Enter your details and goal to get a daily calorie target split into protein, carb, and fat grams, based on the diet style you pick.
Your BMR is estimated with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, multiplied by an activity factor to get TDEE (maintenance calories), then adjusted by ±500 kcal/day for a lose/gain goal. The resulting target calories are split by percentage into protein and carbs (4 kcal/gram each) and fat (9 kcal/gram).
Balanced (30/40/30) suits most people as a default. High-protein favors muscle retention during a calorie deficit. Low-carb and keto are stricter approaches some people find helpful for appetite control — none of these splits is universally "correct"; the best one is whichever you can sustain.
No — this is a population-average formula estimate, the same one used by the Calorie / BMR Calculator. Individual needs vary with body composition, medical conditions, and activity in ways a generic formula can't capture. Consult a doctor or registered dietitian before making significant dietary changes.
Total calories decide whether you gain or lose weight. Macros decide the composition of that change — how much of a loss is fat rather than muscle, and how much of a gain is muscle rather than fat. Both matter, but not for the same thing.
The energy values are fixed: protein and carbohydrate supply 4 kcal per gram, fat 9. So a 2,000 kcal day split 40/30/30 works out to 200g carbohydrate, 150g protein and 66.7g fat. That asymmetry is why fat grams always look small next to carb grams — fat is more than twice as energy-dense.
If you only control one macro, control protein. It preserves lean mass in a deficit, has the highest thermic effect — roughly 20-30% of its energy is spent digesting it — and is the most satiating of the three per calorie.
Common targets run from about 1.6g to 2.2g per kg of bodyweight for people training regularly, with the upper end more relevant when in a deficit. The Protein Calculator works this out against your goal.
Once protein and total calories are set, the carb/fat split is largely preference. Higher carbohydrate tends to suit high training volume and endurance work; higher fat suits people who find it more satiating or prefer fewer, larger meals. Fat should not go below roughly 0.5g per kg of bodyweight, as it is needed for hormone production and for absorbing fat-soluble vitamins.
Most of the popular diet arguments are about this split, and the evidence for one being universally superior at matched calories and protein is weak.
Start from your maintenance figure using the TDEE Calculator before setting any of this.
Need the calorie total these macros should add up to? Use the TDEE Calculator for maintenance, cutting, and bulking targets, or size protein specifically with the Protein Calculator. For fat specifically, the Fat Intake Calculator breaks the total into saturated and unsaturated targets. Macro targets are usually given per kilogram of body weight; the kg to pounds converter gets you to the right unit before you apply them.