Macro Calculator for Weight Loss, Muscle Gain, Keto and Body Recomp
Your calorie target tells you how much to eat. Your macros tell you what that food should be made of. This free macro calculator takes your age, height, weight, activity level and goal, then returns daily calories plus protein, carbs and fat in grams. It works for fat loss, muscle gain, keto and maintenance. Below the tool you'll find the math behind it, ready-made splits, food macro numbers and tracking advice, so the results turn into an actual meal plan.
Enter your numbers in kg or lbs, pick your goal, and the result updates instantly. If you only have a weight in kilograms, remember that 1 kg equals about 2.2 lb, which is handy when a protein target is written per pound.
Macro Calculator
Calories and macros, built around you
🎯Your goal
Carb cycling (training vs rest days)
Daily calorie target
0kcal
0BMR
0Maintenance
0Daily change
🍽️Daily macros
⏰Meal-by-meal split
Meal times are spread from 1 hour after waking to 3 hours before bed.
🔄Carb cycling
Training days get +10% calories from carbs, rest days −10%. Protein and fat stay fixed.
❤️Health targets
📈Weight projection
🪜Calorie ladder
Every goal pace using your current diet style. Your plan is highlighted.
🍳Meal builder
Pick your foods and get the grams for one meal that match your targets. The shopping list multiplies it by your meals and days.
🏁Progress checkpoints
Calories re-adjust as your weight changes. Recalculate at each checkpoint with your real weight.
📅Weekly plan
Tap the days you train. Training days get more carbs and rest days fewer, with the weekly total unchanged.
💧Water tracker
📏Body fat estimator (US Navy)
Use cm in Metric or inches in Imperial. Measure the waist at the navel.
💡Smart tips for you
✅Today's tracker
Resets automatically each day.
🥗What one meal looks like
Approximate amounts to hit one meal's share of each macro.
Estimates only. Check with a doctor or dietitian before major diet changes, especially with medical conditions, pregnancy or under 18.
🧬What Are Macros? Protein, Carbs and Fat Explained
Macros, short for macronutrients, are the three nutrients that supply nearly all your calories. Protein and carbohydrate each give 4 calories per gram. Fat gives 9. Alcohol sits at 7 and isn't counted as a macro, but it does add up.
Calories per gram: protein 4, carbs 4, fat 9
Protein builds and repairs muscle, keeps you full, and costs your body the most energy to digest. Carbs fuel hard training and the brain, and they're the easiest macro to flex up or down. Fat supports hormones and the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K, so cutting it too low backfires.
Counting macros is more precise than counting calories alone because 2,000 calories of mostly protein behaves very differently from 2,000 calories of mostly sugar. This approach is also what people mean by IIFYM, "if it fits your macros": any food is allowed as long as the daily grams land close to target.
🧮How the Macro Calculator Works: BMR, TDEE and Your Calorie Target
Everything starts with your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the calories you burn at complete rest. This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which tends to be more accurate for most adults than the older Harris-Benedict formula:
Multiply BMR by an activity factor (1.2 for desk-bound, up to about 1.9 for very hard daily training) and you get total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE. That is your maintenance calories.
Then the goal adjusts it: roughly 15 to 25 percent below TDEE to lose fat, 5 to 15 percent above to gain muscle.
Worked example: a 30-year-old woman, 65 kg, 165 cm, moderately active. BMR is about 1,370, TDEE about 2,120. A 20 percent deficit gives roughly 1,700 calories: 117 g protein, 52 g fat and 191 g carbs.
🎯Best Macro Split for Your Goal
Percentages are a shortcut. Grams per kilogram of body weight are more reliable because protein and fat needs follow your body, not your calorie total. Use this table as a starting point.
Typical macro mix by goal
Goal
Calories
Protein
Fat
Carbs
Fat loss
15–25% below TDEE
1.8–2.4 g/kg
0.7–1 g/kg
Remainder
Maintenance
At TDEE
1.4–2 g/kg
0.8–1 g/kg
Remainder
Muscle gain
5–15% above TDEE
1.6–2.2 g/kg
0.8–1 g/kg
Remainder
Body recomp
Maintenance or slight deficit
2–2.4 g/kg
0.8–1 g/kg
Remainder
Keto
Goal-dependent
1.2–2 g/kg
65–75% of calories
20–50 g net
For context, the general guideline ranges (AMDR) are 10–35% of calories from protein, 20–35% from fat and 45–65% from carbs. Active people and people dieting usually sit at the high end for protein.
🥩How Much Protein, Fiber and Fat Do You Need Per Day?
The official RDA for protein is 0.8 g per kg, which is the minimum to avoid deficiency, not the amount that's best for training. Research on resistance training suggests gains level off around 1.6 g/kg, with up to 2.2 g/kg as a safe upper target. A 75 kg person lands between 120 and 165 g.
Daily targets at a glance
Fat should rarely drop below about 0.6 g/kg, or roughly 20 percent of calories.
