Most macro calculators give everyone the same ratios. Yours should match your actual goal—whether that's losing fat, building muscle, or both. Customize your deficit or surplus levels and get exact macros for your goal.
Enter your stats. Pick your activity level honestly—most people are sedentary or lightly active even if they work out. Choose your goal.
If you're cutting, select your deficit level. A 20% deficit works for most people. Go lower (10-15%) if you're lean or want slower fat loss. Go higher (25%) only if you have significant weight to lose.
If you're bulking, pick your surplus. A 15% surplus builds muscle without excessive fat gain. Beginners can use 20%. Advanced lifters should stick to 10%.
Pick a diet preference. Balanced works for most people. High protein if you're cutting and want maximum satiety. Low carb if you hate carbs or find fats more filling. Keto if you want under 30g carbs daily.
Optional: Add body fat percentage if you know it. This calculates protein based on lean mass instead of total weight, which is more accurate for very overweight or very lean individuals.
Track everything for 2-3 weeks before adjusting. Your body needs time to respond.
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for BMR calculation—the most accurate formula available for most people.
Macros are protein, carbs, and fats. Each has 4, 4, and 9 calories per gram respectively. Alcohol has 7 cal/gram but isn't tracked as a macro since it provides no nutritional value.
Protein builds muscle, repairs tissue, and makes hormones. You need 9 essential amino acids from food—your body can't make them. Meat, fish, eggs, and dairy have all 9 (complete proteins). Most plants don't (incomplete). Protein is most important macro during fat loss since it prevents muscle loss.
Carbs fuel high-intensity exercise. Stored as glycogen in muscles. Simple carbs (sugar, white rice, fruit) digest fast. Complex carbs (oats, potatoes, whole grains) digest slow. Fiber is a carb that doesn't provide calories but helps digestion. You don't technically need carbs to survive—your body can make glucose from protein when needed—but most people perform better with them.
Fats make hormones like testosterone and estrogen. Support brain function. Help absorb vitamins A, D, E, K. Minimum intake is 0.3g per pound of body weight—go lower and your hormones crash. Despite having more calories per gram, dietary fat doesn't directly become body fat. Excess calories do, regardless of source.
Calories matter most for weight. Macros matter for body composition, performance, and hunger. You can't eat perfect macros above your maintenance and expect to lose fat.
Fat loss: High protein (40%) preserves muscle in a deficit. Aim for 1g per pound minimum. Moderate carbs (30%) maintain workout performance. Moderate fats (30%) support hormones. Some people prefer lower carbs and higher fats if it helps with hunger.
Muscle gain: High protein (30%) and high carbs (45%) with moderate fats (25%). Protein builds muscle—0.8-1g per pound is enough in a surplus. Carbs fuel hard training and refill glycogen. They're protein-sparing, meaning adequate carbs prevent protein from being burned for energy.
Maintenance: Balanced split of 30/40/30 works well. Protein maintains muscle, carbs support activity, fats support health. This calculator applies your diet preference to maintenance too, unlike most calculators that ignore your preference for this goal.
Body recomp: Same as cutting—high protein (40%) at maintenance calories. You're trying to build muscle and lose fat simultaneously, which requires eating at maintenance with protein prioritized. Slowest approach but achieves both goals.
Keto: Very low carbs (5%), high fats (60-65%), moderate protein (30-35%). Requires under 50g carbs daily to maintain ketosis. Not superior for fat loss despite claims—calories still determine weight change. Some find it satiating. Generally not optimal for high-intensity training, though some athletes adapt successfully.
RDA is 0.36g per pound. That prevents deficiency, but it's not optimal for anyone active or dieting.
General guideline: 0.7-1g per pound of body weight. A 150 lb person needs 105-150g daily.
During fat loss: 1-1.2g per pound. Higher protein keeps you fuller, burns more calories to digest (thermic effect), and protects muscle from being used for energy. This is when protein matters most.
During muscle gain: 0.8-1g per pound is sufficient. More doesn't build more muscle past ~1g per lb. A 200 lb person doesn't need 250g+ protein. Save those calories for carbs to fuel workouts.
If you're over 50: Aim for 1-1.2g per pound. Protein needs increase with age due to reduced muscle protein synthesis. You need more to combat sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss).
Protein timing helps slightly. Spread 30-40g per meal instead of one massive protein bomb. Pre and post-workout protein matters, but total daily protein matters more. Hit your daily target first, optimize timing second.
Carbs aren't essential—your body can run on fats and protein alone. But they improve high-intensity performance, aid recovery, and make dieting easier for most people.
How many? Depends on activity. Sedentary people function fine on 50-100g. Athletes need 200-400g for performance. Most people thrive on 150-250g daily.
