Nutrition guide

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR MACROS

7 min read · Updated June 2026 · Step by step

Calculating your macros sounds like a job for someone with a clipboard and a food scale. It is not. Done right, it is a simple bit of setup that tells you exactly what to eat and, just as usefully, helps you work out why you are not progressing when you are stuck.

By Ben @ MOMENTVM

Updated June 2026 · How we test & rank

In this guide

What macros are Is it worth the effort? Calculating your macros, step by step Using macros to troubleshoot No shortcuts, just whole foods The bottom line

What macros are

Macros, short for macronutrients, are the three things your calories come from: protein, carbs, and fat. Protein builds and repairs muscle. Carbs fuel your training. Fat keeps your hormones and health ticking over. Calculating your macros just means working out how much of each you should eat in a day to match your goal.

Is it worth the effort?

If you know your goal, definitely. The real value is not just hitting numbers, it is understanding. Say you are eating around 200 calories under maintenance, you can only train three days a week, and you are not seeing any change. If you know your macros, you can look at it and go, right, I need to drop it a bit further. Without that information you are just guessing in the dark and getting frustrated.

If you have no specific goal and you just want to feel healthier, you can keep it loose and lean on protein and whole foods. But the moment you want a specific result, knowing your macros turns vague effort into something you can actually adjust.

Calculating your macros, step by step

Step 1 — Find your maintenance calories

Work out roughly how many calories keep your weight stable. The TDEE calculator does this from your age, weight, height, and activity.

Step 2 — Adjust for your goal

To build, add around 250 to 500 calories. To lose fat, take away around 300 to 500. To maintain, leave it as is.

Step 3 — Set your protein

Aim for roughly 1.6 to 2.2g per kilo of bodyweight. This is the macro you protect first.

Step 4 — Set your fat

Around 0.8 to 1g per kilo of bodyweight keeps hormones and health in good shape.

Step 5 — Fill the rest with carbs

Whatever calories are left after protein and fat go to carbs to fuel your training.

That is the whole process. The good news is you do not have to do this maths by hand.

Let the tool do it: Our macro calculator runs all five steps for you in seconds. Plug in your details and your goal, and it hands you your protein, carbs, and fat targets.

Using macros to troubleshoot

This is where macros earn their keep. Once you have your targets and you are roughly hitting them, your results become readable. Not losing fat on your deficit? Your numbers tell you that you can trim a bit more, or that your activity is lower than you assumed. Not gaining? You probably need to nudge the food up.

I track mine loosely. I keep a good idea of how much protein, carbs, and fat is in what I eat without logging every gram. You do not need to be obsessive about it. You just need enough of a handle on your numbers that when progress stalls, you can see the lever to pull instead of guessing.

No shortcuts, just whole foods

I am not going to sell you a hack here, because there is not one. The honest approach is to stick to mostly whole, clean foods and check the labels on the packet so you know what you are actually eating. I have always focused on my protein and fats and let the rest fall into place around them.

Whole foods make this whole thing easier because they are simpler to estimate and they keep you fuller. The more your diet is built on real food you understand, the less you have to fuss over the exact numbers.

The bottom line

Find your maintenance, adjust for your goal, lock in protein and fat, and fill the rest with carbs. Use the calculator so you are not doing sums in your head, then track loosely enough to stay sane. The real prize is not perfect numbers, it is being able to look at a stall in progress and know exactly what to change.