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CalcChef

Macro Calculator

Grams of protein, carbs and fat from your daily calories, using a balanced, low-carb, high-protein or keto split and an optional 500 kcal cut or surplus. How it works

Use the Macro Calculator

Target Calories
2000 kcal/day

150g
Protein (30%)
200g
Carbs (40%)
67g
Fats (30%)

About the Macro Calculator

On 2,000 kcal a day, a 30/40/30 split is 150 g of protein, 200 g of carbohydrate and 67 g of fat. The macro calculator multiplies your calories by each share and divides by 4 kcal per gram for protein and carbs or 9 for fat. Start from your maintenance calories (TDEE); Lose Weight takes 500 kcal off first and Gain Weight adds 500.

Grams per day by calories and split (protein / carbs / fat)

CaloriesBalanced 30/40/30Low Carb 40/20/40High Protein 40/40/20Keto 25/5/70
1,500 kcal113 / 150 / 50150 / 75 / 67150 / 150 / 3394 / 19 / 117
2,000 kcal150 / 200 / 67200 / 100 / 89200 / 200 / 44125 / 25 / 156
2,500 kcal188 / 250 / 83250 / 125 / 111250 / 250 / 56156 / 31 / 194

Calories here are the target after any goal adjustment. Each figure is rounded to the nearest gram, as the calculator shows it.

How to use this tool

  1. Enter your maintenance calories, or open Don’t know your TDEE? Estimate it, fill in sex, age, height, weight and activity, and press the button that copies the estimate into the field.
  2. Choose Maintain Weight, Lose Weight (−500 kcal) or Gain Weight (+500 kcal).
  3. Pick a split: Balanced 30/40/30, Low Carb 40/20/40, High Protein 40/40/20 or Keto 25/5/70 (protein/carbs/fat).
  4. Read the target calories and the grams of each macro, rounded to the nearest gram.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate my macros?
Multiply your daily calories by the share for each macro, then divide by 4 for protein and carbohydrate or by 9 for fat. A 2,500 kcal day on the High Protein split is 2,500 × 0.40 ÷ 4 = 250 g protein, 250 g carbohydrate and 2,500 × 0.20 ÷ 9 = 56 g fat.
How many carbs do I get on keto?
The Keto preset gives 5% of calories to carbohydrate: 19 g at 1,500 kcal, 25 g at 2,000 kcal and 31 g at 2,500 kcal. The other 95% is 25% protein and 70% fat.
What is a good macro split?
The four presets are this calculator’s own choices, not a recommendation. For comparison, the National Academies’ acceptable ranges for adults are 10 to 35% of calories from protein, 45 to 65% from carbohydrate and 20 to 35% from fat. No preset reaches the 45% carbohydrate floor (Balanced and High Protein come closest at 40%), and Low Carb and High Protein put protein at 40%, above the 35% ceiling.
What if I do not know my TDEE?
Open Don’t know your TDEE? Estimate it under the calories field and enter sex, age, height in cm, weight in kg and activity level. It applies Mifflin-St Jeor times the activity factor and offers a button that copies the figure into the calories field: a sedentary 25-year-old man, 175 cm and 80 kg, gets about 2129 kcal. The TDEE Calculator also takes pounds and feet, and a body-fat figure for Katch-McArdle.
Does it work out how much protein I need from my weight?
No. Protein here is a share of calories, so it rises and falls with them: 113 g at 1,500 kcal on Balanced and 188 g at 2,500 kcal. The Protein Calculator on this site sets protein from body weight instead.

Turning a calorie target into grams

Start from a daily calorie figure, usually your TDEE, pick a goal and a split, and you get grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat to track. Lose Weight takes 500 kcal off the figure you enter and Gain Weight adds 500. Without one, "Don't know your TDEE? Estimate it" fills it in.

A 2,400 kcal TDEE with the weight-loss goal and the balanced split becomes 1,900 kcal: 143 g protein, 190 g carbohydrate and 63 g fat. The keto split at 2,000 kcal maintenance gives 125 g protein, 25 g carbohydrate and 156 g fat.

How the grams are calculated

protein g = kcal × P% ÷ 4, carbs g = kcal × C% ÷ 4, fat g = kcal × F% ÷ 9

The splits (protein/carbohydrate/fat) are fixed: balanced 30/40/30, low-carb 40/20/40, high-protein 40/40/20 and keto 25/5/70. Each amount is rounded to the nearest gram, so the macros can total a few kcal more or less than the target.

4, 4 and 9 kcal per gram are the general Atwater factors, averages that do not separate out fibre or sugar alcohols. The optional estimate is Mifflin-St Jeor × activity factor: a sedentary 25-year-old man, 175 cm and 80 kg, gets 1773.75 × 1.2 = 2129 kcal. Protein is never set from body weight, and the 500 kcal change is the same for every size.

The target never goes below 0: a 400 kcal TDEE with the weight-loss goal shows 0 kcal and 0 g of each macro, with a note that nothing is left to split. Any target under 1,000 kcal a day shows a warning, because that is below the lowest weight-loss diet in the NHLBI practical guide (1,000 to 1,200 kcal for most women, 1,200 to 1,600 for most men); check the figure and speak to a doctor or dietitian first.

Fun Fact: The 4, 4 and 9 kcal per gram factors come from food-energy experiments Wilbur Atwater ran at Wesleyan University and the Storrs station in Connecticut around 1900.

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