Simple carbs (sugar, fruit, white rice) digest fast—good around workouts. Complex carbs (oats, sweet potatoes, brown rice) digest slow—good for sustained energy. Both have a place. Fiber comes from complex carbs and helps digestion and satiety.
Timing doesn't matter as much as people think. Carbs around workouts help performance and recovery. But carbs at night won't make you fat. Total daily intake matters, not timing.
Low carb vs high carb: Neither is inherently better for fat loss. Both work if calories are controlled. Choose based on preference and activity level. High carb supports better training performance. Low carb helps some people control hunger.
Unlike carbs, fats are essential. They make hormones, support brain function, cushion organs, and help absorb vitamins A, D, E, K.
Minimum: 0.3g per pound (45g for a 150 lb person). Go lower and hormones crash. You'll feel terrible, mood drops, performance suffers.
Optimal: 0.4-0.6g per pound (60-90g for 150 lb person). Higher is fine if it fits your calories. Some people eat 100-150g daily on keto/low-carb and feel great. Others prefer 50-70g and eat more carbs. Both work.
Saturated fats (butter, coconut oil, animal fats) are stable for cooking and not harmful in moderation, contrary to decades of outdated dietary guidelines. Unsaturated fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts, fish) are anti-inflammatory. Trans fats (margarine, processed foods) should be avoided—they increase disease risk.
Omega-3 vs omega-6: Modern diets have too much omega-6 (vegetable oils, processed foods) and not enough omega-3 (fatty fish, fish oil). Omega-3s reduce inflammation and improve recovery. Aim for 2-3g daily from salmon, mackerel, or supplements.
Fat doesn't make you fat. Excess calories do. Eating 50g fat daily in a deficit leads to fat loss. Eating 150g fat daily in a surplus leads to fat gain. Calories determine weight change, not individual macros.
Apps: MyFitnessPal (most popular, huge database), Cronometer (more accurate, better for micronutrients), MacroFactor (AI-powered, adjusts automatically, paid subscription), LoseIt (similar to MFP).
Food scale is mandatory. Buy a digital scale for $15-25. Weigh everything in grams. "One chicken breast" ranges from 150-300g. "One tablespoon peanut butter" is usually 2-3 tablespoons. Eyeballing leads to 30-50% errors. Weigh for 2-3 weeks to learn portion sizes.
Restaurant meals: Look up the chain restaurant in your app—most have official entries. For non-chains, pick a similar home-cooked meal and add 20% for extra oil/butter. When in doubt, overestimate by 100-200 calories. One untracked meal won't ruin progress. Regular untracked meals will.
Pre-log your day in the morning. Plan meals ahead so you're not scrambling at night to hit macros. Adjust as needed throughout the day.
Be flexible: Hit protein daily—it's most important. If you're 10g over carbs but 10g under fats, it roughly evens out. Don't stress about exact numbers. Being within 5-10g is close enough. Perfect tracking leads to burnout.
It uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (the most accurate BMR formula) and standard activity multipliers. That said, all calculators are estimates. Your actual needs might be 10-15% higher or lower. Track for 2-3 weeks, then adjust based on results.
Calories determine weight change. Macros determine body composition. If you only care about the scale, track calories. If you want to look good naked, track macros—especially protein.
You won't. Nobody does. Aim to hit protein within 10g, and be within 50-100 calories overall. Some people track weekly averages instead of daily. That works too.
Yes. If you're exhausted on low carbs, increase carbs and reduce fats. If you're starving all day, increase protein or fats and reduce carbs. The calculator provides a starting point, not gospel.
Every 10-15 lbs of weight change, or every 2-3 months. Your TDEE drops as you lose weight and rises as you gain muscle. Recalculate when progress stalls for 2+ weeks.
Both matter, but if you had to pick one, hit protein. If you're 50 calories over but hit protein, you'll maintain muscle and look better. If you're under calories but missed protein by 50g, you'll lose muscle.
First check if you're tracking accurately. Most people underestimate intake by 20-30%. If tracking is accurate and you're not losing weight after 3 weeks, drop calories by 10%. If not gaining weight, increase by 10%.
Most people should. You're recovering on rest days, not hibernating. Some people carb cycle (more carbs on training days, fewer on rest), but it's more complex and the benefits are minor unless you're very lean.
You don't need to, but hitting 25-35g daily helps digestion, keeps you fuller, and improves gut health. The calculator estimates 14g per 1000 calories as a baseline target.
It helps for accuracy if you're very overweight or very lean. If you're 250 lbs at 35% body fat, calculating protein based on total weight gives you too much. If you're 150 lbs at 10% body fat, it's fine either way. The calculator adjusts protein to lean mass if you enter body fat %.