4 guides · 24 min total
The math behind
the numbers.
How targets are set, how protein should be counted, what AI logging can and can't do, and how to tell a deficit is real, written for someone starting from zero, with a calculator wherever there's math. It's the same method the app is built on. Read them in order, or jump to the one you need.
- 01
Set your targets
How to calculate your macros for bulking, cutting, or recomp
Estimate your maintenance calories, move them up or down for your goal, set protein and fat by bodyweight, give the rest to carbs, then correct every two weeks from your weight trend.
- Find your maintenance calories
- Pick your goal, then your pace
- Set protein first
- Set fat second
- +2 more
8 min read · 6 steps · October 28, 2026
Read the guide - 02
Nail protein
How much protein do you need to build muscle?
1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day builds muscle for most people who lift. Go higher, 2.2 to 2.6 g/kg, on a cut.
- The short answer
- Why per kilogram, not a percentage
- Cutting versus bulking
- Does timing or distribution matter?
- +3 more
5 min read · 8 sections · October 28, 2026
Read the guide - 03
Log accurately
How accurate is AI calorie tracking? An honest answer
Accurate enough to keep you consistent, not accurate enough to trust blindly. And when it's wrong, it's almost always wrong in the same direction: low.
- The short answer
- Where AI logging works well
- Where it fails
- Photo versus description
- +2 more
6 min read · 8 sections · October 28, 2026
Read the guide - 04
Check your deficit
How to know if you're actually in a calorie deficit
If your weekly-average weight falls over two to three weeks of complete logging, you're in a deficit, whatever any calculator or watch says.
- What a calorie deficit actually is
- The one test that settles it: your weight trend
- Why the scale can hide a deficit
- Estimating your deficit from the numbers
- +2 more
5 min read · 8 sections · October 28, 2026
Read the guide
GainzMate runs this math for you.
Targets from your inputs, editable at every step. Coming soon to iPhone.