Macro Calculator

A macro calculator works out your daily protein, carbohydrate, and fat targets in grams, based on how many calories you need and your goal. Total calories decide whether you lose, hold, or gain weight; the macro split shapes what that weight is — protein protects muscle, fat supports hormones, and carbs fuel training. Enter your age, sex, weight, height, activity level, and goal to get a calorie target and a gram-by-gram breakdown you can build meals around, whether you eat a vegetarian Indian thali, a non-veg high-protein plan, or track every bite with an app.

Who this is for

It suits anyone who wants a structured starting point rather than vague advice: someone losing fat who wants to keep muscle, a gym-goer building muscle who needs enough protein and fuel, a busy professional maintaining weight, or a vegetarian checking whether dal, paneer, and curd can realistically hit a protein goal. It is a planning and education tool — a way to translate a calorie number into food — and the targets are starting points to refine over a few weeks, not a prescription.

A screening and planning tool, not medical advice

This calculator is for general information and self-education only and is not medical or dietetic advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The figures are population-level estimates from standard equations; your real needs vary with genetics, training, body composition, medications, and health conditions. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, managing diabetes, kidney or heart disease, an eating disorder, or any other medical condition, treat the output as a rough screen only and consult a doctor or a registered dietitian before changing how you eat. Stop and seek advice if a plan leaves you unwell, dizzy, or unable to function.

How the numbers are worked out

First we estimate your BMR (calories burned at rest) with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then multiply by an activity factor to get your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), and finally adjust for your goal (a deficit to lose, a surplus to gain). Macros then come from the calorie target using these energy values:

Protein: 4 cal/g · Carbohydrates: 4 cal/g · Fat: 9 cal/g

The conversion is grams = (calories × ratio%) ÷ calories-per-gram. Because the three shares add up to 100% of your calories, the grams always reconcile back to your daily target.

Worked example

Take a 28-year-old man, 75 kg, 178 cm, moderately active, eating at maintenance with a 30/40/30 split. His TDEE is about 2,678 calories. Protein = (2,678 × 0.30) ÷ 4 ≈ 201 g, carbs = (2,678 × 0.40) ÷ 4 ≈ 268 g, and fat = (2,678 × 0.30) ÷ 9 ≈ 89 g. Notice fat looks small in grams despite a 30% share — that's because each gram of fat packs more than twice the calories of protein or carbs. If the same man wanted to lose fat, he'd pick a deficit (say 500 calories), keep protein high to protect muscle, and trim mostly carbs and fat to fit the lower calorie budget.

Hitting macros on an Indian diet

A vegetarian diet can easily meet these targets. For protein: dal, rajma, chana, paneer, curd, soya chunks, tofu, and milk (soya chunks and paneer are the most protein-dense). For carbs: roti, rice, oats, poha, and fruit. For fat: nuts, seeds, ghee, and oil — used sparingly, since fat's 9 cal/g adds up fast. A practical Indian tip: one katori of cooked dal gives only modest protein, so vegetarians often need to lean on paneer, soya chunks, curd, and a scoop of whey to reach 1.6–2.2 g/kg. To set protein on its own see the protein calculator, to check your underlying calorie target use the calorie calculator or TDEE calculator, and for a low-carb split try the keto calculator.

Tips and common mistakes

• Hit protein first. It is the macro that preserves muscle in a deficit and keeps you full; carbs and fat can flex to fill the rest of your calories.
• Weigh food raw where you can. Rice and chicken roughly double in cooked weight as they absorb water, so “100 g” cooked is very different from 100 g raw.
• Don't forget cooking fat. A tablespoon of ghee or oil is ~100–120 calories and is easy to undercount when you eat home-cooked sabzi and dal.
• Be patient. Judge a target by 2–3 weeks of results, then adjust calories or the split — chasing the scale day to day leads to over-correcting.
• Make the percentages add to 100. If protein, carbs, and fat don't total 100%, the calorie maths won't line up with your target.