How do I figure out my macros?

Estimate your daily calorie burn, adjust for your goal, set protein at 2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight, set fat at 25 percent of calories, and give the rest to carbs. The macro calculator on this site does the full Mifflin-St Jeor math, including the activity multiplier and goal adjustment, in under a minute.

What macros should I eat to lose weight?

Keep protein high, at 2.0 to 2.2 grams per kilogram, to protect muscle. Keep fat at 0.5 to 1 gram per kilogram for hormones. Put the remaining calories into carbs. The deficit drives the fat loss; the split decides how much of the lost weight is fat versus muscle.

Should I count macros or just calories?

Calories decide whether your weight changes; macros decide what that weight is made of. Counting only calories works for pure weight loss, but adding protein and fat minimums keeps the loss mostly fat instead of a mix of fat and muscle.

Do I have to hit my macros exactly?

No. Aim to land within about 5 to 10 grams on protein and fat, and let carbs absorb the daily noise. Weekly averages beat daily perfection, and one off day changes nothing if the other six are on target.

How long before I see results from counting macros?

Give any macro setup two to three weeks before judging it. Week one is mostly water-weight shifts; real fat-loss trends show by week three. Adjust only one variable at a time, usually 100 to 200 calories from carbs, so you know what worked.

How to Count Macros: A Step-by-Step Guide With a Worked Example

Counting macros sounds technical, but it is five steps you can do on one page. Follow the worked example below, then plug in your own numbers with the calculator.

To count macros: 1) set your calorie target from your daily burn and your goal, 2) set protein at 2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight, 3) set fat at 25 percent of calories, 4) give the remaining calories to carbs, 5) track everything for two weeks and adjust. Example: a 165 lb, 32-year-old woman cutting lands on 1,829 calories with 150 grams of protein, 51 grams of fat, and 193 grams of carbs.

Step 1: Set your calorie target

Estimate your basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, multiply by your activity level to get TDEE, then adjust for your goal: about 20 percent less to cut, 10 percent more to bulk, unchanged to maintain. Our example: a 32-year-old woman, 165 lb (74.8 kg), 5 foot 6, moderately active. Her BMR works out to about 1,475 calories; times the 1.55 moderate-activity multiplier gives a TDEE of about 2,287. Cutting 20 percent off lands her target at 1,829 calories a day.

Step 2: Set protein

Protein is set from bodyweight: 2 grams per kilogram. At 74.8 kg, that is 149.6 grams, rounded to 150 grams of protein, which is 600 calories. This is the anchor of the whole plan. Hit protein every day and the rest of the diet has room to flex.

Step 3: Set fat

Fat is set from calories: 25 percent of the target. Twenty-five percent of 1,829 is about 457 calories; divided by 9 calories per gram, that is about 51 grams of fat. This clears the hormonal minimum with room to spare (0.5 to 1 gram per kilogram would be 37 to 75 grams for her).

Step 4: Fill carbs with the remainder

Subtract protein and fat calories from the target: 1,829 minus 600 minus 457 leaves 772 calories. Divide by 4 calories per gram: 772 divided by 4 is 193 grams of carbs. Her complete macro plan is 1,829 calories: 150 grams of protein, 51 grams of fat, 193 grams of carbs. You can generate your own version in seconds with the free macro calculator.

Step 5: Track for two weeks, then adjust

Weigh food with a kitchen scale for the first two weeks; eyeballing portions is the number one reason macro plans seem not to work. Log everything in any free tracking app. After two weeks, compare your average weight trend to your goal. Losing slower than planned on a cut? Trim 100 to 200 calories from carbs. Gaining too fast on a bulk? Pull back slightly. Change one variable at a time so you know what worked.

The 40-40-20 shortcut

If the four-step math feels like too much, the 40-40-20 rule is a decent starting template: 40 percent of calories from protein, 40 percent from carbs, 20 percent from fat. On our 1,829 calorie example that is 183 grams of protein, 183 grams of carbs, and about 41 grams of fat. It skews high on protein and low on fat compared with the standard method, so treat it as a starting point and adjust toward the 25-percent fat rule if hunger or energy suffer.

Tools that make it stick

Three things separate people who count macros for years from people who quit in a week: a 20 dollar kitchen scale, a tracking app with a barcode scanner, and two or three repeatable meals that you know the macros for by heart. Build the repeats first. When breakfast and lunch are automatic, only dinner needs daily thought, and the plan stops feeling like a second job.

This guide gives general information for meal planning. It is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before making major changes to your diet.

How to Count Macros