Your goal direction tells Zolt what you want the calorie target to support. Choose Lose, Gain, or Maintain based on the outcome you want now, not the outcome you think you should want permanently.
Choose Lose
Choose Lose when your current goal is a gradual reduction in bodyweight. You will also choose a target and pace.
Before saving, ask:
- Can I follow this through ordinary work, travel, and social weeks?
- Does the pace leave room for training, sleep, and adequate nutrition?
- Is the projected timeline realistic?
- Do I have a health reason to seek individualized guidance first?
Faster is not automatically better. If the resulting calorie target feels impractical or reaches the floor in your settings, choose a slower pace.
Choose Gain
Choose Gain when your current goal is a gradual increase in bodyweight, often alongside progressive resistance training.
The plan cannot determine whether gained weight is muscle, fat, water, or a mixture from the scale alone. Use training progress, bodyweight trend, and other measurements you trust to review the phase.
A larger surplus does not guarantee faster muscle gain. Choose a pace you can monitor and revise.
Choose Maintain
Choose Maintain when you want the plan centered around holding bodyweight near the current level or chosen range.
Maintenance can be useful when:
- you have completed a loss or gain phase;
- a demanding period makes active weight change unrealistic;
- you want time to establish logging and weigh-in routines; or
- you are not ready to choose another direction.
Maintaining is an active goal, not the absence of one.
Choosing a pace
The pace changes how far the calorie target sits from the current maintenance estimate. Zolt shows the resulting target and projected timeline before you confirm.
Use the slowest pace that still serves your reason for changing weight. Review the plan if adherence, hunger, training, recovery, or wellbeing deteriorates.
Zolt does not replace individualized clinical advice. Seek qualified guidance before pursuing weight change if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, managing a relevant medical condition, taking medication affected by diet or weight, or have a history of disordered eating.
You can change direction later
A goal is not a lifetime decision. You can move from Lose or Gain to Maintain, adjust the pace, or set a new target as your circumstances change. Review the new values before confirming.
Continue with Setting up your first goal, or use the weight timeline planner to compare possible timelines.