Macro Calculator

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is how many calories your body burns at complete rest, just to keep you alive. Think breathing, heart beating, organs functioning. It's the minimum your body needs.

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is your BMR multiplied by your activity level. It's your estimated total daily calorie burn including movement, exercise, and daily life. This is the number your calorie target is based on.

Both are shown in your results so you can see how your target compares to your estimated maintenance level.

Calories are the main driver of whether you gain, lose, or maintain weight.

Macros (protein, carbs, and fats) determine how your body uses those calories, affecting muscle, energy, and body composition.

If you're just starting out, focus on hitting your calorie target and getting enough protein. You can fine-tune carbs and fats as you go.

It's a well-researched estimate, not a precise measurement. The formula used (Mifflin-St Jeor) predicts BMR within 10% for most people, which means your actual calorie needs could be somewhat higher or lower than what's shown.

A few things affect accuracy:

• Activity level is self-reported and most people overestimate it
• Genetics, hormones, and muscle mass all influence real calorie burn in ways the formula can't see
• Calorie counts in food tracking apps and on packaging have their own margin of error

Treat your results as a starting point. If you're consistently hitting your targets but not seeing expected progress after 3–4 weeks, adjust by 100–200 calories and reassess.

Be honest. Most people overestimate. Think about your daily movement plus your workouts combined.

• Sedentary: Desk job, little to no structured exercise
• Lightly active: 1–3 workouts/week or regular walking
• Moderately active: 3–5 workouts/week
• Very active: 6–7 workouts/week
• Extra active: Hard daily training plus a physically demanding job

If you're unsure, start with Moderately Active and adjust based on your results over 3–4 weeks.

It depends on how aggressive you want to be and what trade-offs you're okay with.

Smaller changes (10–15%) are more sustainable and easier to stick to. Larger deficits or surpluses (20–25%) may lead to faster results, but come with more risk: fatigue, hunger, muscle loss in a deficit, or more fat gain in a surplus.

Pick what fits your lifestyle, not just your timeline.

It's a rough estimate of how much weight you might lose or gain per week at your current calorie target.

It's calculated based on the size of your deficit or surplus. Roughly 7,700 calories equals 1kg of body fat. The range shown (rather than a single number) reflects the fact that real-world results vary between people.

Use it as a rough guide, not a guarantee. Factors like water retention, hormones, sleep, and stress all affect what the scale does week to week.

All four options hit the same calorie target. They just distribute protein, carbs, and fat differently. Carbs always fill whatever's left after protein and fat are set.

• Default: A balanced starting point. Works for most people and most goals.
• Lower Carb: More fat, fewer carbs. Suits people who feel better with less carbohydrate or who prefer higher fat foods.
• Lower Fat: Less fat, more carbs. Suits people who train at higher intensities and need more carb-based fuel, or who prefer lower fat foods.
• Higher Protein: More protein, fewer carbs. Useful in a fat loss phase to preserve muscle, or for people with higher protein needs.

Try the Default first. Switch if it doesn't fit your food preferences or lifestyle.

It probably looks higher than what you're used to eating, and that's normal. Most people don't eat enough protein, especially when trying to lose fat or build muscle.

Protein does a few important things: it preserves muscle when you're in a deficit, supports muscle growth when you're in a surplus, keeps you fuller for longer, and has a higher thermic effect than carbs or fat (meaning your body burns more calories just digesting it).

The targets here are based on current sports nutrition research. You don't need to hit them perfectly every day, but getting close most days makes a real difference to your results.

If the number feels unachievable right now, start by adding one high-protein food to each meal and build from there.

The easiest way is to build each meal around a protein source first, then add carbs and fat around it. Some reliable high-protein options:

• Chicken breast, cooked (150g): ~45g protein
• Canned tuna, drained (185g tin): ~40g protein
• Lean beef mince, cooked (150g): ~35g protein
• Salmon fillet, cooked (150g): ~30g protein
• Cottage cheese (150g): ~20g protein
• Greek yoghurt, full fat (200g): ~18g protein
• Tofu, firm (150g): ~18g protein
• Eggs, large (2 whole): ~13g protein
• Protein shake, 1 scoop (~30g powder): ~25g protein

Where possible, try to spread your protein across your meals throughout the day. Aim for 30–45g per main meal if you can.

It's possible but not ideal if muscle gain is the main goal.

You may build some muscle while losing fat if you're new to training, returning after a break, or carrying extra body fat. But progress will be slower, and the leaner or more experienced you are, the less likely it becomes.

If building muscle is the priority, a small surplus is usually more effective.

Yes, but progress may be slower than in a surplus. This approach works well if you want to improve strength and body composition without gaining fat.

Consistency in training and hitting your protein target is key.

For most people, keep your macros the same on rest days. Your body still needs fuel to recover and repair.

Only adjust if you have very specific or advanced training needs.

No. Your activity level already accounts for your training. Eating back workout calories (especially those from fitness trackers) often leads to overestimating and overeating.

