Macros Per Day Calculator

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The Complete Guide to Calculating Your Macros for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain

Want to lose fat or build muscle but need help figuring out where to start calculating your macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat)? You’ve come to the right place.

Discover the step-by-step process for configuring your macros to reach your desired body composition. Follow these formulas and tips to optimize fat burning or pack on lean muscle mass.

What Are Macros and Why Do They Matter?

“Macros” refers to the three main macronutrients that provide calories:
– Protein

– Carbohydrates

– Fat

The amounts and ratios of macros you eat directly impact your ability to lose fat or gain muscle. That’s because each macro serves different functions in the body:

– Protein – Builds and repairs muscle tissue

– Carbs – Provides energy for workouts and activity

– Fat – Supports hormone function and overall health

While total calories drive weight loss/gain, your macro splits determine whether that’s coming from fat or muscle. So, setting macros specifically for your goals is crucial.

How Macronutrients Work in Popular Diets

Different diets involve manipulating macros in various ways:

– Ketogenic Diet: Very high fat (70%), low carb (10%), moderate protein (20%). Forces the body to burn fats for fuel through ketosis.

– Zone Diet: Balanced – 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. Focuses on nutrient density to optimize health.

– High Carb/Low Fat: High carb (60%), low fat (15%), moderate protein (25%). It can support active lifestyles, but overeating carbs is common.

There’s no universally “best” approach. The right plan depends on your lifestyle, preferences, and goals.

Before determining macros, you need to know your total calorie needs. Use our calculator or this formula:

Daily Calorie Needs = Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) x Activity Factor

– BMR: Your minimum calories burned through basic functions like breathing. Calculate yours here.

– Activity Factor: Accounts for your activity level. Sedentary = 1.2; Lightly Active = 1.375; Moderately Active = 1.55; Very Active = 1.725; Extremely Active = 1.9

Tip: Reduce calories by 250-500 daily to lose weight. Increase by 250-500 to gain weight.

How to Calculate Macros for Fat Loss

To burn fat, aim for the following macro ratios:

– Protein: 0.8-1g per pound of body weight (preserves muscle in deficit)

– Fat: 30% of total calories (supports hormone function)

– Carbs: Remainder of calories (provides workout fuel)

Here’s the formula:

  1. Set protein grams based on your goal weight. Ex: 150 lb person = 120-150g protein.
  1. Allot 30% of calories to fat. Ex: 2,000 calorie diet = 600 calories (67g) from fat.
  1. The remaining calories go to carbs. Ex: 2,000 total calories – 650 (protein) – 600 (fat) = 750 calories (188g) carbs.

Tip: Focus carbs around workouts for energy. Limit carbs in the evening.

How to Calculate Macros for Building Muscle

To maximize muscle growth, use these optimal macro ratios:

– Protein: 0.8-1g per pound of goal body weight (builds and repairs muscle)

– Fat: 30% of total calories (supports hormone function

– Carbs: Remaining calories (fuels intense training)

Calculate your muscle-building macros this way:

  1. Set protein based on your weight. Ex: 180 lb person = 144-180g protein.
  1. Allot 30% of calories to fat. Ex: 3,000 calorie diet = 900 calories (100g) from fat./li>
  1. The remaining calories go to carbs. Ex: 3,000 total calories – 720 (protein) – 900 (fat) = 1,380 calories (345g) carbs.

Tip: Time carbs pre/post workout to promote recovery and fuel workouts.

How to Track and Adjust Your Macros

– Use a tracking app like MyFitnessPal or MacroFactor to monitor intake and tweak as needed.

– Re-calculate macros every 4-6 weeks as body weight changes to keep progressing.

– Play with carb and fat ratios if you plateau to find your “sweet spot.”

Putting it All Together

Understanding your macronutrient needs is essential for any fitness journey. Follow these steps to align your diet with your specific goals:

  1. Determine your calorie needs for weight loss or gain.
  1. Based on the above formulas, Split macros for fat loss or muscle building.
  1. Use a tracking app to hit your numbers daily precisely.
  1. Adjust macros and calories over time to keep seeing results.

Proper macro tracking and adjustment are crucial to getting the lean, muscular physique you want. Stay plugged into JasonKozma.com for more tools like this and tips on how to set yourself up for success. Now get to calculating those macros and start crushing your fitness goals!

