to lose to get to my goal weight, hoping for a positive 2024. Thanks for your help, Josh.

[@jackselby7844]

Proud of you mate, go and crush it

[@bsimpson505]

Fuck ya bro that is so awesome

[@z3ro7o]

Only with walking?

[@paulgaras2606]

Textbook approach. Congratulations and keep it up!

[@DangerDickDavidson]

What was your starting weight if you dont mind my asking? Ive been using his recipes for about 8 months and im down 65 pounds and ive hardly done any exercise. Just started getting my portion sizes right with these videos help.

[@Edzter]

Man this is why i started following your recipies and how well they worked for me. You are literally me. 30, about the same height (idk imperial but looking at a converter I'm like maybe a milimeter above) hates most vegetables, baby face, and when cooking, eyeballing portions and sometimes compromising something in the meal without drastically changing (like that one time you used cabbage in place of brussel sprouts), wanting to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible, kinda being generally more loose than going by every set of numbers, like how it doesn't matter if the 5 day cooking portions are uneven, as long as I eat all 5 within the week. Been doing this now for over a year, and while I wasn't after any set target, I feel happier with myself when I look in the mirror compared to when I started. Keep at it king

[@armando6308]

2024 is going to be the year I get back to pre covid weight! Appreciate this video!

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Best of luck 😎

[@aaronbailey23]

Same here! People were saying Covid 15 and mine was more like 25 😂. Let’s do this!

[@Im_TheSaint]

covid 60 here :D @@aaronbailey23

[@duelblade7]

Just renewed my membership for another year and I can't wait to see what great content you put out for 2024, most of my meal preps come from your video's and your website. thanks for you delicious and entertaining vidz :)

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Thanks for your support 😎

[@HM-hr6mb]

You always have good info, and get to the point quickly, but the humor really makes you videos my favorite. Talking down into the mic at the disclaimer…. Recording your height… Ty for sharing all this with us!

[@NickArcieri]

My membership just renewed this morning for the 3rd year running 💪🏼. Love what you do Josh and love watching your videos. Look forward to all the new content you have coming in 2024. Happy New Year to you and all the best in ‘24!

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Thanks Nick 😎

[@gryphonraeburn-power7552]

@@TheMealPrepManual what does your weight training split look like for those three days a week? Would love to see a video on that! Keep up the great content! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@Jhoofnail]

It’s so funny you uploaded this, I just sent my friend who’s interested in losing as much weight as I did a ton of your recipes. Your food ideas are invaluable for weight loss

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Haha perfect timing

[@rylanning]

I'm a proud member. Josh has great recipes and has helped me balance out my macros for the past two years. Here's to a prosperous 2024!

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Thanks for your support 😎

[@Irishboy390]

Just subscribed and got a membership. Down 37lb (267-230) since September following your meal prep for lunch and dinner 4-5 times a week; and a lot of running. Funny story, the first 2 weeks of meal prep I misunderstood the instructions for cooking rice and used 2 cups of uncooked rice when you listed cooked rice. I said to myself, multiple times, wow this is a lot of food for only 500 calories… well it wasn’t 500 calories. I’ve since then corrected my mistake hahaha

[@sebastiancardoso]

Good stuff. The adjustment that I would humbly suggest to this approach is this: instead of weighing yourself at the beginning and end of your experiment, do so daily and use weekly averages to calculate your way. This will help negate weight fluctuations based on water, cortisol, and various other factors, resulting in a more precise understanding of your actual weight.

[@beastinshow2362]

Yeah, been following you here for long enough now.. Annual sub done, looking forward to being inspired by you in 2024 as well. :)

[@matthiassventoest6800]

I missed this membership special last year.., I think I will jump onboard this year.., as a trial. it seems like many of the members love it though, so while not give it a go. just based off of the recipes that you have posted on KZbin.., that I have made for my family.., its with a go

[@nikooooo7661]

I have found that if you had a plateau, just keep following the plan as long as it was working consistently the whole time. I see far too many people drop their calories to an extremely low level. I set my deficit and I will drop the calories one extra time max. I’ve never had a plateau longer than a week sticking close to my original deficit and I just got done losing 30 pounds. Better to increase activity rather than decrease calories.

[@chrisburkhardt4902]

Love your content. Much appreciated my dude. You're my go-to for meal prep ideas even when i'm not concerned with cal in/out. I know i'm going to get something delicious AND I can trust the macros. Also loved the more in depth dive into cal in/out.

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Glad it was helpful 😎

[@moomooha234]

This is a great video to explain how weight gain/weight loss works and the methods to find the right calorie intake. I thought I knew almost everything about this topic, but I wasn't aware of the thermic effect of food and how not all calories are absorbed. You have basically summarized all the relevant information in one simple easy to follow video in a way that not many people can. Very impressive stuff.

