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How to Calculate Macros for Cutting
Posted on: December 29th, 2013 by Mike
This post came about as a result of people asking me almost on a daily basis how to calculate their macros for a successful diet or cut. I found myself either basically writing them out a whole plan, or directing them to other sites or calculators, none of which were particularly personalised or even 100% trustworthy.
If you’re here, it’s either because I’ve sent you this way (hey, thanks for listening) or because you’re trying to figure out what macros you need to cut. Either way, welcome.
What are Macros and What is Cutting?
I’m guessing if you’ve got this far, you probably know the answers to both these questions, but here’s a quick rundown…..
Macros are protein, carbs and fat. They are what your body needs for energy, recovery and day to day function, and each has a certain calorie value. Protein and carbohydrate have 4 calories per gram, fat has 9 calories per gram. Alcohol is a fourth macronutrient and has 7 calories per gram, but for now we’re not overly concerned with this.
Cutting essentially means losing body fat.
So there you have it – “How to Calculate Macros for Cutting” translates to “How much protein, carbohydrate and fat do I need to get lean?”
Step 1: Determining Calories
Before looking at macros, we need to work out how many calories you need each day.
Now, I could send you off to do some crazily complicated calculation to determine exactly how many calories you need, so difficult you’d end up hiring your local university maths professor to do it for you.
Would this work? Probably, but so does my much simpler method…..
Take your bodyweight in pounds and multiply it by 11 to 14.
Here’s how to work out what you should multiply by -
Multiply by 11 if you have a sedentary job and do little to no exercise
Multiply by 12 if you have a relatively active job (think postman, bin/garbage man, etc.) or you have a sedentary job but train 2 to 3 times per week
Multiply by 13 if you have an active job and train 2 to 3 times per week, or have a sedentary job and train at an intense level (ie. weight training, or high level aerobics) 4 to 6 times per week.
Multiply by 14 if you have an active job and train at an intense level (ie. weight training, or high level aerobics) 4 to 6 times per week, or you’re an athlete training every day or multiple times per day.
* Note – Be honest with your number here. Don’t think that by picking multiplying by 11 when you’re really a 14 will lead to you getting shredded sooner. You will probably drop weight quicker, but you’ll also lose muscle mass, look like crap and performance will suffer. Likewise, if you occasionally, sometimes, when you feel like it and when your friends are also up for it, go to an aerobics class a couple of times per week, you can’t justify this moderate activity by putting yourself at 13 or 14.*
Done that? Good, remember that number.
Step 2: Working Out Protein
Take your bodyweight in pounds. This is the number of grams of protein you’ll eat per day.
Super easy. Weigh 130 pounds? That’s 130 grams per day. Weigh 200 pounds? That’s 200 grams of protein.
Step 3: Working Out Fat
You need between 0.3 and 0.6 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight.
This should be largely based off personal preference, as provided you’re hitting a minimum of 0.3 and not exceeding 0.6, you’re okay. To determine what your ideal intake should be, ask yourself what your favorite types of foods are.
If you tend to err towards fattier foods, such as cheese, bacon, nuts and fatty desserts, then aim for 0.5 or 0.6 grams of fat per pound. You’ll likely enjoy a diet far more (and therefore be much more likely to stick to it) if you have more room for your preferred higher-fat foods in your diet.
If, on the other hand, you’re more of a carb-o-holic, and crave bread, pasta, crisps and pretzels, aim for 0.3 to 0.4 grams per pound. Your carb and fat intake will be inversely proportional, so the higher one is, the lower the other. Therefore, you can go lower with your fat intake in order to consume more carbs.
The only caveats to the above (though these are really minor details) is that athletes focused on performance and needing to recover quickly should keep their carbs high to moderate, while if you rarely train, or only ever partake in gentle exercise, your carb tolerance is likely lower, so set fat towards the higher end of the scale.
Step 4: Working Out Carbs
This is where you’ll need a calculator. Grab one, I’ll wait…..
First up, take your daily protein intake and multiply it by 4. There are 4 calories in a gram of protein, so this will give you how many calories you’re consuming from protein each day.
Then multiply your fat intake in grams by 9 to give your fat calories.
Add these two numbers together, and subtract the result from the total number of calories you’re aiming for each day.
This will give you how many calories you need from carbs each day. Divide this by 4 (remember – carbs have 4 calories per gram) and that’s how many carbs you need each day.
