What macros should I hit to lose weight?

For weight loss, prioritise protein at 1.6–2.2g per kg of body weight to preserve muscle, then split remaining calories roughly 40% carbs and 30% fat. The most important factor is total calorie intake below your TDEE — macro ratios fine-tune the result but do not override the calorie deficit.

How do I calculate my macros?

Step 1: calculate your TDEE. Step 2: set your calorie target (TDEE minus deficit for fat loss, TDEE plus surplus for muscle gain). Step 3: set protein first (0.7–1g per lb of body weight). Step 4: allocate remaining calories between carbs and fat based on preference — typically 40–50% carbs and 25–35% fat.

What is a good macro split for fat loss?

A well-supported macro split for fat loss is 30–35% protein, 35–40% carbohydrates, and 25–30% fat. High protein preserves muscle during the deficit, carbohydrates fuel training and prevent energy crashes, and adequate fat supports hormonal health.

Should I track macros or just calories?

For basic weight loss, tracking total calories is sufficient. Tracking macros adds a layer of precision that is particularly valuable when you want to preserve muscle, improve body composition, or optimise athletic performance. Beginners often do well starting with calories only, then adding protein tracking as a second step.

What happens if I hit my calories but not my macros?

If you hit your calorie target but fall short on protein, you risk losing muscle alongside fat during a deficit. If you significantly under-eat fat (below 20% of calories), hormonal disruption is possible. Carbohydrate misses are more flexible — both higher and lower carb diets can produce good results provided calories and protein are adequate.

Macro Calculator Guide: How to Hit Your Protein, Carb and Fat Targets

By TDEE Hub · Updated April 2026 · 5 min read

Counting calories gets you most of the way to your body composition goal. But once you have your calorie target dialled in, macros — the split between protein, carbohydrates, and fat — determine what you actually look like at that weight. Two people can eat the same number of calories and end up with very different results depending on how those calories are distributed.

This guide explains how to calculate your macros from scratch, what the right split looks like for different goals, and how to hit your targets consistently without obsessing over every meal.

      Macro order of priority: Calories first, protein second, fat minimum third, carbohydrates fill the rest. Get calories and protein right, and carbs vs. fat becomes largely a personal preference.
    

What Are Macros?

Macronutrients are the three main categories of nutrients that provide energy: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Each contributes a set number of calories per gram:

Protein: 4 calories per gram
Carbohydrates: 4 calories per gram
Fat: 9 calories per gram

Alcohol also provides calories (7 per gram) but is not a macronutrient in the nutritional sense — it has no structural role in the body and is primarily metabolised as a toxin.

Step 1: Calculate Your TDEE

Before setting macros, you need to know your calorie target. That starts with your TDEE — Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Use the TDEE Calculator to get your personalised estimate. Your TDEE is the anchor for everything that follows.

Step 2: Set Your Calorie Target

Your calorie target depends on your goal:

Goal	Calorie target
Fat loss	TDEE − 300 to 500 cal/day
Maintenance / recomp	TDEE (eat at maintenance)
Lean muscle gain	TDEE + 200 to 300 cal/day
Aggressive bulk	TDEE + 400 to 500 cal/day

The Calorie Deficit Calculator will set this number for you based on your desired weekly loss rate.

Step 3: Set Protein First

Protein is the most important macro to get right — especially on a calorie deficit. It preserves muscle tissue, increases satiety, and has the highest thermic effect of the three macros (meaning you burn more calories digesting it).

Evidence-based protein targets:

Fat loss: 1.8–2.4g per kg of body weight (0.8–1.1g per lb)
Muscle gain: 1.6–2.2g per kg (0.7–1g per lb)
Maintenance: 1.4–1.8g per kg (0.6–0.8g per lb)

In practice, 0.8–1g of protein per pound of body weight is a simple, reliable target that covers most active people across all goals. For more detail, see the guide on 150 grams of protein a day.

Step 4: Set a Fat Minimum

Fat should not fall below 20% of total calories. Below this threshold, hormone production, vitamin absorption, and satiety are all compromised. A practical minimum is 0.4–0.5g of fat per pound of body weight.

For most people, 25–30% of total calories from fat is the comfortable sweet spot. For a full guide including the calculation formula, see How to Calculate Your Daily Fat Intake.

Step 5: Fill the Rest with Carbohydrates

Once protein and fat are set, carbohydrates fill the remaining calories. Carbs are the most flexible macro — both high-carb and low-carb diets produce similar fat loss outcomes when calories and protein are matched. Choose the carb level that you can sustain and that supports your training performance.

Worked example: fat loss macros

Emma, 70 kg, TDEE 2,050 cal. Fat loss target: 1,600 cal/day.

Protein: 70 × 2g = 140g × 4 = 560 cal

Fat: 1,600 × 0.28 = 448 cal ÷ 9 = 50g fat

Carbs: 1,600 − 560 − 448 = 592 cal ÷ 4 = 148g carbs

Final macros: 140g protein / 148g carbs / 50g fat — 1,600 cal total

Macro Splits by Goal: Reference Table

Goal	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Fat loss	30–35%	35–40%	25–30%
Maintenance	20–25%	45–50%	25–30%
Lean bulk	25–30%	40–50%	20–30%
Keto	20–25%	5–10%	65–75%

How to Actually Hit Your Macros

Knowing your targets and hitting them consistently are two different things. The following strategies make hitting macros less burdensome:

Anchor each meal with a protein source. Plan protein first at every meal — chicken, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese — then build the rest of the meal around it.
Weigh your food for the first 2–4 weeks. Most people are significantly off when eyeballing portions. A food scale builds accurate intuition quickly.
Batch-cook protein. Having cooked chicken, boiled eggs, or portioned Greek yogurt ready removes the friction of hitting protein targets.
Use a tracking app for the first month. You do not need to track forever — but tracking consistently for 4–8 weeks teaches you the calorie and macro content of the foods you actually eat.
Prioritise protein over the other two macros. If you can only track one thing, track protein. The calorie and macro outcomes largely follow from getting protein right.

Use the Macro Calculator

Rather than calculating manually, use the Macro Calculator to get your personalised targets in seconds. It uses your TDEE, goal, and body weight to calculate exact protein, carb, and fat grams.

Open Macro Calculator →

Note: Macro targets are estimates based on population averages. Individual responses vary. Adjust your targets based on real-world results over 2–4 weeks rather than chasing a perfect number from day one.