Calculator and meal-selection methodology

Last updated October 27, 2026

The site matches calorie budgets to orders in its U.S. menu database. The simple planner, chain-page calculators, and advanced planner use different inputs. Each calorie estimate has limits.

The simple daily planner

The simple planner starts at 181 lb current weight, 165 lb target weight, and a three-month requested window. The weights are Gallup's pooled 2021–2025 self-reported U.S. adult averages for current and personal "ideal" weight. They are not measured averages or a medically recommended target.

To keep the form to three inputs, this planner uses fixed example assumptions: age 40, height 66.2 inches, light activity (1.375), and the midpoint (-78) of the male and female Mifflin-St Jeor constants. This is a reference-based illustration, not an individualized calorie prescription. At the default weight, estimated maintenance is about 2,192 calories. A rough deficit of 613 calories per day gives a budget of 1,580 calories after rounding upward to the nearest 10.

The requested deficit is weight change × 3,500 ÷ (months × 30.4375). This version caps the deficit at 1,000 calories per day and the budget at a minimum of 1,500 calories; these are product limits, not assurances of safety. When a limit applies, it flags the requested deadline and shows the longer rough estimate. The model does not account for changing metabolism. A three-month goal is not a promise of reaching a particular weight.

Only your selected chains are used. The planner starts with familiar meals and uses as many different selected restaurants as it can, up to three, while keeping the day within goal. A restaurant with more menu records does not automatically win. Shuffle cycles through fitting alternatives and keeps your other two meals. Choose lets you search meals, including larger orders marked in red. A day over goal pauses the weight estimate until your meals fit again. Saving unchanged settings keeps your meals.

Automatic three-meal suggestions total at least 1,200 calories and never exceed the daily goal. Manual Choose can exceed it, with a red warning. Calories left over are room for other food, not a suggestion to lose weight faster. If no day fits, the planner does not add unselected chains or raise your goal.

Familiar-food priorities are DTD's editorial choices, informed by restaurant-published favorites where available. They are not a national sales ranking. Standard foods come before unusual changes, and different main foods come before long runs of side or size options. Your food preferences and calorie limits still come first.

The weight-over-time chart uses that same fixed-maintenance, 3,500-calorie-per-pound model across the selected window. It assumes the full daily calorie budget is eaten, including food outside the three listed meals, and stops at the target weight. An equal current and target weight produces a flat maintenance illustration. A goal constrained by the calorie limits may not be reached within the requested window. The chart updates with valid profile inputs and remains a budget-based illustration even if no restaurant day is selected. It is not a prediction of an individual's weight change.

The homepage uses this same starting example and daily calorie goal. Its slideshow shows checked orders within that goal. Calories left after those meals are room for other food; smaller meals do not make the headline promise faster weight loss. The opening estimates link to their explanation and change with the calculator's inputs, including when a goal needs more time.

The restaurant planners

The six chain-picks planners use the same starting weights, three-month window and calculation limits as the simple planner. Unlike the simple planner, they let you change age, height, sex and activity under "More about you." Their suggested meals stay within that restaurant.

The Mifflin-St Jeor formula estimates resting calorie needs from weight, height, age and sex. We multiply that by the selected activity level to estimate the calories needed to stay at the same weight. The daily goal is at least 1,500 calories, at most 6,000, and no more than 1,000 below the estimated daily needs. These are tool limits, not a personal safety assessment.

The initial day fills the meal allowance, then favors a 26/34/40 breakfast/lunch/dinner split when totals tie. Food filters must all match. Lighter means up to 450 calories for the whole order; medium is 451–650; larger is over 650. These bands select checked orders, not invented portion sizes. The protein choice applies to each selected meal. Choosing the same main food for lunch and dinner can reuse checked daytime foods between those two slots, but does not move them into breakfast.

Shuffle changes only the selected meal and stays within the daily calorie goal. Familiar foods come first, with different main foods shown before repeating a family of orders where possible. Shuffle all changes the day while keeping any explicitly skipped slots empty. Skip meal is a manual choice, never an automatic suggestion. Automatically suggested three-meal days contain at least 1,200 calories. A manual choice or skip can total less, leaving room for other food within the full daily goal.

Choose shows all checked orders that match the meal and food preferences, even when they put the day over its calorie goal. You can search by food name. Without a search, fitting choices appear first and over-goal choices last. Red labels show the extra calories before selection. Choosing a meal keeps the other meals unchanged. If the total is too high, all three cards show "Day over goal" until the day fits again. Going over a weight-loss goal does not necessarily mean eating more than you need to stay at the same weight.

The chart assumes the full daily calories are eaten, including other food and drinks. Skipping a meal does not make it predict faster weight loss. The weight-loss estimate pauses while the selected meals and reserved extras are over goal. Invalid details or a set of food choices with no matching day clear the result; the planner does not silently loosen a filter. Settings are stored on the device only when the visitor chooses to remember them. Search text stays on the page and is not sent to analytics.

Restaurant nutrition data

All 6658 meal records identify their portions, calorie breakdown, sources and U.S. market. Totals use the shared food catalog, so a checked correction reaches each tool. New suggested orders combine named portions with water and, where listed, a checked side. They are suggested orders, not claims about official combo deals. Each item has its own review date; an order's date reflects its oldest checked food component.

Source links use exact restaurant product pages when available. Some components link to a restaurant's broader U.S. menu, nutrition page, or menu feed because the chain does not provide a stable page for that individual item. A review date records when the value was checked; it does not prevent a restaurant from changing a recipe or portion later. The editorial and nutrition data policy explains source priority, dietary labels, updates, and local variation.