Fat Loss Tracking Notion Template
The purpose of the Fat Loss Tracking Notion Template
This "fat loss calculator" Notion system helps you set things right from the very beginning in your fat loss journey
The fat loss tracking Notion template is a calculator of everything concerning your nutrition. What I mean by "everything" is TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), Calorie deficit, calories per day to eat in a deficit, macronutrients (protein, fats, carbohydrates). In addition, the system encompasses a table to track your weight regularly (how often is totally up to you and your weigh-in habits). These are "just" numbers, however. There is no meal plan provided with this template. There are, however, common sources of protein, fats, and carbohydrates included in a central Nutrition essentials page. This page—Nutrition essentials—contains some key knowledge about nutrition and fat loss, together with some great resources to learn more about the subject (great resources based on my judgment—I have no official certification in nutrition science but a deep interest in the topic).
The purpose behind calculating our TDEE, calorie deficit, and macronutrients is to lay out a foundation on top of which to build a more practical, day-to-day nutrition plan. Calculating numbers in nutrition is, however, only an estimation—and should be taken as such. Trial and error is a crucial part of the process too. This calculation system uses the Mifflin-St.Jeor equation for the TDEE. It appears to be one of the most accurate formulas out there. But still, it is not impeccable. That is why trial and error is pivotal. Particularly so if you are at the beginning of your fat loss, or fitness journey. Trial and error mean sticking to the numbers calculated by the Mifflin-St.Jeor equation for, say, a week or two, while keeping track of your weight fluctuations attentively, and then adjusting accordingly based on how your body responds.
"Choosing your path"
You can duplicate the entire first page, or only the dedicated "card" you are interested in (i.e., either female or male)
When landing on the first page of this template (the "Fat Loss Tracker" page), you will be prompted to pick one of the two "cards": female or male. You can do so and duplicate only the gender-specific page, or you may instead duplicate the entire landing page (including both gender-specific pages). The structure of the "gender-specific" pages is the same. The reason for which there is a division in gender is that the Mifflin-St.Jeor equation varies slightly between the sexes. In particular, here are the equations for women and men compared:
Women
10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (y) – 161 x (level of activity)Men
[10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (y) + 5] x (level of activity)So, instead of creating a single page containing a specific table for each gender, I decided to design two cards identical in structure but differing in the TDEE equation.
The Structure & Workflow of Each Page
I have also recorded a video about the workflow to follow in this system. You can find it here. The page structure is rather straightforward. It uses table views only (due to the heavy presence of formulas), so it may be suboptimal to use this template on mobile (but still doable). There are two conversion tables at the top of the page: one for turning your LBS to KG (if you use imperial units of measure), and one for turning height from FT to CM (feet to centimeters). This is because the Mifflin-St.Jeor equation uses metric units, and you will need to input your weight in kilogram and height in centimeter to make the formula work as intended. If you already know your measures in metric units, there is no need to use the conversion tables.
Next up, it is time to input your weight, height, age, and activity level to discover what your estimated TDEE (together with macronutrients) is. You may repeat this calculation multiple times, say, in a couple of years, as your weight changes significantly (significant change in weight=variation in TDEE). That is why there are already 5 rows in the template (also to avoid the burden of creating relations between the main tables of this system). The TDEE and macronutrients that you find out here are an estimation of what your calorie maintenance (and respective macros) is. Your maintenance calories are the (estimated) amount of calories you would eat to maintain your current weight. Since this is a fat-loss-focused template, the next step consists of calculating a calorie deficit (i.e., subtracting calories from your TDEE in order to create a deficit and foster fat loss).
This is what the next table in the system is about. You will be prompted to pick a deficit intensity (light, moderate, heavy), which will in turn determine the number of calories to subtract from the TDEE. This second table will hence provide you with a new Calories per day amount (the one you would need to stick to so to generate fat loss), as well as protein, fats, carbohydrates. These are the (estimated) final numbers to consistently follow if you want to lose fat.
The last table of the template serves as a weight tracker. You can input the date and your weight there to keep track of your trajectory over time. Do not forget, as if there was no other thing in life more important, that fat loss (or establishing a "healthy" lifestyle) takes time, adherence, consistency over the long term. This is not a one-time behavior. This is a lifelong habit.
