Macro Calculator
Split your daily calories into protein, carbs and fat, in grams, for your goal.
An example: enter your own.
Work out your calories in the Calorie Calculator.
Protein is set per kg of body weight.
Protein 0.83 g/kg, fat 30% of calories, carbs the rest.
Enter your weight to see the result.
Splits a day's calories into grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat, per day and per meal. Protein is set by your body weight, as nutrition guidelines set it, and each preset names the range it sits in. It takes its calories from the Calorie Calculator when you have used it on this device, or from a number you enter. Every calculation runs in your browser.
How it works
Protein comes first, in grams per kilogram of your actual weight. One other macro is set as a share of the calories, and the third takes what is left: fat at 30% for Balanced and High protein, with carbs the rest; carbs at 30% for Low carb and 10% for Very low carb, with fat the rest. Custom sets protein in g/kg and fat as a share. Each macro is rounded to whole grams, and the calories and shares shown are worked out again from those grams at 4, 4 and 9 kcal a gram, so they can differ from the target by a few kcal. Calories are taken from 500 to 10,000 kcal.
Where the presets come from: Balanced uses WHO's safe protein intake of 0.83 g/kg (2007). The other presets use 1.6 g/kg, the calculator's own choice inside the 1.4–2.0 g/kg the International Society of Sports Nutrition gives for people who exercise. The ADA's 2019 nutrition consensus calls 26–45% of calories from carbohydrate low carbohydrate and under 26% very low; the 30% and 10% presets are the calculator's choices inside them. For adults over 65, the PROT-AGE group recommends at least 1.0–1.2 g/kg, and 1.2 g/kg or more for those who are active.
A line under the result says when a share falls outside the ranges NASEM sets for adults: protein 10–35%, carbohydrate 45–65%, fat 20–35% of calories. It is information only: the low-carb presets sit outside them by design.
Protein g = g/kg × body weight in kg
Fixed macro g = calories × share ÷ kcal a gram
Remaining macro g = (calories − protein g × 4 − fixed g × its kcal a gram) ÷ its kcal a gram
Examples
2,000 kcal at 70 kg, Balanced
Protein 58 g, carbs 291 g and fat 67 g a day, or 19 g, 97 g and 22 g a meal over 3 meals; the grams add up to 1,999 kcal.
2,400 kcal at 80 kg, High protein, 4 meals
Protein 128 g (21% of calories), carbs 292 g and fat 80 g: 32 g of protein a meal.
1,800 kcal at 65 kg, Very low carb (keto)
Carbs 45 g, protein 104 g and fat 134 g (67% of calories). Carbs and Fat fall outside NASEM's ranges, which the calculator notes.
Grams by calories and preset
| Calories | Balanced | High protein | Low carb | Very low carb (keto) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 kcal | 58 / 205 / 50 | 112 / 151 / 50 | 112 / 113 / 67 | 112 / 38 / 100 |
| 1,800 kcal | 58 / 257 / 60 | 112 / 203 / 60 | 112 / 135 / 90 | 112 / 45 / 130 |
| 2,000 kcal | 58 / 291 / 67 | 112 / 237 / 67 | 112 / 150 / 106 | 112 / 50 / 150 |
| 2,200 kcal | 58 / 328 / 73 | 112 / 274 / 73 | 112 / 165 / 121 | 112 / 55 / 170 |
| 2,500 kcal | 58 / 380 / 83 | 112 / 326 / 83 | 112 / 188 / 144 | 112 / 63 / 200 |
| 3,000 kcal | 58 / 467 / 100 | 112 / 413 / 100 | 112 / 225 / 184 | 112 / 75 / 250 |
Rules and sources
The Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges are from the NASEM (Institute of Medicine) Dietary Reference Intakes for macronutrients (2005). Protein references are WHO Technical Report 935 (2007), the ISSN position stand on protein and exercise (Jäger and colleagues, 2017) and the PROT-AGE position paper (Bauer and colleagues, 2013). The low-carbohydrate definitions are Table 3 of the ADA consensus report (Evert and colleagues, 2019). Protein is set on actual body weight; with protein above 1 g/kg and a height saved on this device by another health tool that puts BMI at 30 or more, the calculator notes that g/kg targets then give large amounts.
Sources
- Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (2005) — National Academies Press
- Protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition (Technical Report Series 935, 2007) — WHO
- Jäger R et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise (J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2017;14:20) — Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
- Bauer J et al. Evidence-based recommendations for optimal dietary protein intake in older people: a position paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group (J Am Med Dir Assoc 2013;14:542–559) — Journal of the American Medical Directors Association
- Evert AB et al. Nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes or prediabetes: a consensus report (Diabetes Care 2019;42:731–754), Table 3 — PubMed Central
Reviewed
See also
- Calorie Calculator — the daily calories to split, for your goal.
- Calorie Deficit Calculator — when a daily intake reaches your goal weight.