Posted on: December 29th, 2013 by Mike
This post came about as a result of people asking me almost on a daily basis how to calculate their macros for a successful diet or cut. I found myself either basically writing them out a whole plan, or directing them to other sites or calculators, none of which were particularly personalised or even 100% trustworthy.
If you’re here, it’s either because I’ve sent you this way (hey, thanks for listening) or because you’re trying to figure out what macros you need to cut. Either way, welcome.
What are Macros and What is Cutting?
I’m guessing if you’ve got this far, you probably know the answers to both these questions, but here’s a quick rundown…..
Macros are protein, carbs and fat. They are what your body needs for energy, recovery and day to day function, and each has a certain calorie value. Protein and carbohydrate have 4 calories per gram, fat has 9 calories per gram. Alcohol is a fourth macronutrient and has 7 calories per gram, but for now we’re not overly concerned with this.
Cutting essentially means losing body fat.
So there you have it – “How to Calculate Macros for Cutting” translates to “How much protein, carbohydrate and fat do I need to get lean?”
Step 1: Determining Calories
Before looking at macros, we need to work out how many calories you need each day.
Now, I could send you off to do some crazily complicated calculation to determine exactly how many calories you need, so difficult you’d end up hiring your local university maths professor to do it for you.
Would this work? Probably, but so does my much simpler method…..
Take your bodyweight in pounds and multiply it by 11 to 14.
Here’s how to work out what you should multiply by -
Multiply by 11 if you have a sedentary job and do little to no exercise
Multiply by 12 if you have a relatively active job (think postman, bin/garbage man, etc.) or you have a sedentary job but train 2 to 3 times per week
Multiply by 13 if you have an active job and train 2 to 3 times per week, or have a sedentary job and train at an intense level (ie. weight training, or high level aerobics) 4 to 6 times per week.
Multiply by 14 if you have an active job and train at an intense level (ie. weight training, or high level aerobics) 4 to 6 times per week, or you’re an athlete training every day or multiple times per day.
* Note – Be honest with your number here. Don’t think that by picking multiplying by 11 when you’re really a 14 will lead to you getting shredded sooner. You will probably drop weight quicker, but you’ll also lose muscle mass, look like crap and performance will suffer. Likewise, if you occasionally, sometimes, when you feel like it and when your friends are also up for it, go to an aerobics class a couple of times per week, you can’t justify this moderate activity by putting yourself at 13 or 14.*
Done that? Good, remember that number.
Step 2: Working Out Protein
Take your bodyweight in pounds. This is the number of grams of protein you’ll eat per day.
Super easy. Weigh 130 pounds? That’s 130 grams per day. Weigh 200 pounds? That’s 200 grams of protein.
Step 3: Working Out Fat
You need between 0.3 and 0.6 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight.
This should be largely based off personal preference, as provided you’re hitting a minimum of 0.3 and not exceeding 0.6, you’re okay. To determine what your ideal intake should be, ask yourself what your favorite types of foods are.
If you tend to err towards fattier foods, such as cheese, bacon, nuts and fatty desserts, then aim for 0.5 or 0.6 grams of fat per pound. You’ll likely enjoy a diet far more (and therefore be much more likely to stick to it) if you have more room for your preferred higher-fat foods in your diet.
If, on the other hand, you’re more of a carb-o-holic, and crave bread, pasta, crisps and pretzels, aim for 0.3 to 0.4 grams per pound. Your carb and fat intake will be inversely proportional, so the higher one is, the lower the other. Therefore, you can go lower with your fat intake in order to consume more carbs.
The only caveats to the above (though these are really minor details) is that athletes focused on performance and needing to recover quickly should keep their carbs high to moderate, while if you rarely train, or only ever partake in gentle exercise, your carb tolerance is likely lower, so set fat towards the higher end of the scale.
Step 4: Working Out Carbs
This is where you’ll need a calculator. Grab one, I’ll wait…..
First up, take your daily protein intake and multiply it by 4. There are 4 calories in a gram of protein, so this will give you how many calories you’re consuming from protein each day.
Then multiply your fat intake in grams by 9 to give your fat calories.
Add these two numbers together, and subtract the result from the total number of calories you’re aiming for each day.
This will give you how many calories you need from carbs each day. Divide this by 4 (remember – carbs have 4 calories per gram) and that’s how many carbs you need each day.
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