Macro Calculator ( Weight Loss Calculator )THE BEST WAY TO CALCULATE YOUR MACROS

You must have heard it before: you have to calculate and count your macros to make sure you achieve your goal. Whether this is weight loss or gain, it is always good to know what your body needs. But determining this is still quite a thing and that is why we help you calculate your macros today! 

Before I explain to you what is the right macro ratio for you, I will first take you through the explanation of why you need macros and how they relate to calories and micros.

During the day, your body receives energy from food, known as calories. These calories are contained in three types of nutrients that make up the macros: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. To ensure that the calories are released from these nutrients, you need micro's (vitamins, minerals, trace elements). When you don't get enough macros and micro's, your body has too little energy to function properly.

Now that that's clear, we can move on to calculating your calorie and macro needs.

During this explanation we work with the data of a woman who weighs 70 kg, is 170 cm tall and is 21 years old. Her goal is to lose weight, exercising three to four times a week.

STEP 1: DETERMINE CALORIE REQUIREMENT

Before we calculate your macros and determine how much carbohydrates, proteins and fats you should consume in a day, we need to know the calorie requirement. This is because these quantities are determined on this basis. To determine your calorie requirement, we use the revised version of the Harris and Benedict formula:

Calorie requirement at total rest
447.593 + (9.247 x G) + (3.098 x H) - (4.33 x L) = calorie requirement at total rest for women.

G = body weight in kg
H = height in cm
L = age in years

In the end you get the following formula:
447.593 + (9.247 x 70) + (3.098 x 170) - (4.33 x 21) = 1530.613

This means that if you were just lying in bed all day, you would have a need for 1530,613 calories per day  .

Activity level

Of course you do not lie still all day and that is why we have to include your activity level in this. There is a multiplication factor for each activity level, which you ultimately apply to the calorie requirement at total rest.

• Little or no training, office work: x 1.2
• Light training / sport, 1-3 days a week: x 1,375
• Average exercise / sport, 3-5 days a week: x 1.55
• Heavy training / sport, 6-7 days a week: x 1.725
• Heavy daily exercise / sport plus physical work exercise once or twice a day: x 1.9

To calculate the total calorie requirement, we use the following formula: resting calorie requirement x activity level

1530.613 x 1.55 = 2372.4501

After you calculate all this, you will probably get a number with all decimal places. Of course that does not work well. That is why you can round off the number perfectly when determining the total calorie requirement, but be realistic and round it upwards. In this case, the total calorie requirement would be 2,400 calories per day .

Total calorie requirement for your goal

The number of calories per day calculated above is for when you want to make sure you maintain the same weight. When your goal is to lose weight, you can lower your calorie requirement by 10-20%. If you want to gain weight correctly, you increase the calorie requirement by 10-20%.

Weight loss goal: 2400 - (2400 x 0.20) = 1920 calories  per day

Balance = 2400 calories per day

Gain goal: 2400 + (2400 x 0.20) = 2840 calories  per day

STEP 2: CALCULATE MACRO-NUTRIENTS

Now that you know how many calories you need per day, we can divide them over the different macros: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. You all need these three nutrients to have enough energy and you cannot just cut out one of them. Because yes, you also need fats and carbohydrates to stay healthy and have enough energy.

It is important to get enough protein. Not only when you exercise, but also in your daily life. Protein not only builds muscle tissue and improves recovery, but it is also important for your metabolism and digestion. Protein is in many everyday foods, but you can also opt for protein powders such as those from FITSHE. All FITSHE products are made from 100% natural ingredients, contain extra magnesium and are vegetarian! They also have a vegan version.

When dividing the calories over the macros, it is important to know what the percentages are for the different goals. For this, look at the same goal as the one you used to determine your total calorie requirement.

Target / macro	Carbohydrates	Protein	Fats
Arrive	40 - 60%	25 - 35%	15 - 25%
Balance	30 - 50%	25 - 35%	25 - 35%
To lose weight	30 - 40%	40%	20 - 30%

In the example, weight loss has been used, so that we arrive at the following distribution in terms of calories per macro:

Target / macro	Carbohydrates	Protein	Fats	TOTAL
To lose weight	40%	40%	20%	100%
	768	768	384	1920 kcal

Now that you know how many calories you need per macro in a day, it is of course the most convenient to convert this into the number of grams per day. For carbohydrates 4 kcal / gram, proteins 4 kcal / gram and for fats 9 kcal / gram. You can then calculate the number of grams for the three macros.

Target / macro	Carbohydrates	Protein	Fats
To lose weight	4 kcal / gr	4kcal / gr	9 kcal / gr
	192	192	43

You need a few calculations, but in the end you know exactly how much of something you need to achieve your set goal in combination with your activity level!

STEP 3: COUNT MACROS

The calorie requirement and the distribution of the macro-nutrients are known, but it is useful that you also know how much you actually consume in a day. To keep track of this, it is best to use an app such as MyFitnessPal. In this app you can set your personal goals completely according to your wishes - yes, also the specific macros - and you can see exactly how much of which you can still take during the day.