How much protein, fat and carbs should you eat?
Enter your maintenance calories, your weight and your goal. You get a daily calorie target and how much of it should come from protein, fat and carbohydrates.
Calculator
20% below maintenance for steady fat loss.
- Protein176 g704 kcal · 35%
- Fat56 g500 kcal · 25%
- Carbs199 g796 kcal · 40%
Why macros, not just calories
Calories decide whether you gain or lose weight. Macros — protein, fat and carbohydrates — decide what that weight is made of. Two diets with the same calories can produce very different results if one is high in protein and the other is not.
Protein is the one that matters most for body composition: it builds and repairs muscle, keeps you fuller than the other macros and protects muscle during a diet. Fat supports hormones and the absorption of some vitamins. Carbohydrates are your main fuel for hard training.
How this calculator works
It starts from your maintenance calories (use the TDEE calculator if you do not know them) and adjusts for your goal: 20% fewer calories for a cut, the same for maintenance, 10% more for a bulk.
Protein is set from your body weight, not as a percentage of calories, because what you need scales with how much you weigh. Fat is set to 25% of calories, but never less than 0.6 g per kilogram. Carbohydrates fill whatever calories are left. Each gram of protein and carbohydrate is counted as 4 kcal, and each gram of fat as 9 kcal.
Choosing a protein target
Research on people who lift points to about 1.6 g per kilogram of body weight per day as the point where extra protein stops adding much muscle; 2.0–2.2 g/kg gives a safety margin and is worth it during a cut, when protein helps you keep the muscle you have.
If you carry a lot of body fat, calculating from your full weight overstates what you need. Use your goal weight instead. Spread protein across three to five meals of roughly 0.4 g/kg each rather than one large serving.
The maths
- Calorie target
maintenance × 0.8 (cut) · × 1.0 (maintain) · × 1.1 (bulk)- Protein
body weight (kg) × 1.6–2.2 g- Fat
25% of calories ÷ 9, at least 0.6 g per kg- Carbs
(calories − protein × 4 − fat × 9) ÷ 4
FAQ
How much protein do I need to build muscle?
About 1.6 g per kilogram of body weight per day (0.7 g per pound) covers most people who lift. Going up to 2.2 g/kg (1 g per pound) is a reasonable upper target, especially while dieting. Beyond that, extra protein is not harmful for healthy people but it rarely adds more muscle.
What are good macros for cutting?
Keep protein high — 2.0–2.2 g/kg — to protect muscle, keep fat at 20–30% of calories, and let carbohydrates take what is left. A deficit of about 20% below maintenance is a good balance between steady fat loss and keeping your training performance.
What are good macros for bulking?
Protein of 1.6–2.0 g/kg is plenty, since the extra calories already support growth. Fat around 25% of calories and the rest as carbohydrates fuels harder training. A 10% surplus above maintenance limits how much fat you gain alongside the muscle.
Do I have to hit my macros exactly?
No. Being within about 10 g of protein and 5–10% of your calorie target most days is enough. Protein and total calories matter most; how you split the rest between fat and carbohydrates is largely a matter of preference and what fuels your training best.
Is a low-carb diet better for fat loss?
When calories and protein are matched, low-carb and higher-carb diets lose about the same amount of fat. Choose the split that you enjoy and can stick to. If you train hard, keeping some carbohydrates around your sessions usually helps performance.
Train to make the macros count
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Bravel tracks this for you automatically
Log meals in the app and it counts protein, fat and carbs against targets that adjust to your goal and your training. Join the waitlist and get it at launch.