Macro Calculator
Turn a calorie target into the only three numbers you have to hit each day: grams of protein, carbs, and fat.
A sanity check on protein: at your body weight, most sports-nutrition guidance lands between 98 g and 140 g a day, with the upper end favoured while you are in a calorie deficit. If the split above puts you well under that, switch to the high-protein preset.
How the split is calculated
The calculator does two things. It works out your calorie target — either from your own maintenance needs using the Mifflin–St Jeor equation and your activity level, adjusted for your goal, or from a number you type in — and then converts a percentage split into grams using the energy value of each macronutrient:
- Protein — 4 calories per gram
- Carbohydrate — 4 calories per gram
- Fat — 9 calories per gram
So a 2,000-calorie day at 40% protein means 800 calories from protein, which is 200 g. That last conversion is the one people get wrong most often — percentages of calories are not percentages of grams, and fat is more than twice as dense as the other two.
Choosing between the presets
| Split | P / C / F | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Balanced | 30 / 40 / 30 | General health, maintenance, a first attempt at tracking |
| High protein | 40 / 30 / 30 | Cutting calories while trying to keep muscle |
| Low carb | 35 / 20 / 45 | People who feel steadier with fewer carbs and more fat |
| Endurance | 25 / 50 / 25 | High training volume — running, cycling, team sports |
All four sit within the Institute of Medicine's acceptable ranges, or in the case of the low-carb option, within ranges widely used in weight-loss trials. There is no metabolically magic ratio; the best split is the one you can eat repeatedly without feeling deprived.
Set the protein floor first
Treat protein as a target to reach and let carbs and fat share whatever calories remain. That single habit does most of the work: protein is the most satiating macronutrient per calorie, it costs the most energy to digest, and it is what tells your body to keep muscle while you are eating at a deficit. The calculator shows a per-kilogram sanity check next to your result — if the preset lands well below it, switch to the high-protein split.
In practice, hitting 150 g of protein is a matter of anchoring each meal rather than doing arithmetic at the end of the day. A serving of chicken breast, a cup of Greek yogurt, a salmon fillet and a couple of eggs will get most people close before snacks are counted. Our calorie and macro database lists the per-serving numbers for common staples.
Where the calorie target comes from
If you used the automatic mode, the target is your estimated maintenance minus 500 (fat loss) or plus 300 (muscle gain). Those defaults are deliberate: 500 a day is about a pound of fat a week, and a modest surplus builds muscle without much fat riding along. To choose a different pace, use the calorie deficit calculator, or see the full breakdown of resting versus active burn on the TDEE calculator.
Tracking three numbers without losing your evenings
Macro tracking fails for a boring reason: manual entry takes too long. Weighing each ingredient and searching a database at every meal is realistic for about two weeks. The alternatives are estimating well — the portion methods in our guide to counting calories without weighing food work for macros too — or letting a camera do the identifying and the maths. Either way, aim for a weekly average that is close, not a daily record that is perfect.
A number is only useful if you hit it
Hitting three targets by hand is where most people quit. Cibo reads your plate from a photo and fills in protein, carbs, and fat automatically, so you can see the day's balance before dinner instead of after.
Download on theApp StoreFrequently asked
What macro split should I use to lose fat?
A higher-protein split — around 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat — is the most common choice when cutting, because protein preserves muscle and is the most filling macronutrient per calorie. The split matters far less than the calorie total and hitting your protein floor; carbs and fat can be traded to taste.
How much protein do I actually need?
For active adults, sports-nutrition position stands put the useful range at roughly 1.4–2.0 g per kilogram of body weight per day, with the upper end favoured when you are dieting or training hard. Sedentary adults need less — the RDA floor is 0.8 g/kg — but that figure is the minimum to avoid deficiency, not the amount that best supports body composition.
Do macros matter more than calories?
No. Calories decide whether you gain or lose weight; macros decide how much of that change is muscle versus fat, and how comfortable the process feels. Get the calorie target right first, then use the split to protect muscle and keep hunger manageable.
How close do I need to hit my macro targets?
Within about 5–10 g on protein and roughly 10% on carbs and fat is plenty. Chasing exact numbers every day adds stress without adding results. Consistency across the week beats precision on any single day.
Can I use these numbers on a low-carb or keto diet?
The low-carb preset here sets carbs at 20% of calories, which suits most low-carb eating but is still above nutritional ketosis for most people. If you are specifically doing keto, set your carbs by grams — typically under 50 g a day — and let protein and fat fill the remaining calories.
Not medical advice. Cibo is a nutrition-awareness tool, not a medical device. Read the full disclaimer.