Need to know how much of your daily calories you need from proteins, carbs and fats? Try this free macronutrients calculator that I designed!
This free macronutrient ratios calculator is one of the best I’ve seen on the internet. It’s clean and user-friendly and even gives some examples of how the figures translate into real food. It was made by myself and a friend who helped out with coding and gives a good overview of how much of each food group (carbs, protein and fats) you should aim for on a daily basis depending on whether you want to lose fat, put on muscle or just maintain.
Click here to download the Excel spreadsheet.
Note: when you open it, click ‘enable macros’.
A word of warning
It’s worth noting that using a macronutrient ratios calculator isn’t THE best way to calculate food intake but many people, including some top names in the fitness industry, do use this method. It’s certainly a good start if you’re clueless about how much you should be eating.
Another point to make is that you need a good idea of what your daily calorie intake needs to be (in relation to your goals) and that will INCLUDE all your daily energy expenditure from exercise etc. This figure will be your starting point. Once you have that down, you’re good to go!
A good method for calculating caloric intake is called ‘The Cunningham Equation’.
Here is a calculator I created in Excel which takes you through the Cunningham Equation, leaving you with a daily calorie intake. Here is the blog post that talks about how to use it. Alternatively just visit my free stuff section.
How to use the macronutrient ratios calculator
For those who don’t know, macronutrients are your carbohydrates, proteins and dietary fat intake. I won’t go into detail here but carbs give you energy, protein grows your muscle and rebuilds tissue, fats are a source of energy and also help us to assimilate vitamins as well as performing many other vital functions.
So, as I said before, find out how many calories you need for your goal and input them in the daily calories box. The default being 2500.
Next you can either choose a preset program or make up your own ratios. The preset macronutrient ratios are a general guide. The default mode is ‘manual mode’ so you can go ahead and click on the numbers whereupon a drop down arrow will appear allowing you to choose a different percentage. Obviously, always make sure they add up to 100.
To choose a different macronutrient ratios preset, just click on the box that says ‘None Selected (Manual Mode)’ and you’ll notice an arrow appear. Click that arrow to see the list drop down.
That’s all. Just look down at your results to see how much you need to eat each day! The portion examples offer a great way to comprehend how much those numbers mean in terms of real food. Obviously don’t just eat 6 portions of chicken breast every day!
Again, remember that this is just one way to calculate daily needs and may not suit everyone. Also, don’t stick like glue to the results, they are just a guide to point you in the right direction. Plus, if you notice yourself putting on fat for example, then you’ll probably need to lower carbs and increase protein. So adjust as you go along, making careful observations.
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