Fiber gets ignored in macro plans, yet it matters for fullness and gut health. The standard guidance is about 14 g per 1,000 calories, which works out to around 25 g a day for women and 38 g for men. If you're taking a GLP-1 medication such as Zepbound and appetite has dropped, hitting protein becomes harder and more important, so discuss targets with your prescriber or a dietitian.
If you take creatine monohydrate (3–5 g a day is the studied dose), it adds no calories, but it can pull 1–2 kg of water into muscle. Don't mistake that for fat gain.
🔥Macro Calculator for Weight Loss and Women
For fat loss, the deficit should be modest enough to protect muscle. A 500-calorie daily gap is the common rule of thumb for about 0.5 kg (1 lb) a week, though real-world results vary. Keep protein high, keep fat above the floor, and let carbs fill the rest around your training.
A modest deficit protects muscle
Women often do better with a gentler deficit, since very low intake can disrupt the menstrual cycle and sleep. As a general safety floor, avoid going under roughly 1,200 calories (women) or 1,500 (men) without medical supervision. Body fat ranges also differ by sex. For women, about 21–24% is typically considered fitness range, 25–31% average, and above 32% the obesity range, per ACE categories.
Cardio helps but isn't required. Zone 2 cardio, the easy pace where you can still hold a conversation, is sustainable and adds weekly calorie burn. Include it in your activity level instead of eating back each session.
💪Macro Calculator for Muscle Gain, Bodybuilding and Body Recomp
Building muscle needs a small surplus, not a dirty bulk. Beyond roughly 10 to 15 percent above maintenance, most of the extra calories go to fat. Beginners can gain muscle at maintenance or even in a deficit, which is the logic behind body recomposition: losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time.
Heavy progressive lifting drives muscle gain and recomp
Recomp works best with high protein (2 to 2.4 g/kg), heavy progressive lifting, and a scale that moves slowly. Track waist measurements and strength, not just body weight.
Bodybuilders in a contest prep phase run lower fat and push carbs around training sessions. For everyone else, 3 to 5 g of carbs per kg on training days is a practical range, with fat staying steady. Re-run the calculator after every 2 to 3 kg change in body weight, because TDEE shifts as you do.
🥑Keto Macro Calculator Targets
A ketogenic diet restricts carbs enough to push the body toward producing ketones, typically 20 to 50 g of net carbs a day (total carbs minus fiber). Fat covers most of the calories, protein stays moderate, and very high protein isn't the goal.
A typical keto plate: fat-forward, low in carbs
A typical keto split is 5 to 10 percent carbs, 20 to 30 percent protein and 65 to 75 percent fat. Protein needs don't drop just because carbs do, so keep it around 1.2 to 2 g/kg to protect muscle.
Expect the first week or two to feel rough. The "keto flu" (headache, fatigue) is mostly water and electrolyte loss, so salt, potassium and magnesium help. Keto isn't ideal for everyone. If you have diabetes, kidney disease or take blood pressure medication, speak to your doctor before starting.
🍗Macros in Common Foods: Protein Sources, High-Fiber Foods and Snacks
Here are approximate values for 100 g cooked weight. Always check your own product, since cuts and brands differ.
A balanced plate: carbs, protein and fiber
Food
Calories
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Chicken breast, skinless
~165
~31 g
0 g
~3.6 g
Salmon, Atlantic
~205
~22 g
0 g
~12 g
Lean steak, sirloin
~190
~27 g
0 g
~8 g
Quinoa
~120
~4.4 g
~21 g
~1.9 g
Sweet potato, baked
~90
~2 g
~21 g
~0.2 g
Vegetarian protein sources that pull their weight include lentils, tofu, tempeh, Greek yogurt, eggs, edamame and seitan. Tempeh and seitan are the densest of the group.
For fiber, think lentils, chickpeas, raspberries, chia seeds, oats and artichokes. For quick high-protein snacks, cottage cheese, jerky, roasted edamame and a protein bar do the job. Quest chips and bars usually deliver around 18 to 20 g of protein per serving, but compare labels.
For raw food data, the USDA's FoodData Central (which now houses the old USDA National Nutrient Database) is the most trusted free source.
📱How to Track Macros: Apps, Food Scale and Eating Out
Tracking is the part that decides whether the numbers matter. A cheap food scale beats eyeballing, especially for rice, oils, nuts and peanut butter, where small errors add hundreds of calories.
A food scale beats eyeballing every time
Weigh food raw when you can. Cooked weights shift with water, so log the version that matches the database entry.
MyFitnessPal has the biggest food database. Cronometer is stronger on micronutrients and verified data. MacroFactor adjusts targets automatically from your weight trend. Lighter tools like Stupid Simple Macro Tracker suit people who want fast logging without the clutter.
Eating out is where plans break. Chain restaurants such as Chipotle publish nutrition builders, so log your bowl ingredient by ingredient. For home cooking, enter each ingredient and divide by servings using a recipe macro calculator.
Aim for weekly consistency, not daily perfection. Landing within 5 to 10 g of protein and within 100 calories most days is plenty.