[@kkoerber07]

It's so refreshing to see nuance and explanation around CICO. So, so much other fitness/nutrition content stops where this video was at 5:00, and it causes so much grief and failure. This vid is a cut above.

[@swanification1]

Absolutely nailed it in this video. Best, no BS information I've heard.

[@excelself]

Literally lost 40 pounds gained 8 back and feel like crap… new year new me tho! I’m going to slay 2024! (204 my goal is 180).

[@Eminence_1337]

still down 32 that's pretty good keep it up

[@ChillDude....]

Good luck. 40 pounds is great. Most I ever lost at a time is 20 and gained it all back

[@TheMealPrepManual]

amazing 🫡🫡

[@moomooha234]

It's a marathon not a sprint. Don't beat yourself up over 8 lbs, you've still made a lot of progress and that's seriously impressive.

[@siiiiiiiiiimo]

10 seconds in, You've already given us the secret. You're the fuckin man ❤

[@georgematzaris6949]

Josh your videos are so well made. Dense in information but easy to follow. I also find you answer a lotta weird questions that I would definitely have asked.

[@brianslack4045]

Great video, a ton of valuable information in here. The only thing I might push back on is your method of weighing yourself but only using the final day as your marker. It’s much more accurate to weigh and track each day, add them up and find what your average was over the 14 days and compare that to your starting weight. I know I can vary 2-3lbs over 48 hours easily.

[@sebastianescobar3579]

I really enjoy your sense of humor and how you get straight to the point. I wont watch the whole video cuz ik this but I laughed at the legal disclaimer thing

[@garrettchurchey]

This is a great overview but it should also be said that specific diet styles and hydration can also influence weight in the short term. Your muscle glycogen can be around 300-400g (almost a lb alone) but also, every gram of carbohydrates holds on to a couple molecules of water, so water weight too. Same with sodium intake. This is partially why people who try the keto diet lose weight quickly, they generally just drop a lot of water from their system, but then stagnate if not responsibly and properly following that diet style. Not to mention that we carry several pounds of undigested or partially digested food in our gut/GI tract at any given time. Love your recipes. Love these videos. Keep ‘em coming!

[@roelbueno2886]

Thanks again. your the BEST! Happy New Year!!!

[@Bearpigman]

You've helped a lot over the last year with helping me basically shed the weight I picked up during the pandemic, so yeah definitely picking up a sub for tmpm going into 2024

[@lindsaytoussaint]

Amazing and to the point! The sense of humor I keep saying this but it really helps the medicine go down man 👍🏾👍🏾

[@Pgh_RPh]

Happy new year all! Let’s get these food and fitness goals!

[@burningblueskies2266]

Thank you so much for your video the calculator and the very easy to digest information and tips. I was literally just looking for something like this yesterday and couldn’t find one that laid out the info as clearly as you did. Big fan of your stuff. Thank you.

[@Mgamerz]

Got a zwilling vacuum at your recommendation and just did my first batch prepped chicken!

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Amazing 🤩

[@MrHandyDad]

Great one, alot info and helpful. Most appreciated. Thanks.

[@hockeyjock164]

Hey Josh, love what you do! Just curious if you'll ever post some recipes with fish. Maybe salmon or tuna?

[@ohwowoh7281]

Thank you for this!

[@djskywalkerr]

energy is everything

[@GameNOWRoom]

Last year I thought about a subscription but it's this year that I started it. I like the 365 videos, want to do one every day. But do I understand it right that there are no more recipes than without the subscription? Because I see no difference. So far the 365 stretching videos are the only difference, right? Happy new year :)

[@justwhatevere]

i am 225 pounds male age 32 I struggling to lose weight even tho i go to the gym 5 days a week for 1-2 hours doctor says i have low levels thyroid issues that i am on thyroid meds for but they seem not to be working I hate that i struggling -__- Can u make easy Recipes for low level thyroids / weight lose that simple to make and tast good ?

[@mikeb.4597]

I’m a member. I love your meals. I’ve never really tracked my calorie intake before. I just ate, worked out, and maintained my weight. But this experiment is interesting. May give it a shot. What are some good apps to track macros?

[@TheMealPrepManual]

I like MacroFactor the best. That one is a subscription. MyFitnessPal is a free one that is fine

[@HM-hr6mb]

Lose It is another really great app!

[@bribradt3450]

Chronometer!!

[@chelseazamecnik]

Renewed for another year so your boss doesn't brutally beat you. Dang! Who knew you were 6'3"?! Looking forward to another great year of TMPM!

