Macro calculator

A starting point for calories, protein, carbs and fat, worked out with the equations dietitians use. Then turn the numbers into food.

Step 1
Get your numbers
Calories and macros from your height, weight, activity and goal.
Step 2
Plan the week
One click fills your next seven days with recipes that add up to them.
Step 3
Shop and cook
A shopping list for the plan, and every recipe measured against your day.
Step 4
Check in
Log your weight weekly. The progress view shows whether you are on pace.

1About you

AgeyrsHeightcmWeightkgBody fatoptional%

The equations use sex because resting energy differs on average between men and women. If you know your body fat, the estimate uses your lean mass instead.

2How active are you?

Most people overestimate this. If you are between two, pick the lower one and adjust after two or three weeks.

3What is the goal?

Pace

Goal weightoptionalkg

4How do you like to eat?

Meals a day

Your daily target

2290kcal

Maintenance is about 2740 kcal (2470–3010 for most people) · you are 450 below

Protein: 164 g; 2 g/kg
Carbs: 237 g; 41%
Fat: 76 g; 30%

Fibre: at least 32 g a day
Per meal (4): about 573 kcal and 41 g protein
Expect about 0.41 kg lost a week to begin with

How this is calculated

Resting energy 1768 kcal from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.
Maintenance 2740 kcal: resting energy × 1.55 for your activity level.
Goal 2290 kcal: a deficit sized as a share of body weight per week, using about 7,700 kcal per kg to set the starting point.
Protein 164 g from body weight, fat 76 g from a share of calories with a minimum per kg, and carbs 237 g from what is left.

An estimate for healthy adults: individual needs can differ by 10% or more. Use it as a starting point, then adjust by 100–150 kcal after two to three weeks of real results. Not for under-18s, or during pregnancy or breastfeeding. If you have or have had an eating disorder, take medication for diabetes, or have kidney disease, speak to a health professional before following a calorie or protein target.

Where the numbers come from

Resting energy. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is the most reliable of the common equations: it lands within 10% of measured resting energy for about four in five adults. When you enter body fat, the Cunningham lean-mass equation is used instead. Frankenfield et al., 2005 (systematic review)
Activity. Resting energy is multiplied by a physical activity level. The bands follow FAO/WHO/UNU (1.40–1.69 sedentary or light, 1.70–1.99 active, 2.00 and up vigorous); measured values for adults mostly fall between 1.4 and 2.0. FAO/WHO/UNU Human Energy Requirements, 2004
Pace of fat loss. Losing 0.5–1% of body weight a week keeps more muscle than faster loss. The 7,700 kcal per kg figure only sets the starting deficit; real loss slows as you get lighter. Helms et al., 2014; Garthe et al., 2011
Surplus for muscle gain. A surplus of roughly 5–15% of maintenance is enough. In a controlled trial, 15% compared with 5% mainly added fat. Helms et al., 2023; Iraki et al., 2019
Lowest calories shown. Intake should not fall below 1,200 kcal a day for women or 1,500 for men unless a health professional is supervising. Harvard Health Publishing
Protein. Muscle gain from training levels off at about 1.6 g per kg a day (up to 2.2); sports nutrition guidance is 1.4–2.0, and more per kg of lean mass while losing fat. Adults over 65 need at least 1.0–1.2. For a BMI over 30 the calculator bases protein on the weight at BMI 25, which is a practical convention rather than a guideline. Morton et al., 2018; ISSN position stand, 2017
Fat and carbohydrate. Fat sits within the accepted 20–35% of calories on the balanced and higher-carb settings (the lower-carb setting goes above it), never below 0.6 g per kg, a practitioner convention. Carbohydrate takes the remaining calories; keto holds it at 20–50 g, well under the 130 g reference intake. FAO Fats and fatty acids in human nutrition, 2010
Fibre. 14 g for every 1,000 kcal eaten, the basis of the reference intakes. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025, Appendix 1
How accurate this is. Even the best equations miss an individual's true needs by a few hundred calories a day, so treat the result as a range and adjust it from two or three weeks of your own weight trend. National Academies, Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, 2023

Want the reasoning in plain words? Read eating in a calorie deficit, eating to build muscle and high-protein eating.