Free macro calculator
Find your starting numbers, then pick your style of eating.
Most macro calculators are built for people who lift weights. They set protein and fat first, then use carbs for whatever calories are left over. That works if you're training hard.
If you're working on improving blood sugar, insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes, carbs are the lever that matters most. So this one works the other way. You set your carb cap first, and protein and fat fit underneath it. Protein still matters, and it gets set from your bodyweight rather than left to whatever's left over. Change anything and the numbers move with you.
Your inputs
The default, and the right pick for most people. It is the most accurate of the three for adults and the one dietitians use. Leave it here unless you have a reason not to.
Only used to show one safety note if you pick keto or very low carb.
Total daily energy
Goal
How you want to eat
Built on 1,708 kcal a day, your lose, moderate number from the box above.
Carbs are a ceiling. Protein is set from bodyweight, 1.8 g per kg for this goal. Fat fills what is left.
Show the maths
| BMR, Mifflin-St Jeor 1990 | 1,445 kcal |
| NEAT, lightly active = 30% of BMR | 434 kcal |
| EAT, MET 6 × 3.5 × 80 kg ÷ 200 × 30 min × 3 ÷ 7 | 108 kcal |
| TEF, 10% of intake. TDEE = (BMR + NEAT + EAT) ÷ 0.9 | 221 kcal |
| Goal, lose, moderate (-500 kcal) | 1,708 kcal |
| Carb cap, very low carb band | 40 g |
| Protein, 1.8 g/kg × 68.1 kg (ISSN 2017) | 123 g |
| Fat = (1,708 − 123×4 − 40×4) ÷ 9 | 117 g |
123 g protein · 40 g carbs · 117 g fat · 1,708 kcal
A starting point, not a prescription. Eat this way for two weeks, then adjust from what happens.
Plate Planner turns these targets into portions of the foods you want to eat. Free 14 day trial, no credit card required.
Why the carb cap comes first
The usual calculator sets protein and fat from your bodyweight and gives the rest of your calories to carbohydrate. That works for someone training hard who wants the fuel. If what you want is steadier blood sugar, less insulin resistance and enough protein to keep your muscle as you age, it points the wrong way, and it can never produce a keto target.
This calculator turns that around. Protein is a target to hit. Carbs are a ceiling. Fat is whatever is left. Pick a band and the maths changes with it. Being active still counts, it just does not decide the carbs.
| Keto | 20 to 25 g a day |
| Very low carb | 26 to 50 g |
| Low carb | 51 to 125 g |
| Standard | 40% of calories, no cap |
These are labels for a slider, not medical thresholds. Plenty of sources call anything under 130 g "low carb". The finer split is here because 30 g a day and 100 g a day are different experiences, and people step down over time.
The four parts of what you burn
BMR is what your body spends at complete rest: breathing, circulation, keeping warm. It is 60 to 70% of the total and the part the three equations estimate. Mifflin-St Jeor is the modern default. Harris-Benedict is the older one. Katch-McArdle works from lean mass, so it needs a body fat number.
NEAT is every movement that is not sleep, food or training: standing, walking to the car, chasing a toddler. It is the biggest reason two similar people burn different amounts, which is why you set it from your day rather than from one hidden multiplier.
EAT is deliberate exercise. For most people it is smaller than they expect, so it is worked out from how often, how long and how hard, not assumed.
TEF is the cost of digesting food, close to 10% of what you eat. Protein costs the most to process, fat the least.
How the carbs get counted
In Plate Planner, whole foods count net carbs and packaged foods with added fibre count total carbs. A keto bar that says 4 g net on the label counts as 22 g here. That makes a 20 g cap counted this way stricter than 20 g net counted the usual way, because the loophole is closed.
Sources
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51(2), 241 to 247.
- Roza AM, Shizgal HM (1984). The Harris Benedict equation reevaluated. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 40(1), 168 to 182.
- McArdle WD, Katch FI, Katch VL (2010). Exercise Physiology: Nutrition, Energy, and Human Performance. Lean-mass BMR equation.
- Levine JA (2002). Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Best Practice and Research Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 16(4), 679 to 702.
- Ainsworth BE, et al. (2011). Compendium of Physical Activities. MET values used for exercise energy.
- Jäger R, et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise. JISSN, 14:20.
- Institute of Medicine (2005). Dietary Reference Intakes. Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges.
These numbers are general estimates from published equations. Everyone is different. They are a starting point, never a prescription, and not a substitute for advice from your doctor or a dietitian, especially if you have a health condition, are pregnant, or take medication that lowers blood sugar.