[@RuzhGP]

Woohoo caught a new video on time

[@christopherharrisintexas]

Have loved your vids. All signed up, greetings from Hutto.

[@H0MEtownHER0]

It would be cool if a long with the calculator on the site, that when you choose your goal it prompts you with some recipes (Breakfast, lunch dinner) to achieve that goal.

[@NathanDarling]

I was googling this thing literally an hour before this uploaded, haha

[@asf130thecompany7]

So correct me if wrong but if you add more protein in your diet to a certain extend(which I don't know) you feel more full and eat less? I'm currently making changes to my life so all the help is appriciated :)

[@brad1574]

As a 'concrete layer' my watch says I burn 5000 calories more or less on a big day.

[@TheMealPrepManual]

shoutout concrete layers. 5000 a day is wild

[@Tattersail]

What you have recently been eating can swing your weight due to water retention in your gut etc.. i think monitoring weight over the period of 2 weeks would be better than just 2 measurements. Or, of course, monitoring over longer periods - which anyone conscious about their fitness will probably be doing already, but maybe without connecting all the dots.

[@peterrautenbach1298]

Say I wanted to gain muscle and lose fat (classic I know) , how should I use your calculator? Does imputing everything with the goal of weight gain, and then focusing on a high protein, lower fat/carb diet make sense? Then, after the 14 days, weight gain could be generally seen as muscle growth vs fat?

[@raditz9676]

Nice clip! I'd add a few things. a, The calculator is very accurate, compared to my experience with my weight loss-gain "cycles" (yo-yo all my life). It's a bit under, but that likely is personal experience and may vary (hence your recommendation to keep weighting - which is the best advice anyone can give) b, For extreme sports guys like myself (losing-gaining 40-60 kgs / 90-130-ish lbs in cycles), due to yo-yo effect, coming from probably a mental illness (IMO obesity is indeed one) and being raised bad so having more and larger fat cells, etc, etc, anyway, so I HIGHLY recommend to ignore the scale in the first 2 weeks and measure only after a month, or measure every week, but don't mind the random numbers(!!!). For me, the first few weeks are total mess, sometimes I lose close to nothing, sometimes I lose a massive amount, then nothing in the next 2 weeks (same diet, same food, same everything!), and it turns into a constant something only thereafter, same amount every week - strictly following the diet program(!!!). I have a graph for my last massive weight loss (155 kg to 105 kg), but can't share a screenshot here so meh... c, I created an excel with ingredients (don't trust MyFitnessPal or such, numbers are inaccurate, go for your food's label & avg from different sources like USDA) and nutrition facts and added portion size. For eggs it's 1, for carrot it's 100g, etc. and let the excel do the daily kcal for the items I picked by taste or recipe ideas (so I can easily add an extra egg, or remove 50g chicken breast or something if would be over). Last but not least, no cheat days! My previous one lasted a year :D

[@mohammedsalahuddin6673]

Hi Josh, could you maybe make a video on how to have 2400 calories per day? I tried out the calorie calculator and it say I need to consume that much. Also I’m a student fyi :)

[@emschlef]

2 weeks isn't sufficient for people with a menstrual cycle, a full month would give you more accurate measurements. Hormonal changes have me weighing in 5-8lbs heavier depending on where I'm at in my cycle.

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Good point. People want things instantly though and trying to get them to commit to 2 weeks of "dieting" before they really even start the diet is hard as it is haha. They want to jump right into it

[@peejayfromhell]

Yeah, it applies to men as well. Some weeks you suddenly gain 2 lbs, because youve meal prepped an oversalted chicken, or just had a lots of stress, and then one day it all comes off you.

[@baraafakiha1]

Hi I lift weights 3 days then I do 1 day cardio then I take a rest day then repeat in your opinion which choice should I choose to calculate my calories in the activity level? And most of days I stay at home don’t go out thanks

[@caseymorgan2112]

Are there not better options for more accurate caloric expenditure per day than those equations? For example, Apple Watch, fit bit, or Withings trackers? Something that takes movement, hr, etc into account for a more accurate kcal expenditure measurement?

[@acidify9940]

When it comes to the final day weight cant that be skewed by what you ate and drank the day before? So in this case isnt it more accurate to take the average of your weight across the 14 days to find what your weight is?

[@georgipopov9983]

Happy New Year all! That is simply and good explanation, regards! What do you thin about the fibers in the vegetables, do you track their calories?

[@Oldmanhenderson12]

The worst thing about being short is that you basically get to eat barely anything because your TDEE is so little in comparison. Even when you factor exercise I work from home and I’m sedentary outside of the gym.

