Macro calculator

Daily calories, protein, carbs, and fat for someone who lifts. It is the formula Formline uses when you ask it to calculate your targets.

cm
years

kcal a day2,100

Protein
120 g
Carbs
250 g
Fat
70 g
Water
2 L

How it is worked out

Calories

Resting energy is the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, at your height and age. Left empty, they are an average height (175 cm for men, 162 cm for women) and age 35. With no sex set, it is the mean of the two. That is multiplied by 1.2, plus 0.05 for each training day, to give maintenance. To lose weight the target is 20% under maintenance, and never under 1,200 kcal (1,500 for men). Under 18, losing weight is not offered: the equation is made for adults, and a body still growing needs its energy. To gain it is 10% over. Calories are rounded to the nearest 50.

Protein, fat, and carbs

Protein is 1.6 g for each kg of body weight to get stronger, 1.8 g to build muscle, and 1.4 g to stay consistent, with 0.2 g more while losing weight. Fat is 30% of calories. Carbs take the calories that are left. Each is rounded to the nearest 5 g.

Water

2.5 L a day for men and 2 L otherwise, the adequate intakes set by the European Food Safety Authority.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy adds 300 ml of water a day throughout, the European Food Safety Authority's figure. From week 14 it adds 340 kcal and 25 g of protein a day, and from week 28, about 450 kcal, the additions of the US National Academies. Losing weight is not offered while pregnant. In the Formline app you give the week, it moves on by itself, and from week 42, two weeks after the due date, nothing is added. These are estimates: your doctor or midwife's advice comes first.

An estimate, not advice

It does not know your job or your health. Use the figures as a starting point, watch your weight for two or three weeks, and adjust. Ask a doctor or dietitian if you have a medical condition.