Macro Calculator

What are Macronutrients?

Macronutrients (macros) are the three nutrients your body needs in large amounts: protein, carbohydrates and fats. Together they supply almost all of the calories you eat and each plays a different role in performance, body composition and long-term health.

• Protein: Builds and repairs muscle, makes enzymes and hormones, and is the most satiating macro. 4 calories per gram.
• Carbs: Primary fuel for your brain and for high-intensity training. Includes sugars, starches and fibre. 4 calories per gram.
• Fat: Required for hormone production, vitamin absorption and cell membranes. Most calorie-dense at 9 calories per gram.

Common Macro Splits

Tips for Tracking Macros

• Use a food tracking app such as Cronometer or MyFitnessPal to log intake accurately
• Weigh dense foods (oils, nuts, peanut butter, rice) instead of using cups
• When in a calorie deficit, hit your protein target first - it preserves muscle
• Adjust ratios based on how you feel, sleep and train, not on social media trends
• Weekly averages matter more than perfectly hitting macros every single day
• Whole, minimally processed foods make it much easier to hit fibre and micronutrient needs

How much protein per kilogram of bodyweight do I actually need?

The RDA of 0.8 g per kg is the floor for sedentary adults, not the target for anyone who lifts or diets. A solid evidence-based range is 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kg of bodyweight per day, with the upper end useful during a calorie deficit, when training hard, or for older adults trying to preserve muscle. For overweight individuals you can use lean body mass or goal bodyweight instead of total bodyweight, which keeps the absolute number reasonable. Going above 2.2 g/kg has no extra muscle-building benefit in healthy adults; it just displaces carbs or fats.

When does a ketogenic split (30/5/65) actually make sense?

Keto is a tool, not a magic diet. It can be useful for people with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes (under medical supervision), drug-resistant epilepsy, and some endurance athletes who want to spare glycogen. It is rarely the best choice for someone who lifts heavy or sprints, because intense efforts depend on glycogen and most lifters perform worse with carbs below 50 g per day. If you simply want to lose weight, you do not need keto - any sustainable calorie deficit will work, and you should pick the split you can stick to for months.

Low-carb vs low-fat: which actually causes more fat loss?

When calories and protein are matched, the two diets produce virtually identical fat loss across multiple controlled trials. The famous DIETFITS study followed 600 people for a year and found no significant difference between low-carb and low-fat dieters. What does differ is adherence. If you crave bread and pasta, a low-fat plan is easier; if you feel hungry constantly without fat, low-carb will be more sustainable. Pick the split that matches your appetite and your kitchen, then enforce the calorie target.

Why is protein the most important macro in a calorie deficit?

When you eat below maintenance, your body can break down both fat and muscle for energy. High protein, especially 2.0 to 2.4 g per kg of bodyweight while cutting, sends a strong signal to preserve lean mass and limits how much muscle is lost. Protein also has the highest thermic effect of food - around 25 to 30 percent of its calories are burned just digesting it - and it is the most filling macro per calorie. The result: more fat loss, less muscle loss, less hunger, and a metabolism that holds up better as the deficit drags on.

Should I cycle calories or carbs across the week?

Calorie or carb cycling means eating more on hard training days and less on rest days, while keeping weekly totals on target. The science says weekly averages drive results, so cycling is not strictly necessary, but it can help in three ways: more carbs around big lifting sessions improve performance, lower-calorie rest days are psychologically easier than every day being a small deficit, and the variety reduces diet fatigue. A common setup is +20 percent on two heavy training days, -10 to -15 percent on rest days, and maintenance on light days.

How do I adjust macros if I am vegetarian or vegan?

Plant-based eating works, but you have to be intentional. Aim for the same protein target (1.6 to 2.2 g/kg) by combining tofu, tempeh, seitan, edamame, lentils, beans, soy milk and a daily scoop of pea or soy protein powder. Track real protein content, not total food weight - lentils are only about 9 g protein per 100 g cooked. Watch fat intake too: nuts, seeds, avocado and oils can push your fat ratio up quickly. Supplement vitamin B12 and consider a long-chain omega-3 (algae oil); both are difficult to hit from plants alone.

Do alcohol calories count and how should I fit them into my macros?

Yes. Alcohol provides 7 calories per gram and your body burns it preferentially, which suppresses fat oxidation while it is being metabolised. The easiest way to handle it: subtract the alcohol calories from your fat or carb allowance for the day, never from protein. A pint of beer is roughly 200 calories, a 175 ml glass of wine around 160, and a single shot of spirits about 70. Two drinks a few times a week is compatible with fat loss; nightly drinking almost always stalls progress through worse sleep, lower training quality and disinhibited snacking.

Cronometer vs MyFitnessPal: which is more accurate for macros?

MyFitnessPal has the larger database and is faster, but it lets users submit entries, so the same food can have wildly different macro values depending on which entry you pick. Cronometer uses primarily verified sources (USDA, NCCDB) and is far more accurate for micronutrients and reasonable for macros, but its database is smaller and entry takes a few more taps. The pragmatic approach: use MyFitnessPal for speed but stick to entries marked with a green check or that list a full macro breakdown, and weigh foods on a scale - portion-size errors dwarf any database error.

How do I set a fixed protein target in grams per kg instead of a percentage?

Switch the Protein basis control to 'g per kg' and pick your figure (1.2, 1.6, 2.0 or 2.2 g/kg). The calculator then locks protein to that amount times your bodyweight, converts it to calories (protein = 4 kcal/g), and splits whatever calories remain between carbs and fats using the carb-to-fat ratio of the tab you selected. This is how a coach or dietitian actually programs: protein is set first as a fixed dose, never as a percentage. The reason matters in a deficit. A percentage split silently under-delivers protein when calories drop - 30% protein on a 1,400 kcal cut gives a 90 kg lifter only about 105 g (1.17 g/kg), far below the 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg the ISSN and ADA recommend to preserve muscle. Anchoring to g/kg keeps protein constant no matter how low calories go, and the 'Effective protein' line confirms the exact g/kg you are getting.

How is this macro calculator actually calculated, and which BMR formula?

The pipeline is the industry standard. First we estimate basal metabolic rate (BMR) with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is more accurate for modern populations than the older Harris-Benedict formula: for men, BMR = 10 x weight(kg) + 6.25 x height(cm) - 5 x age + 5; for women the constant is -161 instead of +5. Next we multiply BMR by an activity factor (1.2 sedentary up to 1.9 for athletes) to get total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) - the calories you burn in a typical day. Finally we apply your goal adjustment: a deficit of roughly 250 to 1,000 kcal for fat loss, zero for maintenance, or a surplus for gaining, with a 1,200 kcal floor for safety. Those goal calories are then divided into protein, carbs and fats by your chosen split or your g/kg protein target.