Calculate Macros

Calculate Macros

Here is a link to calculate your macros using my online calculator.

But if you are anything like me and want to understand exactly how to get those numbers and what they all mean, keep reading below I am going to show you exactly how to calculate your macros for fat loss.

Are you good at math? No? Me neither! Like at all! When the kids have math homework, my husband is the math parent in our house. Yes, even in first grade! haha! No but really, I am that bad at math! So if I can do this, so can you!

First you need to figure out what your BMR and TDEE are.

• BMR is your basal metabolic rate. In simple terms it means, if you were in a coma, it’s how many calories your body would burn just to keep you alive.
• TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure. That is your BMR plus all of the calories you burn doing all of your daily activities including exercise. Your TDEE will be higher or lower depending on how active you are throughout the day, whether you have a desk job or a job where you are on your feet all day etc..

Both of these will vary from person to person depending on your height, weight, age and activity level. You can use my macro calculator to use to find both your BMR and TDEE. After you get these numbers, write them down. You’re going to need them!

Next we want to find out your calories are for fat loss (we refer to these as cutting calories). This is the amount of calories you are going to eat each day to lose fat.

Here you can decide how aggressive you want to be with your fat loss.

-15% is a moderate amount of calories to cut and you will see results slower but is also a safer way to go in terms of being able to stick with your diet

-20% is a little more aggressive but not over the top in terms of losing too fast

-25% is considered aggressive and I wouldn’t recommend going this low at first. Eating less calories is not always the answer to losing fat and you don’t want to set yourself up for failure!

Now take TDEE number and subtract 15%, 20% or 25%. Those are your cutting calories. I would recommend not going super aggressive to start and just doing 15 or 20%.

Next we are going to figure out how much of each macro you need to lose weight.

• Protein- You will need .8-1gram of protein per pound of body weight. Protein is going to be your hardest macro to hit so if you want to start at .8 and adjust up later, that’s a good place to start. Multiply .8-1 per pound of body weight.
• Fat- You will need .35-.4grams of fat per pound of body weight. (If you’re overweight, .3-.35 per pound of body weight)
• Carbs- To figure out your carbs, do this math…(protein grams x 4) + (fat grams x 9) = X. (Calorie amount – X) divided by 4 = Carb grams.

Let me show you an example to help you make sense of this:

According to the calculator, my BMR is 1259. That is how many calories I burn by laying down or in a coma and doing nothing all day. My TDEE is 2171. That is how many calories I would need to eat to maintain my current body weight.

I take my TDEE number 2171 and subtract 20% and the number I get is 1737. That is how many calories I want to eat a day for moderate weight loss.

I weigh 130lbs.

Protein- 130 (my body weight) x 1 = 130 grams of protein.

Fat- 130 (my body weight) x .4 = 52 grams of fat

Carbs- (130 x 4) + (52 x 9)= X

(520) + (468) = 988 (The number 520 is how many calories I am getting from protein and the number 468 is how many calories I am getting from fat. 988 is the total number from both of those combined)

So we’ll take 988 and subtract it from my total calories which is 1737 – 988 = 749 and that is how many calories I want to come from carbs. To figure out the carb grams, we need to divide 749 by 4 because there are 4 calories per gram of carbs. My total carb intake will be 187grams.

So here is a simplified look at my macros for the day:

• Calories- 1737
• Protein-130g
• Fat- 52g
• Carbs-187g

I want to hit those numbers every day to see results.

If you confused by this math, you can use my online calculator here. Doing it by hand is going to be a little bit more accurate but the great thing about iifym is you can change your numbers if they’re not working for you. That is one reason I don’t suggest going super low calories at first is because if the numbers aren’t working for you, you want to be able to adjust down if necessary and starting too low will prevent you from being able to adjust very much.

If you feel like this guy, don’t worry, I am happy to help! Just leave a comment!

XOXO

Amanda

Original article and pictures take http://www.thatmacrolife.com/getting-started/calculate-macros/ site