How to Count Macronutrients

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1Counting Macros on Food with Labels

2Counting Macros on Food Without Labels

3Adjusting Your Macros

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It’s important to count your macronutrients – your total intake, in grams, of fat, carbs, and protein – in order to know where your calories are coming from. Counting macros can help you gain muscle and boost your energy. Use nutrition labels to count your macros whenever possible. If you’re dining out or munching on something that doesn’t have a food label, look up the macro values in each item or do your best to estimate. Work with your doctor or dietitian to come up with a macronutrient intake plan that works well for you.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Counting Macros on Food with Labels

1. 
   1
   Check the serving size. Accurately counting macros means using the serving size to determine the macro content of whatever you ate. Look for the serving size just below the large “nutrition facts” header on the nutrition label.

   • Serving sizes vary according to different types of food. Some will be listed in ounces, others in fluid ounces, some in grams, some in units of food (i.e., “10 crackers”) and so on.
   • Be sure to check the servings per container, too. If a can of beets says that one serving has 80 grams (2.8 oz) of carbs and there are three servings per container, the whole can of beets contains 240 grams (8.5 oz) of carbs.
2. 
   2
   Tally the fat. Many nutrition labels have a total for all fat, then separate totals for saturated fat and unsaturated fat. There is no need to tally the different sorts of fat differently. Just make a note of the total fat, typically denoted in grams, in a small notebook. Alternately, add the totals in a fitness tracking app of your choice.
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3. 
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   Take note of the carbs. Just like the fat total, the carbohydrate totals are usually denoted in grams. Make a note of the total carbs in your macronutrient notebook or fitness tracking app.

   • Sugar is often listed as a subcategory just below the carb count. However, you don’t need to create a separate category for sugar, since the total amount of sugar in a given food is included in the total carb count.
4. 
   4
   Note the protein. Protein is the third and final element in the macro-counting triumvirate. Protein, like the carbohydrate and fat totals, is expressed in grams. Write the protein count of the food you’re eating in a notebook or in your fitness tracking app alongside the other two.
5. 
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   Know what you don’t need to count. Lots of information on the nutrition label is irrelevant from a macro-counting perspective. For example, you don’t need to know the cholesterol or sodium contents of a given food (though you should always aim to consume low-sodium and low-cholesterol foods to keep your heart healthy).

   • Dietary fiber counts are also unnecessary when counting macros – though you should aim to get an adequate amount of fiber in your diet. Eat whole grain bread and pasta, and at least four cups (0.9 liters) of fruits and vegetables each day.
   • Don’t worry about counting your calories throughout the day. If you are keeping track of your macronutrients, it is easy to figure out how many calories you have eaten.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Counting Macros on Food Without Labels

1. 
   1
   Weigh your food. Weighing your unlabeled food is important for accurately determining its macro content. Place your food on a food scale in order to weigh it. Be sure to place your plate or bowl on the scale before zeroing it out, otherwise, your weight measurement will erroneously include the weight of the plate or bowl.

   • For instance, you might weigh an apple and find that it weighs 25 grams (0.9 oz).
   • Weighing fruits and veggies is less important than weighing meat because the weight of meat will change significantly when it’s cooked. Always weigh meat when it’s raw.
2. 
   2
   Search for nutrition facts online. Once you know the weight of your food, search online for the macro values (the total fat, carbohydrate, and protein contents, in grams) of your unlabeled food based on its mass. There are many nutrition facts databases online. Use your preferred search engine and a word string like “nutrition facts apple” to obtain the nutrition facts of an apple.

   • For instance, if you weighed a slab of beef and found it weighs 300 grams (10.6 oz), you might search online and find that 100 grams (3.5 oz) of beef contain 15 grams (0.5 oz) of protein. This would yield a total protein count of 45 grams (1.6 oz), or three times 15. You’d then repeat the search for your other two macro metrics, carbs, and fat.
   • The easiest way to count macros is to download a food journal app. You then input the amount of food you're eating and the app will automatically calculate how many grams of protein, carbs, and fats there are in your meal.
3. 
   3
   Ask restaurants for nutrition facts. Many restaurants – especially larger chains – offer nutrition data sheets for everything on their menu. If you’re dining out, obtain the restaurant’s nutrition fact sheet and make a note of the macro data.

   • If the restaurant you’re dining at doesn’t offer nutritional information, eyeball your portion sizes/weights, then look the macronutrient content up later based on your estimates.
4. 
   4
   Learn to eyeball portion sizes. Identify the food or foods that you commonly eat, and the volume in which you eat them. For instance, if you eat a banana daily or almost every day, you should, in time, be able to abandon using the food scale for bananas because you’ll be so familiar with the macro counts of an average medium-sized banana. At that point, you can estimate macro tallies for bananas that are slightly outside this baseline measurement that you’ve memorized (whether they’re too large or too small).