[@chelsiebebber9177]

Quick question, how would one go about finding a trial where I can live in a metabolic ward for a week? Sounds like a fun time away from society.

[@Priceman5]

Question: Once you find your BMR, how much does exercise effect your bottom line for weight loss? For example, let's say your BMR is 2,500 calories, and you exercise burning 500 calories. At a 500 calorie deficit, you'd be consuming 2,000 calories. Are you now able to consume the normal 2,500 thanks to the 500 calorie credit, or should you still stick to 2,000?

[@moomooha234]

First of all, BMR + exercise isn't your TDEE, there are other factors involved. But that's not too important. If you normally burn 2500 calories, then you exercise and burn 500 more calories, then your *theoretical* total calories burned is 3000. If you want a 500 calorie deficit you would then want to eat 2500 calories. Test this out for 2 weeks then see how your weight changes and readjust accordingly. But keep in mind that not all weight gain or loss is body tissue, since water weight changes the number on the scale, but if you keep readjusting you'll eventually find what works for you until your BMR changes due to more or less body tissue from your new weight.

[@Priceman5]

@@moomooha234 much appreciated. I forgot to factor tdee.

[@matteidson132]

You say you don't like vegetables, yet you play squash . . .

[@andrewaldrich3602]

1:00 did I spot a fellow Iowan? Go hawks!

[@TheCookingSpiceRanger]

Can you make your website for people that use metric units?

[@TheMealPrepManual]

There are metric units on everything. Is there something specific you are referring to?

[@TheCookingSpiceRanger]

@@TheMealPrepManual ah yeah, I was looking at the wrong thing. You put the metric/imperial tick at the top of the daily calorie calc. Sorry, my bad. Thanks man

[@maxiegauthier9927]

Great video Josh! Badd Ass!

[@cryss3616]

What app do you recommend for tracking food intake?

[@TheMealPrepManual]

I like MacroFactor the best. For a free one, MyFitnessPal is what I always used

[@mayen67]

The only problem with working BMR with weight is that people have different bodyfat %. So someone who is 180lbs with 25% bodyfat it will say they have a higher BMR calorie requirement as someone who is 180pbs with 15% of BF. which makes little sense because muscle requires more calories then fat.

[@desmomotodesmomoto2033]

Bro Goatis made a video about you and your diet. You seen it?

[@laureenrocha5152]

🧡

[@neilamin8607]

Is the sale still going on?

[@TheMealPrepManual]

It ended last night. Send me an email when you get a chance though and we’ll set it up [e-mail]

[@massimonotaro607]

What is confusing me ,if i chose to gain weight will i gain in muscle or fat?.

[@J1900-v5f]

There's metabolic adaptation though

[@Xgil2Play]

+3100kcal this is so unfair 😢 I have to spend x3 as much just to get to 3000kcal daily. Why couldn't muscle gain just be about lifting weights? Eating is the hardest part because it's so expensive 😣

[@Starcraftvidsandsuch]

Im going to get fatter and start smoking 🚬🚬🚬

[@TheMealPrepManual]

I dare you not to

[@fabianmedina9966]

🎉

[@christianpirlet5494]

All Hail, SnackCity!

[@AthaliahOpus]

Am laughing at the math errors in the calculator at the higher weights with highest/extreme weight loss saying to do 550 calories a day. Good luck with troubleshooting that bug.

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Yeah that’s what I was saying about how the equations aren’t for everyone, especially if you are far from the average they used to determine the equations. Unfortunately with how the math works out and how the percentages get larger as the total amount of weight increases, the 3500 calorie estimate becomes a limitation

[@m_a_k_e_n_n_a]

It sucks but it’s true, you just eat less than you want to and it takes a long fucking time to do so healthily, but it works

[@bierguy3033]

Comment for algorithm.

[@s0ne01]

W

[@Atom.Storm.]

I and 189cm, weigh 115kg, train 6 days and eat no more than 2k calories of mostly clean food. I struggle hard to lose any weight or burn fat and my cardio is always terrible, even though I concentrate on it. There doesn't seem to be any recipe that allows me to get fit.

[@chocopieaddict9792]

bro? i think u might need to eat more believe it or not, and less training days.

[@moomooha234]

Make sure you are estimating your calories accurately or always overestimate a tiny bit if you're trying to lose weight. A 10% error of 2k calories varies from 1900 to 2100 calories. Over a month this is almost 1 lb of potential weight gain or weight loss.