CARB, PROTEIN, AND FAT CALCULATOR
Calories: per day
Common Diet Ratios:
Carbohydrate: %
Protein: %
Fat: %
Meals Per Day: Three
Four
Five
Six
AMOUNT OF NUTRIENTS REQUIRED
Carbohydrate Protein Fat
Grams Per Day 200g 200g 44g
Grams Per Meal 33g 33g 7g
Calories Per Day 800 cals 800 cals 400 cals
Calories Per Meal 133 cals 133 cals 67 cals

Calculating your Ideal Macronutrient Requirements for your Fitness and Health Goals

Do you want to build muscle, lose fat, or simply maintain your physique? Whatever your fitness and health goals are, the way you train, sleep, and eat are crucial components in helping you achieve these goals. However, most of you know that more often than not what we eat will be the most important factor in helping us build muscle of lose that suborn fat! You have all heard of the saying “you cannot out-train a bad diet”, well, this concept is something I standby. But, how do you know how many calories, fats, carbohydrates, or protein that you need per day; Should you try low carb, keto, or a high carb diet; how many grams of protein should you eat to build muscle?

This is where things can get confusing and impact your goals, negatively!

If you have recently gotten into fitness or have been a in the game for a long-time, then you may have heard of the term ‘macros’. Catching the word “macros” in your local fitness club is not a surprise. Focusing on your daily macronutrient intake instead of your calorie intake has become the new norm in today’s health & fitness world. And quite frankly, we should all get on board with it. According to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, you won’t reach your fitness goals without the essential macronutrients.

So, before I delve further on how to know your calorie and macronutrient requirements, it’s important you understand what macros are and how different diets have different macronutrient distributions.

What are macros?

“Macros” stands for macronutrients. “Macro” meaning large amounts and “Nutrients” meaning dietary requirements for survival. Macronutrients are dietary requirements we need in larger amounts for survival. When we eat food, our food contains more than just calories. Calories are our body’s way of receiving energy and this energy comes from our macronutrient sources in our food. This means that anything that contains a calorie, comes from one of our macronutrient sources. We have four macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, fat, and alcohol, but for this article let’s not focus on alcohol, we will touch on this another time.  Each of these macronutrients not only provides energy (or calories), but where they focus or prioritize their energy in our bodies is different based on the individual macro.

Macronutrients and diet

Certain diets have different macronutrient breakdowns. Let’s focus on at least 3 common ones and discuss each of them briefly.

  1. Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet is primarily made up of dietary fats, so it is no secret that the macro distribution will be skewed towards fats and not carbohydrates. About 70% of your calories will come from fats and 10% from carbohydrates, the remaining 20% are from protein.

The idea behind such a diet is that the ultimate fuel supply for your body becomes fat. This lowers your insulin volumes and intensifies your fat burning.

  1. Zone diet

The zone diet focuses on a balanced approach, ensuring you are consuming enough nutrients from each key macro group. In this diet you will typically consume 40% of your calories from carbs, 30% from protein, while the other 30% from fats.

The Zone diet is intended to get and keep your body operating at peak efficiency and to lessen your odds of developing dangerous health conditions. It was developed by physicians who found great success using this diet due to its balanced and sustainable approach.

  1. Low Fat/high carb

You can kind of think of this diet as the complete opposite of keto. This diet primarily focuses on carbs, whereby you get at least 60% of your calories from carbs, while only 15% from fats and the rest from protein.

The major drawback from this diet, while you can lose weight on it, for most individuals it is quite easy to overconsume carbohydrates leading to a surplus in calories. However, if you are an athlete or individual that trains multiple times a day then consuming more carbs may positively impact your performance due to the energy provided from the carbs.

How do we calculate our calorie and macro requirements?

Typically, your trainer would be providing you with a set number of calories you require to eat per day that will assist you to gain muscle, lose body fat or reach any of your other goals. Once I have given you this calorie amount, say 2000 calories you will then input that into the calculator. Or alternatively, you can find a calorie calculator online which will estimate the number of calories you require per day, however, do remember this is an estimate.

Use this tool: https://www.jasonkozma.com/free-fitness-calculators/caloriesperday/

Next, you will choose which common diet ratio you would like to go with, this could be Jason’s approach, keto, zone diet or even low fat. This will be up to you or whichever diet I believe is best suited for you. you will then choose how many meals you would like to eat per day, whether that be 3.4, 5 or 6.

Last, you will get the amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats (per gram) that you should take in each day to achieve your goals – It’s that easy!

Overall, using my macro calculator can provide you with specific information that helps remove any confusion you may have and more importantly help ensure your nutrition is optimal so you can achieve your fitness, physique, and health goals.

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