Your protein, carbs and fat in grams.
A calorie target tells you how much to eat. Macros tell you what it should be made of — which is the difference between losing fat and losing whatever your body reaches for first.
How the split is built
Not as percentages. The order matters, because two of the three have real requirements and the third is the remainder.
2. Fat — 0.8 g/kg, with a 45 g floor
3. Carbohydrate — whatever energy is left
Protein comes first because it has the strongest evidence behind a specific target: benefit plateaus around 1.6 g per kilogram in the meta-analytic data, and it is the macro that protects lean mass in a deficit. Fat has a floor rather than a target — below roughly 0.5 g per kilo, hormone production and fat-soluble vitamin absorption start to suffer, so the 45 g minimum exists to stop a very low-calorie plan cutting it to nothing.
Carbohydrate takes the remainder, and that is not a demotion. It is the macro with the widest useful range — it fuels hard training and it is the easiest one to move when your calorie target changes.
Four meals is a starting structure
Muscle protein synthesis responds to a dose per sitting rather than a daily total, so spreading protein across the day beats stacking it all into dinner. Four roughly equal servings is a clean default and it fits most Indian eating patterns — breakfast, lunch, an evening snack, dinner.
If three meals suits your day better, use three. The daily total does most of the work; the distribution is a refinement, not a requirement.
Questions people ask
What are macros?
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Macronutrients — protein, carbohydrate and fat. They are the three things in food that carry energy, and the ratio you eat them in changes body composition even when calories stay the same. Protein and carbohydrate carry 4 kcal per gram; fat carries 9.
What is the best macro split for fat loss?
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Protein high, fat adequate, carbohydrate filling the rest. High protein while dieting protects the muscle you already have and keeps you full, which is why this calculator sets protein first at 1.8 g per kilo for fat loss rather than as a percentage. Percentages are a poor way to set protein, because 30% of a large intake and 30% of a small one are very different amounts of food.
Why is protein set per kilogram instead of as a percentage?
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Because your protein requirement scales with your body, not with how much you happen to be eating. Someone cutting hard on 1,600 kcal and someone bulking on 3,000 need similar protein in grams — as a percentage those are wildly different splits. Setting grams per kilo first, then filling the remainder, gets both right.
Do I have to hit my macros exactly?
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No. Being within about ten grams of your protein target and roughly in the area on the other two is enough to get the result. Precision beyond that has never been shown to matter, and chasing it is how tracking becomes a second job.
Can I follow this as a vegetarian?
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Yes, but the protein number is the part that takes planning — dal and roti alone will not get most people there. Paneer, curd, soya chunks, tofu and whey do the heavy lifting. The protein calculator on this site shows exactly what each of those contributes per portion.
Related calculators
A number is a starting point, not a plan.
This calculator can tell you where you are. It cannot watch your form, adjust when your knee flares up, or keep you consistent in week six. If you want that part, we run a private studio in Kharadi and the first session is free.
This tool provides general fitness and nutrition information for healthy adults aged 18 and over. It is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Speak to a doctor before starting any new exercise or nutrition programme, particularly if you have a health condition, are pregnant or post-partum, or have a history of disordered eating.