ActiveDay

Macro Calculator

Turn a daily calorie target into gram targets for protein, carbs, and fat, tuned to whether you are cutting, maintaining, or bulking.

Not sure about your calories? Get them from the calorie calculator first.

Enter your calories and weight to see your macro split.

How the split works

Calories decide whether your weight goes up or down; macros decide what that change is made of. This calculator uses the approach most evidence-based coaches use, in order of priority:

  • Protein first. Set per kilogram of body weight — 2.2 g/kg on a cut, 1.8 g/kg at maintenance, 2.0 g/kg on a bulk. Protein preserves muscle in a deficit, builds it in a surplus, and is the most satiating macronutrient.
  • Fat second. Set at 25 percent of total calories, comfortably above the ~20 percent floor where hormone production and fat-soluble vitamin absorption can suffer.
  • Carbs fill the rest. Whatever calories remain go to carbohydrate, which fuels training and recovery.

Don't have a calorie target yet? Get one from the calorie calculator first — the macro split is only as good as the calories it divides.

An example

An 80 kg lifter cutting on 2,200 kcal gets 176 g protein (2.2 × 80, or 704 kcal), 61 g fat (25 percent of calories, 550 kcal), and the remaining 946 kcal as roughly 236 g of carbs. The same lifter bulking on 3,000 kcal would see protein ease to 160 g while carbs climb — extra energy should mostly come from carbohydrate, which is the cheapest fuel for hard training.

Making the targets stick

A macro plan only matters if your logging matches reality. The usual failure mode is not the plan — it is invisible calories: cooking oils, sauces, bites while cooking. Weighing food for the first few weeks calibrates your eye faster than anything else. After that, consistency beats precision; being within ten grams of each target every day outperforms hitting them exactly twice a week.

ActiveDay makes the logging part fast: photograph a meal and the AI camera identifies up to eight foods with verified nutrition, scan a barcode, or search a database of over a thousand curated foods. The running macro bar shows protein, carbs, and fat against your targets all day. You can also look up any food in the food database on this site.

Frequently asked questions

  • What are macros?

    Macronutrients are the three nutrients that provide calories: protein and carbohydrates at 4 kcal per gram, and fat at 9 kcal per gram. Tracking macros means hitting gram targets for each, rather than only counting total calories.

  • Why is protein set per kilogram of body weight?

    Protein needs scale with how much body you have to maintain, not with how much you eat. Setting it at 1.8 to 2.2 g per kg protects muscle in a deficit and supports growth in a surplus; the remaining calories are then divided between fat and carbs.

  • Are carbs bad for fat loss?

    No. Fat loss is driven by the calorie deficit; carbs fuel training and recovery. As long as protein is covered and fat does not drop below roughly 20 percent of calories, the carb-fat balance is largely personal preference.

  • Do I need to hit my macros exactly?

    Within about 5 to 10 grams of each target is plenty. Protein is the one to prioritize daily; carbs and fat can flex against each other as long as total calories stay on plan.

  • Should macros change on rest days?

    Most people do better keeping macros identical every day — it is simpler and the weekly total is what matters. Cycling carbs is an optional refinement, not a requirement.

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