Macro Calculator | Protein, Carb & Fat Targets

Quick Start Guide

  1. Enter Target Calories: Input your daily calorie target (from TDEE calculator or custom).
  2. Select Fitness Goal: Choose your goal: weight loss, maintenance, or muscle gain.
  3. View Macro Ratios: See the recommended percentage split for protein, carbs, and fats.
  4. View Grams Per Day: See exactly how many grams of each macronutrient you need daily.
  5. Customize Ratios: Optionally enter custom macro percentages for specialized diets.
  6. Export Meal Plan: Export your macro targets as JSON, CSV or PDF for meal planning.

Understanding Macros

Calories per gram

Protein and carbohydrates each provide about 4 calories per gram, while fat provides about 9. Your gram targets are calculated by splitting your daily calorie target across the three macros using your selected ratio, then dividing by these per-gram values.

Choosing a goal preset

Weight Loss and High Protein presets favor a higher protein share to help preserve muscle during a deficit. Weight Gain favors more carbs to fuel training. Low Carb reduces carbohydrate share in favor of fat — it is a moderate reduction, not a strict ketogenic ratio (true keto is typically under 10% carbs).

Setting a custom split

Choose Custom to enter your own protein, carb, and fat percentages. They must sum to 100% — if you leave fat blank after entering protein and carbs, it is calculated automatically to fill the remainder.

Features

Macro Breakdown: Get your daily protein, carbs, and fat targets based on your calorie intake and selected goal.

Custom Goals: Fine-tune your macro percentages to match your specific diet preferences or fitness goals.

Goal Presets: Choose from pre-configured goals like weight loss, maintenance, weight gain, high protein, or low carb.

Calorie Conversion: Understand how protein (4 cal/g), carbs (4 cal/g), and fat (9 cal/g) contribute to total calories.

Common Use Cases

Fitness & Muscle Building: set high protein goals for muscle growth, track daily macro targets, and adjust ratios based on training phase.

Weight Management: pursue weight loss with adequate protein, maintaining muscle while losing fat with balanced nutrition.

Meal Planning: plan meals to hit daily targets, balance macros across meals, and stay consistent with goals.

Custom Diet Adjustments: plan low-carb diets with reduced-carb macro ratios and personalized nutrition targets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Use our Macro Calculator to break down your daily calorie target into protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Enter your target calories and select a fitness goal (weight loss, maintenance, or muscle gain). The calculator provides optimized macro ratios and shows exact grams needed for each macronutrient — the numbers flexible-dieting (IIFYM, “if it fits your macros”) plans are built around.
Protein (4 calories/gram), Carbohydrates (4 calories/gram), and Fats (9 calories/gram). Alcohol is sometimes considered a fourth macro at 7 calories/gram. Together they make up all the caloric content of food.
Common splits: Maintenance (30/40/30 Protein/Carb/Fat), Weight Loss (40/30/30, higher protein to preserve muscle), Weight Gain (30/50/20, more carbs to fuel training), Low-Carb (35/25/40). Use the goal-based presets in this calculator to start with evidence-backed ratios, or choose Custom to set your own percentages.
For weight loss, a higher protein ratio (40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat) is recommended. Higher protein helps preserve muscle mass during calorie deficit, increases satiety, and has a higher thermic effect. Our calculator uses this ratio for weight loss goals.
For muscle gain, use a higher carbohydrate ratio (30% protein, 50% carbs, 20% fat). Higher carbs provide energy for intense workouts and support recovery. Adequate protein (30%) ensures muscle repair and growth. Our calculator uses this ratio for muscle gain goals.
For muscle building or maintenance: 0.7-1g per pound of body weight (1.6-2.2g per kg). For general health: 0.36g per pound (0.8g per kg) is the minimum RDA. Active individuals and those in a calorie deficit should target the higher end to preserve muscle mass.
The built-in Low-Carb preset reduces carbs to about 25% of calories, which is a moderate carb reduction — not the same as classic ketogenic dieting, which typically targets under 10% carbs (roughly 20-50g net carbs/day) and around 70-75% fat. If you are following true keto, select Custom and enter your own protein/carb/fat percentages to match your plan.
Yes. Use custom mode to set your own protein, carb, and fat percentages. This is perfect for specialized diets like keto (high fat, low carb), high-protein diets, or personal preferences. The calculator shows exact grams needed based on your custom ratios.
Start from your daily calorie target (your TDEE minus a deficit of roughly 300-500 calories), then apply a higher-protein split such as 40% carbs / 30% protein / 30% fat to preserve muscle while losing fat. Enter your calorie goal and pick the weight-loss preset above to get exact gram targets for protein, carbs, and fat.

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