How to Calculate Your Own Macros

Disclaimer: This is only a starting point and nutrition will need to be adjusted over time based on progress. If you need help navigating this as you go, don’t hesitate to reach out for advice!

Also, note that these formulas may not work out well if you are starting extremely overweight.

Fat Loss

Calories – 10-12 per pound of current body weight (adjusting down only if and as needed to keep progress coming)

Protein – 1-1.5g per pound of goal body weight

Carbs/Fats – distributed in any way you prefer that gets you to your target calories

Muscle Gain

Calories – 14-15 per pound of current body weight (adjusting up if needed)

Protein – 0.8-1.2g per pound of goal bodyweight

Carbs/Fats – distributed in any way you prefer that gets you to your target calories

Maintenance

Calories – 12-14 per pound of current body weight (adjusting up or down if needed)

Protein – Approximately 1g per pound of current body weight

Carbs/Fats – distributed in any way you prefer that gets you to your target calories

Example

Let’s say Jane is a 180-pound lady who wants to drop 40 lbs and get to 140. Here is how her starting nutrition might break down.

180 lbs x 10 calories = 1800 calories per day to start. Adjusting down only as necessary if we haven’t seen any results for 2-3 weeks. (Making sure she is being honest with herself about how compliant she has been before making any adjustments!)

With a goal weight of 140 lbs, we set her protein to 140 grams per day. Protein has 4 calories per gram so 140 x 4 = 560 calories from protein.

1800 – 560 = 1240 calories remaining that she can distribute between carbs and fats in any amount she wants. (Remember that carbs have 4 calories per gram, and fat has 9 calories per gram) For this example let’s start Jane by splitting her fats and carbs 50/50. That gives us:

1800 calories

140g protein (560 calories)

155g carbs (620 calories)

69g fat (620 calories)

If she wanted to start more conservatively she could use the 12cal/lb formula which would allow her 2160 calories and adjust down from there based on progress, but her protein would remain the same. That means she would need to add an additional 360 calories between her carbs and fats to get to that 2160 number. (1800 + 360 = 2160)

Now of course all of this is predicated on you being willing to actually weigh, measure, and track your food.

It sounds like a huge headache, but it gets very simple once you’ve got a rhythm to it, and it will teach you things about nutrition and the way your body responds to it that you can never find any other way.

Even if you don’t intend to track for the rest of your life (most people don’t) it’s a great learning experience and I recommend it for everyone, at least when they’re starting out and to occasionally check in to hold themselves accountable.

There are countless apps out there to track your food. At the time of this writing, the free version of My Fitness Pal is perfectly adequate and my personal favorite.

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Nate Birner

Featured Image Image by Silvia from Pixabay

About the Author

Nate is the author of God's Fingerprint on Fitness and owner of Fit Goal Culture, a private strength training gym in Cedar Park, TX. He hopes to motivate and empower people to practically apply Biblical principles in a way that keeps them moving closer to whom God intended them to be.

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