Tired of guessing protein needs? Get your daily macro split — protein, carbs, and fat — based on your calorie goal, for cutting, bulking, or maintaining.
Protein (g) = (Calories × Protein%) / 4 | Carbs (g) = (Calories × Carb%) / 4 | Fat (g) = (Calories × Fat%) / 9Each macronutrient provides a specific number of calories per gram: protein and carbohydrates provide 4 calories per gram, while fat provides 9 calories per gram. The calculator multiplies total daily calories by each macro's percentage, then divides by the respective caloric density to get grams per day.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Calories | Daily calorie target (TDEE or goal-specific) |
| Protein% | Percentage of calories from protein (as a decimal) |
| Carb% | Percentage of calories from carbohydrates (as a decimal) |
| Fat% | Percentage of calories from fat (as a decimal) |
Our calculations are based on established financial and scientific formulas. The following sources inform the default values and methodology used in this calculator:
Your ideal macro ratio depends on your fitness goal. Below we show the recommended protein, carb, and fat splits for different objectives on a 2,000-calorie diet.
| Goal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Protein (g) | Carbs (g) | Fat (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight Loss | 40% | 30% | 30% | 200g | 150g | 67g |
| Muscle Gain | 30% | 40% | 30% | 150g | 200g | 67g |
| Maintenance | 25% | 45% | 30% | 125g | 225g | 67g |
| Low Carb / Keto | 35% | 10% | 55% | 175g | 50g | 122g |
| Endurance Athlete | 20% | 55% | 25% | 100g | 275g | 56g |
Protein is the most important macro to get right — aim for 1.6-2.2g per kg of body weight regardless of your goal. Carbs and fat can be adjusted based on preference and energy needs. This calculator lets you customize your own ratios.
Choosing high-quality sources for your protein, carbohydrates, and fats is as important as hitting your macro targets. This table shows the best food sources for each macronutrient and their nutrient density.
| Macro | Best Sources | Nutrient Density | Calories per 100g | Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | Chicken breast, eggs, Greek yogurt, whey, tofu | Very High | 165 (chicken) | Muscle repair, satiety, thermic effect (20-30% of calories burned digesting) |
| Carbs (Complex) | Oats, quinoa, sweet potatoes, brown rice, legumes | High | 130 (quinoa) | Sustained energy, fiber, gut health, glycogen storage |
| Carbs (Simple) | Fruits, honey, white rice, sports drinks | Medium | 95 (banana) | Quick energy, pre-workout fuel, post-workout recovery |
| Fats (Unsaturated) | Avocado, olive oil, nuts, salmon, chia seeds | Very High | 370 (salmon) | Hormone production, brain health, vitamin absorption |
| Fats (Saturated) | Coconut oil, butter, cheese, red meat | Medium | 360 (cheese) | Use sparingly — less than 10% of daily calories |
| Fiber | Broccoli, oats, beans, berries, flaxseed | Very High | 80 (broccoli) | Digestive health, cholesterol reduction, blood sugar regulation |
Focus on protein and fiber-rich foods — they provide the highest satiety per calorie and require more energy to digest. For carbs, prioritize complex sources (oats, quinoa, sweet potatoes) over simple sugars. For fats, emphasize unsaturated sources (olive oil, avocado, nuts) and limit saturated fats. Use this macro calculator to set your targets, then choose foods from this table to build your meals.
Daily totals decide where your body composition goes. Distribution decides how well you train, how hungry you are at 4 pm, and whether the protein you ate actually gets used. Two people can hit identical macros and get very different results from how the grams are placed.
Muscle protein synthesis responds to per-meal doses, and research points to roughly 0.4 g per kilogram of body weight per meal across three to five meals, with a leucine threshold of about 2.5-3 g per sitting. For an 80 kg person that means at least 32 g of protein per meal, four times across the day — a pattern that looks like eggs and yoghurt at breakfast, chicken or tofu at lunch, a protein snack after training, and fish or legumes at dinner. Skip the pattern of a 20 g breakfast and a 90 g dinner: the surplus at dinner does not make up for the deficit in the morning.
| Meal (80 kg example) | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 35 g | 60 g | 15 g |
| Lunch | 40 g | 75 g | 20 g |
| Post-training snack | 30 g | 45 g | 8 g |
| Dinner | 40 g | 70 g | 20 g |
When calories are limited, carbohydrate is the macro worth moving around. Put your two largest carb servings in the meals immediately before and after your hardest session, and let rest days take roughly 20-30% less carbohydrate while protein and fat stay fixed. This is the same weekly total rearranged toward the days that need it, and it is why training-day and rest-day plans differ on nearly every serious programme.
Fat is not the macro to cut to zero when you need calories to fit: keep it around 0.5-0.8 g per kilogram for hormone production, fat-soluble vitamin absorption and satiety, which for an 80 kg person means roughly 45-65 g. Go below the floor for weeks and sleep, libido and mood usually report it before the scale does. Practical order of operations: set protein by body weight, set fat to the floor, spend every remaining calorie on carbohydrate — then re-run the calculator after any change in body weight above about 2 kg, because every target you set is a function of the weight you entered.
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