Totally normal. Nobody nails it every single day.

What matters most is your weekly average and overall consistency. One off day won't ruin your progress, just don't let it turn into an off week.

Protein is the most important macro to prioritise. Aim to hit it within 10–15g most days. Day to day, small swings in carbs and fat are less impactful than missing protein or your calorie target.

A few common reasons:

• Tracking isn't as accurate as it feels. Eyeballing portions, not weighing cooking oils, or using generic food entries are the biggest sources of error. Small inaccuracies add up fast.
• Your TDEE estimate is off. If you've overestimated your activity level, your calorie target could be too high. Try dropping one activity level and reassessing.
• It hasn't been long enough. Give any change at least 3–4 weeks of consistent tracking before drawing conclusions. Week-to-week scale fluctuations are normal and don't reflect actual fat loss or gain.
• Water retention is masking progress. Stress, hormones, high sodium, and changes in training volume all cause water retention that can stall or even increase scale weight temporarily.

If you've been consistent for 3–4 weeks and genuinely aren't seeing movement, adjust calories by 100–200 kcal and reassess. Don't make big changes based on one or two weeks of data.

The scale is useful, but it only tells part of the story. Your weight changes day to day for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with fat, like water retention and digestion. It also can't tell the difference between fat and muscle. If you're losing fat and building muscle at the same time, something known as body recomposition, the scale might barely move even though your body is changing. That's why it's worth tracking progress in more than one way: measurements, progress photos, how your clothes fit, your strength in the gym, and how you feel day to day. It's also why your weight shouldn't be the only thing you use to decide whether to adjust your macros. If the scale hasn't moved but everything else is heading in the right direction, changing your numbers may do more harm than good. Together these measures give you a far more accurate picture than the scale ever could on its own.

No. Tracking is a tool, not a life sentence. It teaches you what's in your food and how to eat for your goals.

Once you've built solid habits and can eyeball portions, you can ease off and still maintain your results.

Reassess if:

• Your weight has shifted by ~2–3kg
• Your training or goals change
• You've had a big life change (new job, travel, high stress)
• You've tracked consistently for 3–4 weeks but aren't seeing progress

A few things can cause this:

• Adjusted weight calculation: If your weight is significantly above the estimated ideal for your height, the calculator uses an adjusted weight to set your targets. This avoids overestimating your protein and calorie needs. Your results will show a note if this applied to you.
• Calorie or macro floors: The calculator has minimum thresholds for calories, protein, carbs, and fat to keep targets safe. If your numbers hit one of these, a warning will appear explaining what was adjusted.
• Activity level: This has a big impact. A different activity level can shift your targets by several hundred calories.

Fibre: Based on the Australian NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) Adequate Intake of 25g/day for women and 30g/day for men. These are flat targets, not tied to calorie intake.

Note that some guidelines suggest scaling fibre to calorie intake (roughly 14g per 1,000 kcal) rather than using a flat target. The NHMRC flat targets are used here as they are the Australian standard.

Water: Based on a standard clinical formula of 35ml per kg of body weight. This scales with your size, which a flat target doesn't. Your actual needs will be higher with intense exercise, hot weather, or high sweat rates. The NHMRC baseline is 2.1L/day for women and 2.6L/day for men from fluids. This calculator may show higher depending on your weight.

Both are minimum targets, not exact prescriptions.

No, this calculator is not designed for pregnancy or breastfeeding. Both significantly increase calorie and nutrient needs in ways this calculator doesn't account for.

Please speak with your GP, obstetrician, or an accredited practising dietitian for nutrition guidance during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

Not exactly. It uses general formulas based on the info you enter, but it doesn't account for things like medical conditions, unique dietary needs, hormonal factors, or training history.

Use it as a starting point, not a prescription. For a more tailored approach, working with a coach is always worth it.

The standard calculator estimates your calories from your stats and activity level. Calibration mode works the other way around. It uses your actual tracking data, what you ate and how your weight changed, to work out your real calorie needs. If you've been tracking consistently for a few weeks, calibration will usually give you a more accurate number because it's based on what your body actually did rather than an estimate.

Short tracking periods are too easily distorted by water weight and normal daily fluctuations. A couple of kilos can shift in either direction without any real change in fat or muscle. Three weeks is the minimum needed for those swings to average out and reveal your true trend, and longer periods are better still.

The standard calculator uses a formula based on population averages, and everyone varies around that average. Calibration is based on your own data, so it picks up things a formula can't, like your real activity level or how your metabolism is responding. A difference between the two is normal. The calibrated number is usually a truer reflection of your needs, but only if your tracking has been accurate, since the result is only as good as the data you put in.

If the numbers you entered produce a calorie result that isn't physically realistic, the tool won't display it, because following it could do more harm than good. This almost always comes down to the weight change including a lot of water weight, or averages that weren't based on enough weigh-ins. Have another look at your inputs, especially your weight change, and try again with a longer tracking period, or switch to the standard calculator.