Energy pacing and Body Budget
From the app’s English Help & Guide · Reference release 1.0.27
What is energy pacing?
Energy pacing helps you understand your daily capacity so you can avoid overdoing it. Tended learns your comfortable activity range from your journal data — no extra input needed. It’s based on what actually happens when you do more or less, not a theoretical number.
Today’s budget
Today’s budget is your daily energy in spoons, shown as a gauge. It starts full each morning and drains as you log activities. Each activity has a cost: Light (0.5 spoons), Moderate (1.0), Heavy (2.0), or Very Heavy (3.0). Restorative activities like rest, meditation, or a short nap can have a negative cost — they add spoons back to your budget. Tap the gauge or “Why this number?” to see exactly how the budget was built and what each of today’s activities cost.
How is the budget calculated?
Tended looks at your good days (rating 3+) to find your average weighted activity level. That becomes your daily budget. If you have 21+ days of data, it uses your sustainable range. With 14–20 days, it uses a conservative 85% of your baseline. With a flare or recovery, the budget is automatically reduced (by 40% during a flare, 25% during recovery). The breakdown sheet shows each step so the number isn’t a black box.
Activity costs
Each activity has an energy cost based on these sources (in priority order): a custom cost you’ve set yourself (including negative values for restorative activities), your manual tier choice (Light/Moderate/Heavy/Very Heavy), what Tended has learned from your data (how your next-day rating changes after that activity), or a calibrated default from the Solaced catalogue. You can view and change every cost in Energy Pacing › Activity Costs.
When you go over
If you exceed your budget, Tended may show how many quieter days followed similar records in your journal. This historical comparison is not a forecast or a rule. It is planning context, not judgement — sometimes going over is the right choice.
Budget widget
Add the Energy Budget widget to your home screen to see your remaining spoons at a glance. The gauge drains through the day as you log activities. It updates every time you save an entry.
If you also use Metered
When Metered is installed and has updated today, Tended shows Metered’s budget as a small capsule below the gauge. Both numbers are valid — Tended’s comes from your journal data, while Metered’s also factors in sleep, HRV, weather, and cycle phase from HealthKit. Tap the capsule to open Metered.
What you need
Energy pacing requires at least 14 days of journal entries with activities logged. More entries make the planning estimate reflect more of your personal history, but it is not a measure of medical capacity or a prediction. Tended+ is required for the full pacing analysis.