Revision #1376

''Part of the [[Using the iOS app|Loopa iOS app]] guide.''

Loopa answers two questions about your goal weight. The '''TARGET DATE''' card on [[Today's Page]] says when you would get there at your current pace. '''Pick a target date''' works the other way: you choose the date, and Loopa works out the daily calorie target that reaches it. This page covers both on iPhone. For the browser Forecast page, see [[Weight forecast]].

''General wellness tracking, not medical advice. A forecast is a planning tool, not a promise.''

== The TARGET DATE card ==

The card appears on Today's Page when you have a goal weight set and your current weight is above it. It is titled '''TARGET DATE''', with "to reach" and your goal underneath, and two columns:

* '''STRETCH''' holds your current pace in a straight line to the goal.
* '''REALISTIC''' eases that pace off for the slowdown that comes as you get leaner. It is the stretch time multiplied by 1.4.

Each column shows a date and roughly how many weeks away it is ("~14 wk"). Under them a line explains the numbers: how much you have to go, your current rate per week, and what that rate is based on, either "your last-30-day pace" (from your weigh-ins) or "your plan's calorie deficit" (when there is not enough weigh-in history yet). The line ends "Stretch holds that pace in a straight line; realistic eases it off for the slowdown as you get leaner. Best cases, not promises."

Until Loopa has enough to work from, the card reads "A few more days of logging" and "Log food + weight a bit longer and your dates to" your goal "show up here."

Tap the card to open the full projection in [[Trends on iOS]]. The card itself is part of Loopa Basic; [[Trends on iOS]] has its own plan rules.

== Building a plan for a date ==

Under the card, tap '''Have a date in mind? Build a plan for it'''. The '''Pick a target date''' sheet opens.

1. Read the question at the top, "When do you want to be at" your goal.
1. Pick a day on the '''Target date''' calendar. It opens three months from today, and the earliest day you can pick is tomorrow.
1. Tap '''Build my plan'''.

The answer appears below the button:

* A badge: '''Reachable''' when the date can be met within Loopa's safe limits, or '''Not by then''' when it can't.
* The daily calorie target the date needs, in kcal or kJ per day (your energy unit from [[Change your units and measurements|Units & Measurements]]).
* When the target is at Loopa's lowest planned intake, the line "This is the lowest intake Loopa will plan. It does not go below" followed by that figure.
* A sentence from Loopa explaining the plan.
* '''Pace''': the weekly loss the plan implies, in your weight unit.
* '''Arrives''' with the date, for a reachable plan, or '''Soonest safe date''' with the earliest date Loopa can plan safely, when yours is too soon.

Pick another date and tap '''Build my plan''' again to compare. Tap '''Done''' to close the sheet.

At the bottom the sheet explains the rule: "Plans stop at a safe floor. If a date needs more than that, Loopa says so and gives you the soonest date it can reach instead."

== The plan does not change your targets ==

The sheet shows a plan. It does not apply it. Your calorie target, your macros and your goal stay exactly as they were. To change your targets, edit them under '''Health''', '''My Loopa''', '''Health Settings'''. In a browser, the Forecast page can commit a plan; see [[Weight forecast]].

== Which plan ==

Building a plan for a target date is part of Loopa Premium. The button carries no Premium badge. On Loopa Basic, tapping '''Build my plan''' shows the Loopa Premium message as a banner under the button instead of a plan. Every new account starts with 14 days of Loopa Premium; see [[your-first-14-days|Your first 14 days]].

If the plan can't be built for another reason, the banner reads "Couldn't build a plan for that date. Try again."

== See also ==

* [[Weight forecast]]
* [[The Weight screen]]
* [[Weight tracking]]
* [[Today's Page]]
* [[Trends on iOS]]
* [[Healthy weight loss]]

[[Category:The iOS app]]
[[Category:Loopa]]
[[Category:Goals and progress]]