⚖️Why Macro Calculators Give Different Numbers
If you've tried a few calculators and gotten different results, you're not imagining it. The differences usually come from three places: which BMR formula is used, how generous the activity multipliers are, and how aggressive the default deficit or surplus is.
Different calculators, different starting points
Fitness creators such as Jeremy Ethier, Jeff Nippard, Katy Hearn and James Smith, and programs like V Shred, publish their own versions. Generally, they share the same basic idea of estimating energy needs and then setting protein and fat, but they differ in how high they set protein and how steep they cut calories. Neither is simply right or wrong.
The best macro calculator is the one that gives you a realistic starting point you'll follow. Treat any output as an estimate, run it for two to three weeks, then correct it with real data from your scale and tape.
📏BMI, Body Fat and Other Calculators That Pair With Macros
Macros sit on top of a few other numbers, and each answers a different question.
BMI ranges for adults
BMI compares weight to height. It's a quick screening tool (18.5 to 24.9 is the "normal" range), but it can't tell muscle from fat. The formula is the same for women, though body fat differs.
BMR and TDEE are the energy numbers your macros are built from.
Body fat percentage is a better progress metric than the scale, whether measured by calipers, DEXA or a smart scale.
Visceral fat is the fat packed around internal organs. A waist above 40 inches in men or 35 in women is a common flag for health risk.
DRI values (Dietary Reference Intakes) set recommended vitamin and mineral levels, which a macro plan doesn't cover.
Use these as a dashboard, not a verdict.
🔧When and How to Adjust Your Macros
Judge progress by the weekly trend, not one morning
Give any new target two to three weeks before judging it. Compare your average weight across the week, not one morning reading.
If you're losing faster than about 1 percent of body weight a week, add 100 to 200 calories, mostly from carbs. If weight hasn't moved over three weeks and you've tracked accurately, trim 100 to 150 calories.
Don't cut protein to make room. Reduce carbs or fat instead. Recalculate whenever your weight changes by about 3 kg or your activity changes, such as starting a Zwift routine or moving to a desk job.
Every few months, take a maintenance break of one to two weeks. It helps adherence, and it gives you a fresh read on your real TDEE.
📚Sources and How We Built This Macro Calculator
Every number in this tool comes from published research and public reference data. The calculator offers four resting energy formulas: Mifflin-St Jeor (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990), the revised Harris-Benedict equation (Roza and Shizgal, 1984), and two lean-mass formulas, Katch-McArdle and Cunningham, which use body fat percentage instead of height and age.
Protein targets follow the International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand on protein and exercise, and the 2018 meta-analysis by Morton and colleagues, which found muscle gains level off near 1.6 g/kg.
Macro ranges of 10–35% protein, 20–35% fat and 45–65% carbs are the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges from the Institute of Medicine's Dietary Reference Intakes.
Fiber uses the 14 g per 1,000 calories rule from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Energy per gram uses the Atwater factors: 4 kcal for protein and carbs, 9 kcal for fat.
Weekly rate converts to a daily gap with the common estimate of about 7,700 kcal per kilogram (3,500 per pound) of body weight change. It is a rule of thumb, not an exact law.
Food values are rounded from USDA FoodData Central, and body fat estimates use the US Navy circumference method.
No calculator can see your metabolism. Read how we work on the About page and the Disclaimer before you change your diet.
❓FAQs
How accurate is a macro calculator?
It's an estimate, usually within 10 percent of your true needs. Individual metabolism varies, so treat the first result as a starting point and adjust from your weight trend.
What is the best macro split for weight loss?
There isn't a single best ratio. A solid base is 1.8 to 2.4 g/kg protein, 0.7 to 1 g/kg fat, and carbs filling the remaining calories.
How much protein do I need per day?
The RDA is 0.8 g/kg for general health. If you lift or you're dieting, 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg is the evidence-backed range.
Should I count macros or just calories?
Calories drive weight change. Macros decide body composition, hunger and training quality. If you can only track one thing, track calories and protein.
How many carbs per day to lose weight?
It depends on your calorie target and activity. Most people do well with 100 to 250 g, set after protein and fat are covered. Keto-style plans drop to 20 to 50 g net.
Do I need different macros on rest days?
Not strictly. Some people shift a little carb toward training days, but weekly averages matter more than daily swings.
Is IIFYM healthy?
It can be, as long as most of your food is minimally processed and you still hit fiber and micronutrient needs. The flexibility is a strength, but it isn't a license to live on junk.
How often should I recalculate my macros?
Every 2 to 3 kg of weight change, when your activity changes, or if progress stalls for three weeks.
✅Final Thoughts
A macro calculator gives you a smart starting point: calories from your body and goal, then protein, carbs and fat in grams. What actually moves your results is what comes next: weighing your food, hitting protein, watching the weekly trend, and adjusting by small steps. Start with the numbers above, give them a fair few weeks, and let your own data tighten them.
Small steps, tracked weekly, win
If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or have a history of disordered eating, check with a doctor or registered dietitian before changing how you eat.