Most calorie targets come from equations that estimate metabolism based on age, height, weight and sex.
These formulas work reasonably well for large populations, but when applied to individuals, they can be 10–30% inaccurate.
For many people, that can mean being hundreds of calories off per day.
Wearable devices and fitness trackers can add further confusion.
They are useful for tracking activity trends, but calorie burn estimates are frequently overestimated because they cannot accurately measure your metabolic physiology.
This is why many people feel like they are:
- Eating the “right” number of calories
- Training consistently
- Yet still not seeing the progress they expect.
Without knowing your true metabolic baseline, your nutrition plan may simply be built on the wrong starting number.