Calculate Macros For Weight Loss
How to efficiently lose weight, gain weight and/or maintain easily.
In order to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn – also known as a calorie deficit. Our fat loss calorie calculator provides three levels of calorie deficit, depending on whether you want slow or fast weight loss. We don’t tell you to just eat 500 calories less – we personalize the results to your goals.
In order to gain muscle, it is best to eat more calories than you burn – also known as a calorie surplus. We’ll automatically calculate the best calorie surplus for you based on how long you have been weight training, your age, and your current weight.
If you want to maintain your weight, then all you need to know is how many calories per day you burn. We have used a formula that is accurate for most people, but if you would like to learn more about the right macros for you then you can check your results in our free Facebook group.
The best bit about using this macronutrient calculator? It’s free, quick, and you don’t have to download any sort of macro app!
So why should I use macros, and not just count calories?
Trick question! By using macros, you are using calories – it just makes sure that we’re eating the right things in the right amount to make completely sure that we are going to achieve our goals
WHAT ARE MACROS?
“Macros” is short for macronutrients. These are nutrients that your body requires or consumes in large quantities. The 3 main macronutrients are protein, carbohydrates, and fats. If you’ve ever looked on the back of your food’s packaging, you’ll have seen the macronutrient breakdown listed.
Each of the different macros is important for different reasons:
Protein – Helps you keep muscle, feel fuller, and automatically makes you eat less!
Protein is the chief macro when it comes to building muscle. Protein isn’t usually used by the body for fuel, and provides the ‘building blocks’ for new muscle mass.
When you’re trying to lose weight, protein can help you feel fuller (really useful!) and also helps you lose more fat and keep more muscle mass – making you look the way you want to! Research has also shown that higher protein diets will automatically reduce your calorie intake, helping you lose weight and keep it off.
Fats – Hormones and health
Fats have gotten a bad rap down the years. Saturated fats have been blamed for heart disease, the 80s saw the start of the low-fat craze when everyone decided that they just didn’t want to eat any fat at all… you get the picture.
The truth? Fat is essential. Pretty much all of our body’s major hormones have fat as their backbone. Every single cell in your body needs fat for its structure and function. But it’s important to be mindful of your fat intake, because it’s so calorific.
Carbs – Muscular fuel
When you’re doing any sort of physical activity, carbs play a vital role. The more intense the exercise, the more important carbs are.
This is why people’s carb intakes can vary so wildly. If you’re not doing a huge amount of exercise, you probably don’t need too many. If you’re doing loads, then you can afford to eat more!
Why is tracking macros beneficial for weight loss?
The main benefit of this is it means that you can eat foods you love & lose weight. Yes, you can have pizza, cake, and ice cream and lose weight. The key is moderation.
Once you understand that there are no magic ‘diet’ foods that you have to eradicate from your diet, the sense of freedom is amazing.
Now, we’re not saying you should eat all of your calories every day from jelly beans and gummy bears – however tempting. While you would lose weight if you consumed less calories than you use in a day you’d lose weight, you’d most likely be in awful health.
What this doesn’t mean is that jelly beans are more nutritious than sweet potatoes – they aren’t. However, health and body composition are two very different things. Typically, a healthy body weight correlates to better health – and a macro-based approach is one of the best ways around to lose weight and keep it off. I’d bet my money every time on the health of someone at a healthy body weight eating junk food vs the person 60 pounds overweight eating only “clean” foods!
What Are the Right Macro Ratios for You?
The right macros for you are based on your personal Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and goals.
How to Calculate the Right Daily Protein Amount
Setting protein to Moderate adjusts the ratio to .65 grams per pound of body weight. This is appropriate for sedentary individuals or for people with higher body fat percentages.
High is appropriate for people who are active, do moderate strength training, and have an average body fat percentage.
Maximum will set to 1 gram / lb. This is appropriate for those who are wanting to gain weight/muscle mass and do intense training.
Using the Macro Calculator to Calculate Daily Fat Amount
Fats are set at 30% of daily energy expenditure. This is a healthy moderate amount that most people do well with and is based on recommendations by nutritional guidelines.
When choosing foods that contain fat, focus on getting predominately healthy fats as part of that 30%.
Calculating the Right Carb Amount
After protein and fat are calculated, the calculator assigns the remainder of your calories as carbohydrates. This usually results in a moderate amount of carbs that are in the healthy range recommended for most people. Carbs fuel your body and workouts and are the body’s preferred energy source.
Many people coming from a “low carb” type of dieting may feel like this weight loss calculator factors carbs on the high side. However, this is a moderate amount of carbs according to respected nutritional guidelines and the notion that carbs cause weight gain or prevent fat loss when eaten in relation to your TDEE has been debunked.
How the Calculator Adjusts Your TDEE Based on Your Goals
Daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is calculated from your age, gender, height, weight, and exercise output.
You can easily use the macro calculator to adjust your energy levels to lose fat, maintain your current weight, or gain muscle.
By default, the results are for losing weight. Select either lose or gain if you are trying to lose fat or gain muscle. These are good starting points, but you may have to play around with your macros until you find your personal goal-reaching sweet spot. You can then count macros until you reach your desired goal.
