Keto Macro Calculator, Learn How to Eat to Meet Your Goals

A keto macro calculator is a great place to start when deciding to start this healthy way of eating. The best keto calculator will give you the amount of fat, protein, and carbs you can eat and remain in ketosis. Knowing where to start with your macros is very important when starting your ketogenic journey. This free keto calculator will give you the appropriate macros to get you to your goals whether it’s losing, gaining or maintaining your weight! Click here to jump straight to the calculator.

First we should clarify what macros are for those that aren’t used to tracking food intake. Macronutrients are fat, protein and carbohydrates. The standard American diet is typically very carb heavy and won’t allow you to get into ketosis.

Ketosis is a metabolic state that is achieved through limiting carbs to 20-30 grams per day, or by drinking a ketone supplement. If you’re very new to this way of eating, please make sure you read through our Complete Beginner’s Guide to the Ketogenic Diet. It gives a great overview of how to approach eating this way along with practical tips and how to get started.

A keto macro calculator gives you an idea of not only how many carbs you should eat in a day, but also the amount of protein and fat you should eat. The resulting keto macros and calories based on your activity level, height, weight and current body fat amount.

Although body fat can be estimated using this handy calculator, we recommend getting a true body fat measurement through a DEXA scan, BodPod or calipers. This will allow you to track body fat loss over time which is much more valuable than weight alone. Calipers are very inexpensive and you can order them on Amazon.

This keto calculator also takes into account whether you intend to maintain, gain or lose weight.

How do I know my macros are right?

This free keto calculator gives you a great place to start. However, what works best for your body may take some trial and error. Some people feel better eating more fat and some feel better eating more protein. For example, Dr. Wrigley has found over his years of practice that peri and postmenopausal women generally do better with more protein in their ketogenic diet.

Start with the macros given here.

Why does the keto calculator need my height, age, weight and gender?

This calculator uses the Mifflin-St.Jeor formula to calculate the number of calories to consume. It is believed to be the most accurate formula to calculate basal metabolic rate (BMR) or the rate at which your body uses energy at rest just to maintain basic body functions such as breathing, pumping blood, maintaining body temperature, etc. Height, age, weight and gender are used for this calculation.

Why does it need body fat percentage?

Sufficient protein in the diet is needed to protect lean muscle mass. It is also needed if you intended to stress your muscles through exercise in order to build muscle. This calculator uses body fat percentage to calculate lean body mass. This is the way the keto macro calculator knows how much protein to suggest.

Body fat is most accurately measured through a DEXA scan or hydrostatic weighing. This can be useful information to have before starting a new keto diet and lifestyle so you can more accurately track changes over time.

However, for the purposes of this calculator it is fine to estimate body fat as it does not significantly affect the calculations. If you are estimating body fat, err to the high side as higher body fat gives a goal of less calories to lose weight. Underestimating body fat will give a greater calorie goal.

Why does the free keto macro calculator need activity level?

This free keto macro calculator uses basic basal metabolic rate (BMR) as calculated by the Mifflin-St.Jeor formula. Since BMR only factors in the body’s basic metabolic processes, we need to account for additional daily activity separately. Saying you’re more active makes the formula give you greater daily calorie target.

Sedentary: Very little exercise and a desk job.

Lightly Active: Less than 20 minutes of not strenuous exercise per day.

Moderately Active: Somewhat active job and over three hours of moderate exercise (such as cycling, jogging or brisk walking) a week .

Very Active: Very active day job or intense exercise over 40 minutes a day most days of the week.

Why does the keto calculator need to know whether I want to gain, lose or maintain weight?

There are a variety of factors to consider, for weight loss, gain and maintenance. Sleep, stress and hormone balance all make a difference when it comes to weight. For a more in depth discussion of the calories in calories out model of weight loss versus a hormonal model, be sure to check out our Complete Beginners Guide to Keto. Most likely, it’s a combination of both models.

In general though, to lose weight you need to consume less calories than your body needs. To gain, you’ll need to consume more calories than you need. To maintain, you’ll need to consume roughly the amount of calories you expend on a daily basis.

This calculator has a default calorie deficit for weight loss of 20 percent and a default calorie surplus for weight gain of 15 percent. Twenty percent deficit is aggressive and allows for the quickest weight loss but may be hard to maintain for a long period.

To set goals that allow you to gain or lose more slowly, which is more sustainable, use the custom setting for the calculator. About 10 percent is a healthy and sustainable goal.

Why does the calculator need to know how many carbs I want to eat?

Ketosis is a metabolic state. This state can be achieved when the body burns off all of its glycogen stores and switches to burning fat for fuel. Most people can get into ketosis when they eat 25 or less carbohydrates per day.

Each person has an individual limit as to how many carbs they can eat and remain in ketosis. Those that are not insulin resistant and those that exercise can generally consume more carbohydrates and remain in ketosis. Those who don’t exercise or are insulin resistant will need to eat less carbs to stay in ketosis.

Using a blood meter is a great way to test your personal carbohydrate tolerance. We recommend the Keto Mojo or KetoCoach. Get 15 percent off a meter kit at checkout through this Keto Mojo link or 10 percent off at KetoCoach by using code HNG10 at checkout.