Macro Calculator
This free, easy-to-use macro calculator gives you your optimal macronutrients and calories. It serves as a weight loss or muscle gain calculator for both women and men.
Combine with macro counting, flexible dieting, or IIFYM to reach your goals faster.
How to calculate your macros for fat loss
The foods we eat are made up of three macros (macronutrients). These are carbohydrates (carbs), protein, and fat.
Chicken is high in protein but has no carbs; rice is high in carbs but has very little fat or protein.
The three macronutrients provide the body with energy and raw materials for growth and repair.
By calculating the appropriate daily calorie amount for you, we can then break this down into the best macronutrient ratios to achieve weight loss.
The calculator is based on sound science, combined with data from years of coaching hundreds of successful clients.
What is a good macro ratio for fat loss or muscle gain?
Your macros should be based on your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and your goals.
The calculator defaults at the best macro ratio proven to work for most people.
This ratio is:
- 30% fat
- Protein is 0.65 grams per pound of body weight,
- The remainder is carbs.
Depending on your goal, this will be either a calorie deficit or a surplus.
You can go further and make more adjustments: Perhaps you’re an extreme endomorph and do better with fewer carbs. Or perhaps you have one kidney and need to eat less protein.
You can fine-tune your results for you with a bit of math. See how to change your macros here.
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What is a good protein ratio?
Rather than a percentage, proteins are based on your body weight.
Our calculator has three settings:
- Moderate adjusts the ratio to 0.65 grams per pound of body weight.
This is appropriate for sedentary individuals or people with higher body fat percentages. - High is for active people with moderate strength training and an average body fat percentage.
- Maximum will set the ratio to 1 gram per pound.
This amount is good for bodybuilding and gaining muscle mass. You must be doing intense training.
Find out how to fine-tune your protein ratios when counting macros
Fat macro ratio
Set fat at 30% of daily energy expenditure.
Most people do very well with this amount of fat. See more about choosing the best macro fats. Because of high-fat diets like keto, many people are now eating more fat than they need to.
Carbohydrate macro ratio
Once you’ve calculated protein and fat, the remainder of your daily calories should be from carbohydrates.
Carbs fuel your body and workouts and are the body’s preferred energy source.
If you are coming from a low-carb background, this may seem high. However, according to respected nutritional research, this is a moderate amount of carbs.
If you are eating according to your TDEE, the notion that carbs cause weight gain or stop fat loss is incorrect.
Using as a Calorie Deficit Calculator
As a weight loss calculator, this tool establishes a safe calorie deficit only.
The Lose option puts you in a 20% calorie deficit, promoting safe, steady weight loss.
The best macro ratio for body recomposition
If you want to recompose your body (lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously), then use the body recomposition calculator.
Macro ratio for maintenance
The Maintain button shows you the macro levels to maintain your current weight.
This is great if you have lost weight and don’t want to gain it back.
Macro ratio for muscle gain
The Gain button puts you in a 20% calorie surplus.
The macro breakdown is designed to build muscle fast in conjunction and must be combined with a comprehensive weight training program.
It can also be used by people who are underweight.
TIP: Try starting with the maintenance goal and then gradually increase calories from there if you want lean muscle gains.
Calculating macros using your body fat percentage
The calculator uses your body weight to determine calories and macros.
However, you can obtain superior results by using your body fat percentage. The calculator allows you to choose which method; Normal for body weight, Lean Mass for fat percentage.
When to choose the Lean Mass Formula
If you are lean (have a low body fat percentage), choose the Lean Mass formula, and enter your body fat %.
If you are classified as obese and have a lot of weight to lose, the lean mass formula is superior. You can read more about macro counting and obesity.
Help? Calculate your ideal body weight or get an assessment of your body fat percentage.
Why the difference? Muscle cells burn more calories than fat cells, so the more accurately we measure this, the better your results will be.
How to calculate macros per meal
Once you’ve calculated your daily macros in the calculator, you can break this down into meals.