[@dbsparcs6491]

First

[@PaulHo]

Y'all, he's 6'5". 😁

[@Saihbreas28]

Different video but always good info. I don't want your "boss" to beat you, but I pay the $50/yr membership, which I still think is too low but I'll take the bargain. Tell your "boss" to F off. I'm not a "hot girl" but if I'm down Austin I'll play some disc golf with ya. May learn something new, and I'll be your wing man if there are any "hot girls" out there. 🙂

[@kermit1]

If you want a more accurate estimate, go to a lab and get an RMR test. My problem with calculators is they don’t factor in muscle mass which which can greatly vary your RMR. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHLMmouertR0pMUsi=iF3tHhelVgS-HImJ

[@TheMealPrepManual]

the experiment I mentioned in the video should help with accounting for muscle mass. The RMR test are great but they still don't solve for the activity portion of your life. Maybe it would be easier to estimate that though if you had a known value for RMR

[@kermit1]

@@TheMealPrepManual thanks. BTW since I started following your meal plans I have lost about 30 pounds.

[@m.963.m2]

3:30 wait what turn off aging? Can someone please explain?

[@LondonBridge99]

He’s just joking. He’s basically saying that he doesn’t keep counting his age so that he can “stay young”. 😅

[@m.963.m2]

@LondonBridge99 😅oh thank you so much. English is not my native language and I am still learning. So I didn't get that he said it as a joke. I thought maybe it is something for the Americans to be able to do in their law.

[@combatepistemologist8382]

There is another source of error in this procedure, and that it with the calculation of caloric intake. I never cease to be amazed at how I can Google calories per 100g for a given food and come up with many contradictory results. I just did it for raw carrots and came up with 41cal/100g from one source and 35cal/100g from another. Another thing that irks me is the ambiguity in the numbers provided. Often they will quote calories per serving but not say what a serving size is. Or quote calories per cup but not provide a density value (g/cc) or calories/100g (not everything weighs 1g/cc). Often they will not say whether the calorie count is for 100g of the food cooked or uncooked (it's not the same). Or for meats, does the Calorie count refer to meats with or without skin, with or without bone, trimmed of fat or not trimmed, cooked or raw. And this sloppiness and imprecision is pervasive. No Mr. Website manager, I don't know what you mean. I'm not psychic. It's enough to make me tear out my hair. It's insane. Nutrition is not science, it's @#$% voodoo. (P.S. I'm a physicist, and have a Ph.D. in Mathematics. Big surprise, right? /s)

[@Mcsqw]

...and it gets worse. Calorie values are counted by burning an amount of food in a known amount of water and measuring how much the temperature of the water goes up. Except that people aren't furnaces, and the bioavailability of calories can vary hugely. This is particularly problematic with highly processed foods, where the same amount of food can contain the same amount of calories/fat/sugar etc. as a less processed food, but due to the manufacturing processes (ie the processed form of something has zero flavour so they have to add back a load of fat/sugar/etc. to make it palatable) the amount of those substances your body can extract from that highly processed food is higher. Professor Giles Yeo is a good source of information on that wrinkle, but Josh's experimental approach to weight loss helps to get round this issue, partly by avoiding a lot of processed food, and partly by just seeing if you gain or lose weight.

[@TheMealPrepManual]

Yeah there are definitely many limitations. I think the best and most reasonable thing to do is accept that perfection will never be obtained in our own kitchens and getting close is good enough. With trial and error you can solve for these issues and even though your numbers may be incorrect, you can still succeed by being consistent and knowing how and when to tweak the dials.

[@combatepistemologist8382]

@@Mcsqw+ Josh, I've taken to using the FDA's Food Central database at fdc.nal.usda.gov/ This database still survives in spite of attempts by some in Congress (dating back to Reagan) to get rid of it (they seem to think it should be left to the private sector, but we've seen how well that has worked.)

[@NINEx7x]

Great video. But the mic sucks.

[@TheMealPrepManual]

It's a huge piece of shit and it cost me $200 😑 The free headphones that came with my iphone are miles better

[@moon200070]

Please don't tell me you did the thing where you eat a bunch of bloaty food so that you could have a fake transformation thumbnail. It has been done to death.

[@peejayfromhell]

Well im 63kg/176cm single digit BF 39 old dude. Ive been maintaining this weight for years eating around 3200kcals per day. Your calculator puts me at 2700kcal or 3080kcal if i choose physical job. I dont really have physical job, im a medical physicist working at a proton radiotherapy center, but im an extremely high NEAT person and my job reqires me to move a lot. I average over 20k steps just from my life and im like 18-19h a day on my feet. Btw, youve explained everything perfectly.

[@aaronbailey23]

I’m a nuclear medicine technologist and one of the few people who actually somewhat understands your profession 😆.

[@peejayfromhell]

@aaronbailey9454 cheers man! :)