Physique Architect Self-Assessment

What Clients Say

Daily protein target

What the Colours Mean

The three gauges below all use the same simple system.

Body Recomposition Likelihood

How realistic it is to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, right now.

The scienceRecomp responds best to higher protein. Research puts the useful range at 2.2–3.5g per kg of bodyweight, and since protein isn't the only macronutrient that matters, 2.2–2.3g/kg is a solid practical target rather than chasing the top of the range. It's also harder the leaner and more advanced you already are, the same "wet towel" effect that makes aggressive dieting tougher at very low body fat. Women using hormonal contraception often get an added edge, since oestrogen itself supports muscle building, so fat can drop while the scale barely moves.

Fat Loss Sprint Suitability

Suitability for an aggressive, short-term fat-loss protocol without sacrificing muscle.

Why aggressive beats "just eat less"Properly structured aggressive dieting sees fewer than 3 in 100 people fail to stick with it, against roughly 1 in 5 on a flat 500-calorie-for-everyone deficit, because the protocol flexes around your hunger and life instead of the other way round. Resistance training at least twice a week is non-negotiable here: skip it and the deficit burns muscle instead of protecting it.

What's a refeed?A short, planned stretch of eating back up near maintenance calories, not a free-for-all binge. The goals: refill depleted muscle glycogen, bring leptin (your hunger hormone) back up so food noise quietens down, restore the background fidgeting and movement (NEAT) your body quietly cuts during a steep deficit, and protect the muscle you're working to keep.

How to refeedEat at roughly maintenance calories for the day(s), built mostly from carbs: about 88% carbs / 9% protein / 3% fat, keeping fat low since it's dietary fat, not carbs, that stores most readily once you're above maintenance. Expect the scale to jump 1–2kg during and just after a refeed; that's water bound to glycogen, not fat, and it settles back down within a few days.

When to refeedTwo solid options, either works well: a single 1-day refeed once a week, or a longer 2-day refeed every 2–3 weeks. Go sooner than planned if food noise and obsessive thoughts about eating start creeping back in, that's your body telling you it's due, regardless of what the calendar says.

This calculator shows a standard deficit above, aimed at around 0.5kg (1lb) of fat loss per week. An actual Aggressive Dieting phase runs a steeper, fully personalised deficit calculated in coaching. This panel shows what to expect from that protocol, not the calorie number itself.

Lean Bulk Suitability

Building muscle first with a small calorie surplus, before worrying about fat loss.

Worth knowingBody Recomp and Lean Bulk can sometimes both come back green for the same person, that's normal, since everyone holds and distributes fat differently. Which route you take from here is genuinely down to personal preference and goals. If you'd like help deciding, apply for 1:1 coaching below.

Real Transformations

All three methods work. It comes down to how quickly you want the results.

Fat Loss Sprint

You'll notice everyone here loses fat at a different rate, that's by design. The Fat Loss Sprint (FLS) is built to maximise fat loss while protecting muscle: the more fat you're carrying, the faster it comes off; the more muscle you're carrying, the more protective the approach has to be. There's no blanket 500–1000 calorie deficit here. It's 100% personalised nutrition.

Belinda: 23kg in 11 weeks

Cat: 11kg in 5 weeks

Dave: 40kg in 5 months

Coach Richard: lost 7kg in 6 weeks, putting the method to the test himself

Matt: 13kg in 5 weeks

Body Recomp

Jas: 50kg of fat lost in 16 months, slow and steady

Pete: 20kg lost over 14 months

Amanda: same weight, recomposed

Lean Bulk

Beth: +4kg over 12 months of consistency

Paul: +3kg over 4 months

Take Action

Turn today's numbers into next week's habits.

1. Build your plate. Aim for half your plate vegetables, a quarter protein, a quarter starch at most meals. No scales needed: a palm-sized portion of meat or fish is roughly 85g (a deck of cards), a cupped handful of rice or pasta is about 180g (a baseball), and a thumb of oil, nut butter or cheese is about 15g/15ml (a poker chip).
2. Fuel around training, not just around meals. 2–3 hours before: a balanced meal of carbs, protein and fat. 30–60 minutes before: something light and easy to digest: a banana, rice cakes with honey, a crumpet and jam. Under 30 minutes before: fast carbs only if you need them (dates, diluted juice, a few jelly sweets).
   2–3h beforeBalanced meal

   1–2h beforeSimpler, lower fat

   30–60m beforeEasy carbs

   <30mFast sugar
3. Shift your plate with your training day. On harder training days, lean more on lean protein and grains/starches to fuel and recover. On rest or low-intensity days, lean more on protein, veg and fruit, and go easier on the starch. It's simple fuel-to-demand matching, not a gimmick.

   Rest / low-intensity day
   + a little healthy fat

   Training / high-intensity day
   fuels performance & recovery

4. Don't fear carbs, just choose good ones. Controlled studies that match protein and calories consistently show no fat-loss advantage to low-carb over higher-carb diets. Favour fibre-rich, nutrient-dense sources (potatoes with the skin on, beans, wholegrain bread and pasta, high-fibre cereal) over refined, low-fibre versions.
5. Refeeds work because they keep you consistent, not because they speed up fat loss. A 2026 randomised trial found dieters using a weekly refeed day plus two one-week diet breaks matched the fat-loss results of continuous dieters, despite spending roughly a quarter of the study at maintenance calories. The benefit is adherence, not a faster metabolism.
6. Train each muscle twice a week, not once. The largest network meta-analysis on resistance training to date (178 studies, over 5,000 people) found frequency beats cramming volume into one session. Two moderate-to-heavy sessions per muscle per week, a few sets each, reliably outperforms one all-out session for both strength and size.
7. Play the long game. Only around 1 in 5 people who lose weight keep it off long-term. The common thread among those who do: slow and steady changes, one habit at a time, consistent strength training, and dropping the need for perfection.

How To Exercise No Matter The Goal

Whichever route you take (Fat Loss Sprint, Body Recomp or Lean Bulk), strength training is what protects and builds your muscle while these numbers do their work. Skip it and a chunk of any progress on the scale ends up being muscle, not fat.

We've emailed you a science-backed guide to building muscle, referenced straight from PubMed studies, no bro-science or fluff, just the facts you can actually use.

Your 7-Week Rapid Fat Loss Plan

A structured sprint block built around your numbers above, with scheduled breaks to keep you consistent.

This 7-week plan is a guideline and should be paired with a majority whole-food diet for the best results.

While doing the Sprint, we recommend supplementing with an omega-3 fish oil, creatine, psyllium husk (fibre), a multivitamin, and a protein supplement to help cover any nutritional gaps.