Choose from 2 to 6 meals per day to see the macro ratio you can track for each meal. For some people, this is easier, but for others, this is too much detail.
Do what works for you.
Meal Plans
See a 5-day macro-based meal plan. It includes three meals and two snacks per day.
Macro calculator activity level settings
A higher activity level means a higher daily calorie goal.
For example – if you maintain your weight at 2,000 calories per day, adding vigorous daily exercise means you need more calories to maintain your weight.
If you are sedentary and trying to lose weight, adding exercise will increase your daily calorie goal.
The idea seems counter-intuitive, but more energy is required to fuel your workouts. More workouts lead to increasing metabolism; therefore, more fat is burned!
Undereating is one of the leading causes of the weight loss plateau.
So many of our clients previously “hit the wall” with dieting. They would continually reduce calories, stop losing fat and gain weight when they eat a little more.
Macro counting defeats this by prescribing the right food and calorie levels.
Which activity level do I choose?
- Sedentary: Just regular everyday activity like a bit of walking, a couple of flights of stairs, eating, etc.
- Light: Any activity that burns an additional 200-400 calories (females) or 250-500 calories (males) over your sedentary amount.
- Moderate: Any activity that burns an additional 400-650 calories (females) or 500-800 calories (males) more than your sedentary amount.
- Extreme: Any activity that burns more than 650 calories (females) or more than 800 calories (males) in addition to your sedentary amount.
Other options for determining your calorie burn
- Use our calories burned calculator – it accurately assesses over 380 activities.
- Use a fitness tracker – like a Fitbit or Apple Watch (note that they can overestimate calorie burn).
- Use a suitable app – like MapMyFitness
Why should I eat more when I exercise more?
High physical activity not fueled with enough calories will lead to muscle catabolism (breakdown of muscle fiber).
This lack of nutrition could stall your weight loss, so eat up if you love to exercise!
I’ve got my macros – now what?
Once you’ve identified your target daily macros, you must determine the macros in all the foods you eat.
By tracking them daily, you can reach your recommended macro targets that encourage fat loss, muscle gain, or whatever your goal may be.
You can learn more about the macro counting system and the flexible dieting philosophy. Many people use an app like Myfitnesspal to track macros.
For more specifics on what to eat – see a sample macro meal plan or a list of macros for familiar foods.
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References
- Mifflin, M. D., St Jeor, S. T., Hill, L. A., Scott, B. J., Daugherty, S. A., & Koh, Y. O. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51 (2), 241-247. Link
- McArdle, W. D., Katch, F. I., & Katch, V. L. (2010). Exercise physiology: nutrition, energy, and human performance. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Link
- Jequier, E. (1994). Carbohydrates as a source of energy. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 59(3), 682S-685S.
- Lemon, P. W., Tarnopolsky, M. A., MacDougall, J. D., & Atkinson, S. A. (1992). Protein requirements and muscle mass/strength changes during intensive training in novice bodybuilders. Journal of Applied Physiology, 73(2), 767-775. study abstract link
- Grundy, S. M. (1999). The optimal ratio of fat-to-carbohydrate in the diet. Annual review of nutrition, 19(1), 325-341. abstract
- Conlin, L.A., Aguilar, D.T., Rogers, G.E. et al. Flexible vs. rigid dieting in resistance-trained individuals seeking to optimize their physiques: A randomized controlled trial. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 18, 52 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-021-00452-2
2,067 Comments
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Hi Ted. Thanks for the tool. Have the formulas changed recently? I plugged in the same information awhile back, then entered them again today and am getting different percentages. Total calories is the same, as is total protein, but the macro % has changed from 44/31/25 to 39/31/30. I’ve triple checked all the data I entered and it’s the same as last time. Thank you.
Great observation. Yes we did tweak the formula a few months ago. After much thought, and based on Ted’s work with hundreds of clients, we tweaked the fat macro up to 30% (from 25%). We found that these new macros a much easier for clients to follow, and still get the results!
