Macro calculator for weight loss, maintenance and muscle

At 2,000 kcal and 80 kg, the balanced weight-loss preset gives you about 144 g protein, 60 g fat and 221 g carbohydrate. The order is the point: calories first, then protein, then a fat-and-carbohydrate split you can live with.

Those numbers are there to shape meals. Dinner has not failed because carbohydrate came in five grams high.

What the calculator does

You give it a daily calorie target, your body weight, a goal and a preferred split. It sets protein from body weight, fat as a share of calories, and hands carbohydrate whatever energy is left.

The arithmetic uses 4 kcal per gram of protein, 4 for carbohydrate and 9 for fat. Labels round, treat fiber their own way and follow their own conventions, so a day's printed calories will not always match the macro total you add up by hand. FDA nutrition-label guidance

No calorie target yet? Start with the calorie calculator. Typing 1,200 into this one does not make 1,200 right for your body; it only splits it.

The three presets

Balanced is the split HeyCoach uses when you give it the same calories, weight and goal. The other two are variations for this page.

Higher protein leaves fewer calories for everything else. Lower carb moves energy toward fat; it is not ketogenic on its own and it does not deepen the deficit. Pick the split that fits your meals, your training and your appetite. Stricter is not the same as better.

Why protein comes first

Protein keeps muscle on you and helps it adapt to training. The research on resistance training backs eating enough of it, and how much is enough varies from person to person. The 1.6 g/kg figure you see quoted everywhere is a useful average, not a switch that works the same in every body. Morton et al., protein and resistance-training meta-analysis

The presets are practical starting points for a higher-protein plan, not a minimum you have to hit. At a higher body weight, current weight can produce a target that will not fit in the budget; a dietitian may use a reference weight instead.

For what that looks like on a plate, see how much protein to eat for weight loss.

Work through 2,000 calories

For an 80-kg adult choosing balanced weight loss:

1. Protein: 80 × 1.8 = 144 g, or 576 kcal.
2. Fat: 2,000 × 0.27 ÷ 9 = 60 g, or 540 kcal.
3. Carbohydrate: (2,000 − 576 − 540) ÷ 4 = 221 g.

That gives 144 g protein, 60 g fat and 221 g carbohydrate. Rounding can shift things by a few calories either way.

Spread the protein however your day works. Four portions of about 36 g is easier than trying to rescue a low-protein day with one huge dinner. The protein calculator gives you the per-meal number.

What if the numbers do not fit?

At a low calorie target and a high body weight, protein and fat can eat the whole budget. When that happens the calculator stops rather than print a negative carbohydrate figure.

Take that as a signal to revisit the inputs or get help choosing targets, not a puzzle to force through. A plan has to leave room for varied food, fiber and enough energy to function on.

Training changes what feels workable too. Heavy endurance work tends to make a lower-carb split hard to sustain; someone else may simply feel better with more fat at the same calories. The preset is where you start, not where you have to stay.

FAQ

Do I need to hit all three macros exactly?

Usually no. Consistent calories and enough protein do most of the work; chasing every gram of fat and carbohydrate does not. A medical or competition plan may ask for more precision.

Is lower carb better for weight loss?

Not by itself. Calories stay the same here whichever split you pick, so the deficit does too. The better split is the one you can keep eating.

Why do grams not always add up perfectly?

The tool rounds grams, and labels round in their own way. A few calories of difference is not a reason to rebuild the meal.

The easy way to do this

HeyCoach shows all four numbers, calories, protein, carbs and fat, on every meal card, against targets you set in about 30 seconds. A photo or one line logs the meal in WhatsApp, with no app to download, and a reply fixes a portion even days later. The targets stay in the conversation, next to the meals that test them, instead of in a spreadsheet you have to remember to open.