MyFitnessPal macro calculator: how it sets your macros, and how to set better ones

MyFitnessPal does not ask for your macros at sign-up. It estimates a calorie goal from your age, sex, height, weight, activity level and weekly goal, then splits it 50% carbohydrate, 20% protein and 30% fat. You can change that split for free in 5% steps. Exact grams, and different goals on different days, take Premium.

The default is a sensible general-population split, but 20% protein is often low for someone losing fat and keeping muscle. The fix takes five minutes: set protein from body weight, give fat about a quarter of your calories, let carbohydrate take the rest, then round to the percentages MyFitnessPal accepts. If you would rather have that math done for you, HeyCoach, a nutrition coach that lives in WhatsApp, sets protein-first targets from your weight and goal and shows every meal against them, and you can try it free for five days.

How MyFitnessPal sets your calorie goal

At sign-up, MyFitnessPal uses your age, height, weight, sex and normal daily activity level to estimate the calories you need to maintain your weight. Its nutrition team says it uses the Mifflin–St Jeor equation. It then subtracts calories for the weekly loss rate you pick, or adds them to gain.

A few details change the number more than people expect:

• Activity level has four settings: Sedentary (desk job), Lightly Active (teacher), Active (server, nurse) and Very Active (carpenter). Describe your normal day without workouts; those are logged separately.
• Weekly goal goes up to 2 pounds a week of loss or 1 pound of gain. MyFitnessPal's nutrition article uses the conventional estimate that a 500-kcal daily deficit is about a pound a week, so 2 pounds means roughly 1,000 kcal a day.
• Goal weight does not change the calculation; it only drives the "pounds to go" display.
• Floors. MyFitnessPal does not recommend fewer than 1,200 kcal a day for women or 1,500 for men, and its guided goals use those as minimums.
• Net calories. The goal is food minus logged exercise, so a logged 300-kcal walk raises that day's goal by 300.

MyFitnessPal also offers to recalculate the goal for every 10 pounds you lose. For the math behind the maintenance estimate, see how a TDEE calculator works.

The default split: 50/20/30

MyFitnessPal's help center states it plainly: the default goals are 20% of calories from protein, 50% from carbohydrate and 30% from fat. It raised protein from 15% and lowered carbohydrate from 55% some years ago, keeping both inside the U.S. Dietary Guidelines ranges of 10–35% protein, 45–65% carbohydrate and 20–35% fat.

That is reasonable for the population as a whole. Its weakness is that protein is a percentage, so it moves with your calorie goal instead of with your body.

MyFitnessPal also publishes a free macro calculator on its blog. Its help page says that calculator sets protein from body weight and activity, using International Society of Sports Nutrition standards, then splits the remaining calories between carbohydrate and fat. You copy the result into the app yourself.

Why 20% protein is often too low for weight loss

Take a 1,700-kcal goal. Twenty percent is 340 kcal, or 85 g of protein. For a 75 kg (165 lb) woman, that is about 1.1 g per kilogram.

A practical range for keeping muscle while losing weight is 1.6–2.2 g/kg, or 120–165 g for her. A large meta-analysis found lean-mass gains from resistance training leveled off around 1.6 g/kg for many people, with 2.2 g/kg covering most of the uncertainty. MyFitnessPal's own protein article suggests 1.2–1.6 g/kg for adults with overweight on a lower-calorie diet, which is 90–120 g here. The default lands below even that.

The percentage also shrinks when you need protein most: at 1,400 kcal, 20% is 70 g. Your muscle did not get smaller; the budget did. More in how much protein to eat to lose weight, or get yours from the protein calculator.

How to change macros on MyFitnessPal

Free: percentages in 5% steps

At the time of writing, MyFitnessPal's help pages give these paths:

• iPhone: tap More at the bottom of the screen (or the profile icon at the top right of the Today tab), then Goals, then the Calorie & macro goals card. You may need to switch off Recommended Calories first. The Macro balance card offers Default, High protein, Low carb, Keto, Paleo and Custom; Custom gives you sliders. Some versions show Goals, then Calories, Carbs, Protein & Fat Goals instead.
• Android: More, then Goals, then Calories, Carbs, Protein & Fat Goals.
• Web: My Home, then Goals, then Edit next to Daily Nutrition Goals. Click Save Changes and the app picks it up on the next sync.

The three percentages move in 5% increments and must add up to 100%. The same screens let you type your own calorie goal.

Premium: grams, days and meals

Premium sets protein, carbohydrate and fat in exact grams, allows different calorie and macro goals for each day of the week, splits calories into per-meal goals, and lets you decide whether logged exercise adds calories. The diary also shows each meal's macro breakdown, though per-meal targets are for calories only. U.S. pricing is $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year.