Hi Ted,
Hope you’re doing well. So after losing 10lbs, i’m not seeing any further drop in my weight (current weight 134lbs). I have made sure to revise my macros but haven’t seen any success so far. Do you know what could be possibly wrong? It appears my body isn’t reacting to macros anymore. LOL!
Hello Ted, which plan would not only provide personal macros, but also tailor a diet that aligns to health issues along with giving the right foods and measurements to meet those macros? Ex: how much rice to get to the amount of carbs per meal.
Hi Jamie, The advanced coaching option gives you access to our meal plan database that you can use to find meal plans that match your calories and macros. As far as health issues we have some vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free plans but it may not include your specific issues.
Ok so based on the information I typed in ..I need to eat 547 calories per meal, and when I scale my food it looks not enough to get me full.. I don’t know if I’m doing this right .. first I scaled my rice for carbs which the app tells me it suppose to be 57g, but I feel this amount is to small. Also my protein should be 38g but I still think my piece of chicken is to small .. am I doing something wrong?
Hi Yesenia, No, you aren’t doing things quite right. Rice isn’t 100% carbs so you have to weigh an amount and then use a nutritional database to find out how many grams of carbs are in that particular portion of rice. This is explained in more detail here: How To Find Macro Amounts in Foods
Once you pay the fee associated with one of the three plans, how many plans for eating do you get?
Hi David, Thanks for your interest. All coaching plans include customized macros and free adjustments as needed but only the full-service option gives you access to our meal plan database. The other two offer the meal plans that are found in the Macro Solution and the Meal Plan Bonus.
My intake says 1640, but I’m a breastfeeding mother so what should I really intake?
Hi Diana, please read our article about that adjustment here: TDEE and Macro Calculations for Pregnant or BreastFeeding Women
How many grams of sugar should i eat if i’m at 1600 calories per day?
You should keep added refined sugars to a minimum but there’s no specific guideline for sugar. Many foods contain natural sugars (fruit) which are counted towards your carb allotment.
How do I work out macros for carb cycling. I track macros now and want to maintain.
Thanks
Hi Marline, I think it’s best to eat more carbs when your body needs them and less when your body doesn’t. Therefore, your carbs should be higher on exercise days and lower on rest days. Randomly assigning high and low carb days doesn’t have any advantage and wouldn’t be based on any scientific evidence of its effectiveness.
Hi,
Silly question: 300g carbo is the same than 300g of rice?
I’m really confuse!
Tks
Hi Helio, No, it is not. Rice is not 100% carbs. You need to use a nutritional database like MyFitnessPal to find the macronutrient breakdown of foods you are eating.
For what period of time is this formula set? It is based on 3 months or 6 or an estimate?
Hi Razvan, I’m a bit confused as to what you’re asking but the calculator is showing you the nutrition you should be consuming during a 24 hour period.
Hi Ted,
Let me rephrase then: if you select the 10% or loss for how long would you have to follow? Does it have a end point ? Like the macros are calculated to reach the goal in 4 months or another timeframe? Hope this helps.
At the lose setting which is an estimated 20% calorie deficit people can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week. Once your goal is reached you would switch to maintenance.
Hi
I do weight training 6 days a week and circuit cardio for 45 minutes twice a week..am I moderate or extreme?
Hi Afisha, You can use our exercise calorie calculator to nail that down.
Hi I’ve been counting macros for a few years . And I stopped for about 4 months . I’m just getting back into it but stuck as to we’re to set my numbers . I go to the gym 5 days a week , 1 HIIT and the rest weights . I’m happy with my weight , but want to gain muscle. What do I set the activity at and the gain or lose at ?
Hi Sherry, it looks like you may be light to moderate. Also, for lean gains, you may need to fine tune a bit. Give this article a read for help or we also have the Muscle Gain Edition of our Macro Solution for help.