Video below…
Figure Out Daily Calories & Macros in Minutes!
With so much information out there, it can be tough finding a way to calculate your caloric intake and macros easily and effectively. I’ve broken the process down into 5 easy steps, and included the formulas below. Feel free to screenshot the description or copy and paste it. This way, you can plug in numbers and get starting calories and macros in minutes.
Step #1 Determine your starting point and your main goal
Take progress pics, measurements, get a DEXA scan, or get body fat caliper testing to determine your starting point. Also think about your goals for the next 90-120 days. Choose a main goal and write it down.
Step #2 Determine maintenance calories
This can be done a few different ways – use an online calculator, track your foods and your weight for a couple of weeks, or multiply your weight by a range of 11-15.
For example, a 150lb person who is moderately active with an average metabolism might choose 11 or 12. 150 x 12 = 1,800 calories. This is our estimated maintenance calories.
Step #3 Determine protein intake
Think about protein as a constant. Aim to get between 0.8 – 1.2g per pound of body weight. Let’s keep it simple with 1g/lb, or 150lb x 1 = 150g of protein.
This give us (150 x 4 calories) 600 calories for protein intake, and leaves us with 1,200 calories for fats and carbs.
Step #4 Determine fat intake
Fat is essential and you don’t want to go below a certain limit. Therefore, our range for fats with be: Body weight x 0.2 – 0.6 If you enjoy low fat/higher carbs, choose somewhere around 0.2 – 0.3.
If you like higher fats and lower carbs, choose somewhere around 0.5 – 0.6. Let’s go with 150 x 0.2 = 30g of fat This gives us (30g x 9 calories per gram) 270 calories for fats.
Step #5 Determine carb intake
The remaining calories are for carbs. So, 1,800 – 600 – 270 = 930 calories Let’s get our grams of carbs, or (930 / 4 calories per gram), 232.5g of carbs So, we have: 1,800 calories 150g protein 30g fats 232.5g carbs
When making adjustments, think about making small changes every 1-2 weeks. This would be an increase or decrease of around 10% of your daily caloric intake or around 100-300 calories. Give your body 1-2 weeks to see how the adjustment works and then decide to stay at your current intake, or adjust intake again.
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