Macro calculator
Enter your stats for a daily calorie target with protein, carbs and fat in grams. The calculator runs the Mifflin-St Jeor formula and sets protein from bodyweight.
Daily calories, maintain
2,740
Estimated maintenance is 2,740 calories. The target matches it.
Protein
128 g
19% of calories
Carbs
395 g
58% of calories
Fat
72 g
24% of calories
| Macro | Grams | Calories | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | 128 | 512 | 19% |
| Carbs | 395 | 1,580 | 58% |
| Fat | 72 | 648 | 24% |
Protein and total calories are the two figures that matter. The split between carbs and fat is a preference, and moving it around changes nothing as long as the calorie total and the protein figure hold.
How much protein do I need?
Protein is set from bodyweight, not from a share of calories. This calculator uses 1.6 g per kilo of bodyweight on maintenance and on building muscle, and 2.2 g per kilo on fat loss. The higher figure in a deficit is there to hold muscle while calories are down. For an 80 kg lifter that is 128 g a day maintaining and 176 g a day cutting.
If you carry a lot of fat, the figure runs high against your lean mass. Setting it off a bodyweight closer to the one you are heading for gives a number that is easier to eat and still does the job. Past about 2.2 g per kilo there is no further return on holding muscle, Pushing higher adds no benefit.
Bulking macros and cutting macros
Bulking macros start at maintenance and add a surplus. This calculator adds 200 calories, which shows on the scale across a month without much of the gain being fat. Protein stays at 1.6 g per kilo and the extra calories land in carbs.
Cutting macros are maintenance minus 500 calories, protein raised to 2.2 g per kilo, fat held at 0.9 g per kilo, and carbs taking what is left. Carbs are the figure that moves on a cut. For a heavy lifter in a deficit they can land low, and if the carb figure comes out under about 100 g the deficit is too steep to train on for long.
How this macro calculator works
Calories come from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which estimates resting metabolic rate from weight, height, age and sex, then multiplies it by an activity figure.
BMR = 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age, then + 5 for men or − 161 for women.
| Activity level | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Sedentary, desk job and no training | 1.2 |
| Light, training 1 to 3 days a week | 1.375 |
| Moderate, training 3 to 5 days a week | 1.55 |
| Hard, training 6 or 7 days a week | 1.725 |
| Very hard, physical job plus daily training | 1.9 |
Protein comes off bodyweight. Fat is set at 0.9 g per kilo, the middle of the 0.8 to 1.0 g per kilo range that keeps hormone function covered and meals worth eating. Carbs take the calories left after protein and fat, at 4 calories a gram. The carb count is what you eat more or less of when the goal changes.
These figures are estimates from a formula. Bodyweight tracked over two or three weeks is what corrects them. If the scale is not moving the way the goal needs, change the calorie figure by 100 to 200 and hold it for another fortnight.
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