Set your own macros, then convert them to percentages

The order matters more than the exact split:

1. Calories first. Use the guided goal or the calorie calculator, with a moderate calorie deficit.
2. Protein from body weight. Kilograms × 1.6–2.2; 1.8 is a comfortable middle. Pounds ÷ 2.2 gives kilograms.
3. Fat at about 25–30% of calories.
4. Carbohydrate gets the remainder.
5. Convert and round. Protein % = grams × 4 ÷ calories × 100. Round protein up to the next 5%, fat to the nearest 5%, and give carbohydrate whatever makes 100.

This is the same order HeyCoach uses for its targets: 1.8 g/kg of protein when losing, about 27% of calories from fat and carbohydrate for the rest. The macro calculator runs steps 2 to 4 for you.

Worked example: 75 kg, 1,700 kcal

Protein: 75 × 1.8 = 135 g, or 540 kcal. That is 540 ÷ 1,700 = 31.8% of calories.

Fat: 27% of 1,700 = 459 kcal ÷ 9 = 51 g.

Carbohydrate: 1,700 − 540 − 459 = 701 kcal ÷ 4 = 175 g, or 41.2%.

MyFitnessPal's free tier will not take 31.8 / 27 / 41.2, so round. Protein goes up to 35%, fat down to 25%, carbohydrate takes 40%. The app's grams become:

• Protein: 35% = 595 kcal = 149 g (about 2.0 g/kg)
• Carbohydrate: 40% = 680 kcal = 170 g
• Fat: 25% = 425 kcal = 47 g

Protein lands 14 g above plan but inside 1.6–2.2 g/kg. If 149 g feels like a lot of food, 30 / 40 / 30 is the other honest option: about 128 g protein (1.7 g/kg), 170 g carbohydrate and 57 g fat. Pick the one you will eat.

One quirk: on accounts where logged exercise feeds the goal, a 300-kcal walk lifts the day to 2,000 kcal split 35/40/25, so the protein target climbs about 26 g. No need to chase it; 149 g is the number that matters.

What the MyFitnessPal calorie counter still does for free in 2026

The free tier is still a full food diary. MyFitnessPal's plan comparison lists food and exercise logging, your own foods, meals and recipes, weight and measurement tracking, macro totals, calorie and macro goals by percentage, diary sharing, partner-app links and a printable report on the website.

Premium adds the barcode scanner (paid since October 1, 2022), Meal Scan, voice logging, macros in grams, goals by day and by meal, exercise calorie settings, data export and an ad-free app.

For macros, the 5% steps are a small compromise, not a dealbreaker: you still see the grams you ate. If the paywalls decide it for you, compare the free calorie counter apps, the MyFitnessPal alternatives and the wider field of nutrition tracker apps.

FAQ

Does MyFitnessPal have a macro calculator?

Not inside the app. The app splits your calorie goal 50% carbohydrate, 20% protein and 30% fat by default. MyFitnessPal does publish a free macro calculator on its blog that sets protein from body weight; you enter its result in Goals yourself.

Can you change macros on MyFitnessPal for free?

Yes, as percentages in 5% steps that must total 100%. Setting exact grams, or different goals on different days, requires Premium.

What macros should I set on MyFitnessPal to lose weight?

Start with protein at 1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight, converted to a percentage and rounded up to the next 5%. Put fat at 25–30% and give carbohydrate the rest. At 1,700 kcal and 75 kg, that is 35 / 40 / 25 (protein / carbohydrate / fat).

Why is my MyFitnessPal calorie goal so low?

Usually it is the weekly goal. By the conventional math, 2 pounds a week is a deficit of about 1,000 kcal a day, which can push a smaller or sedentary person to the 1,200 or 1,500 kcal floor. MyFitnessPal's help pages pass on NIH guidance of 0.5 pounds a week below a BMI of 27 and 0.5–1 pound between 27 and 35.

Is MyFitnessPal's calorie goal accurate?

It is a sound starting estimate, not a measurement. MyFitnessPal's own nutrition team says to treat the goal and your logged calories like a zip code rather than an exact address. Follow it for two to four weeks and let your weight trend decide.

Sources

• MyFitnessPal Help, How does MyFitnessPal calculate my initial goals?
• MyFitnessPal Help, Nutrition 101: Calories
• MyFitnessPal Help, Macro Calculator (default split and 5% increments)
• MyFitnessPal Help, Customize your nutritional goals
• MyFitnessPal Help, The difference between Free, Premium, and Premium+
• Morton RW et al., protein supplementation and resistance-training gains: meta-analysis, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018

The easy way to do this

HeyCoach does the protein-first math for you: 1.8 g/kg of protein when you are losing, about 27% fat and carbohydrate for the rest, in exact grams with no 5% rounding. Send a photo, a line of text or a voice note in WhatsApp and every meal comes back as a card with calories, protein, carbs and fat against those targets, with nothing to download. If a target needs to change, just ask, like "set calories to 1,900". Message HeyCoach and try it free: five days of Pro, no card needed.