   • Use your hand as a baseline. For instance, you might remember that an apple that is about the size of your fist has X amount of carbs, fat, and protein, while a scoop of ice cream that could fit in your hand has Y amount of carbs, fat, and protein.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Adjusting Your Macros

1. 
   1
   Adjust your macros for weight loss. As a general rule of thumb, if you want to lose weight, you should be getting 50% of your macro totals from carbs, 30% of your macros from fat, and 20% of your macros from protein. If you wish, you can adjust your intake of fat and protein so that you are getting 25% of your macros from each.

   • However, you must also take your overall caloric intake into account. For example, if you are eating 3000 calories per day, you are unlikely to lose weight even if you are dividing those calories up into 50% carbs, 25% fat, and 25% protein.
   • Good foods to eat for weight loss while staying within your macro totals include bananas, apples, grapes, carrots, celery, nuts, groats (whole grains like steel-cut oats), and avocados.
2. 
   2
   Adopt a bodybuilding macro regimen. A low-fat, high-carb macro regimen will enable you to build muscle and power through an intense workout. Macro regimens for bodybuilding typically aim for 15-25% fat, 25-35% protein, and 40-60% carbs.

   • When following this division of macros, you might eat 50 grams (1.8 oz) of fat, 50 grams (1.8 oz) of protein, and 100 grams (3.5 oz) of carbs by the day’s end.
   • Good foods to eat for bodybuilding while staying within your macro totals include potatoes, grapes, apples, avocados, seeds, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice.
3. 
   3
   Maintain your weight with macros. Because of individual variation, there is not a clear way to calculate what the optimal macronutrient balance is for an individual. On average, though, you will be able to maintain your weight by eating the same amount of calories you expend each day and by keeping your macronutrient ratios at about 30-50% carbs, 25-35% protein, and 25-35% fat.

   • Other common macro balances include 45-65% carbs, 10-35% percent protein, and 20-35% fat.
   • Some people believe that consuming each macro in equal amounts is best (for instance, consuming 35 grams (1.2 oz) of fat, 35 grams (1.2 oz) of protein, and 35 grams (1.2 oz) of carbs over the course of a day).
   • Talk to a doctor or dietitian about how to best balance your macro ratios.
4. 4
   Do the math to make sure you’re meeting your goals. To check that you are meeting your macro intake goals, multiply the grams of carbs and protein you have consumed by 4, and the grams of fat by 9. Add up the results to calculate the total amount of calories you have eaten. Then divide the calories from each macro by the overall amount of calories to make sure you are getting the right percentage of each macro. For example:

   • 200 grams (7.05 oz) of carbs x 4 = 800 calories; 75 grams (2.65 oz) of protein x 4 = 300 calories; 50 grams (1.76 oz) of fat x 9 = 450 calories.
   • 800 + 300 + 450 = 1550 calories total.
   • 800/1550 x 100 = 51.6% of calories from carbs; 300/1550 x 100 = 19.4% of calories from protein; 450/1550 x 100 = 29% of calories from fat.
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Expert Q&A

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• Question

  How do I calculate my macros for weight loss?

  

  Katie Prendergast
  Certified Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach

  Katie Prendergast is a Certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach, and the Owner of KPxFitness. With over seven years of coaching experience, she has expertise in helping skiers, snowboarders, and hikers build strength and endurance to enjoy more outdoor adventures. Katie earned her Personal Training Certification and Corrective Exercise Specialist Certification from The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and is a Pain-Free Performance Specialist (PPSC).

  

  Katie Prendergast

  Certified Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach

  Expert Answer

  Common recommendations are to eat 0.7-1 g of protein per pound of lean body mass, and to get 20-30% of your calories from fat. The rest of your macros can come from carbohydrates. Just keep in mind that your exact macro ratios ultimately depend on your health and fitness goals!

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• Question

  How many calories do macros have?

  

  Katie Prendergast
  Certified Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach

  Katie Prendergast is a Certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach, and the Owner of KPxFitness. With over seven years of coaching experience, she has expertise in helping skiers, snowboarders, and hikers build strength and endurance to enjoy more outdoor adventures. Katie earned her Personal Training Certification and Corrective Exercise Specialist Certification from The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and is a Pain-Free Performance Specialist (PPSC).

  

  Katie Prendergast

  Certified Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach

  Expert Answer

  Protein and carbohydrate macros contain 4 calories per gram, while fat macros contain 9 calories per gram.

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  Thank you for your feedback.
  If How.com.vn has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission.Support How.com.vn

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