How to Calculate Your Macros (Protein, Carbs, Fat) Step by Step

What macros are and why calories come first

Macros are protein, carbs, and fat. They are simply the way you split your daily calories.

Calories drive weight change, so get your maintenance calories first. Macros only work after maintenance calories are known.

If you want to know how to calculate macros, the steps below follow the same logic a macro calculator uses.

Step 1: Start from maintenance calories

Use your maintenance number as the base for every macro target. This keeps the plan tied to real intake instead of guesses.

When your goal changes, you only adjust calories and keep the same order of steps.

Step 2: Set protein first

Protein supports muscle retention, recovery, and satiety, so set it before carbs and fat.

A simple starting point is 0.7 to 1.0 grams per pound of body weight (1.6 to 2.4 g per kg).

Step 3: Set a minimum fat intake

Fats support hormones and food satisfaction. Pick a minimum you can hit daily.

Many people do well around 0.3 grams per pound (0.6 g per kg) or 20 to 30 percent of calories.

Step 4: Fill the rest with carbs

After protein and fat are set, all remaining calories go to carbs.

This is the flexible part of your protein carbs fat split. Move carbs up or down based on preference and training days.

Example macro setup with real numbers

Example: maintenance calories 2200. Protein 150 g is 600 calories, fat 60 g is 540 calories, leaving 1060 calories for carbs or about 265 g.

This is how to calculate macros without a macro calculator: protein and carbs are 4 calories per gram, and fat is 9 calories per gram.

Macros for weight loss or weight gain

Macros for weight loss follow the same steps, but you lower total calories from maintenance first.

For weight gain, use a small calorie surplus and keep protein steady, then let carbs rise.

Do macros need to be exact?

No. Hit protein and calories most days, keep fat above your minimum, and let carbs float.

Use weekly averages and weight trends to decide if you need changes.

Track daily, adjust weekly

Track macros daily and adjust weekly using trends from your logs. Small changes beat perfect days.