How To Count Macros For Building Muscle And Burning Fat?

You figure out your macros for building muscle mass by calculating total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).

The good news is that you won’t have to be a math genius as there’s a simple calculator that you can use [1].

This number will be the total calories you need to sustain your current activity levels, and you have to make sure you account for all the muscle gain workouts you’re doing.

Once you have your daily calorie intake, I would suggest adding a buffer of about 10% to 20% before you look at the macronutrient ratio.

With that calorie surplus, you can now apply the general rule for building lean mass that my dietitian shared with me: 30/30/40 ratio for fat/protein/carbs.

Let’s say you need 3,000 calories a day to gain weight in the form of muscle.

Then you would need 900 calories from protein, and with 1 gram of protein providing four calories, you’d need 225 grams of protein [2].

Similarly, for fat, you’d need about 900 calories from healthy fats or 100 grams as it delivers nine calories per gram.

And for carbs, you’ll need 1,200 calories or 300 grams. 

Depending on how your body weight reacts and whether your muscle fibers are increasing significantly enough, you can fine-tune that ratio, but it’s a starting point I use for all my clients.

You figure out your macros for burning fat by working out your TDEE.

You can use the same calculator as for muscle growth above. But the difference is that you then eat fewer calories than your TDEE suggests.

When losing fat is your top priority, then you want to reduce the macros that the body most easily turns into fat reserves and increase the macros that help with fat loss.

What does that mean specifically?

What you need to do is switch to a low-carb and high-protein diet, as studies have shown a direct link between eating more protein and fat storage [3].

This doesn’t mean going to extreme lows for carbs like on the keto diet, but it can still minimize fat gain.

Using the same approach as above for working out the exact amounts, let’s say your daily calorie deficit is now 2,700 for weight loss and cutting, then your healthy fats should make up 810 calories, or about 90 grams.

Your protein is now 1,080 calories or 270 grams. And your carbs are 810 calories or about 200 grams.

“When it comes to figuring out what to eat for weight loss, the most important factor is eating less. When you consume less calories than you spend you will lose weight and the diet that helps you lose weight best will be the one that allows you to consume less calories without causing much distress or lethargy.”

- Kamal Patel, Co-founder & Editor at Examine.com

Now, before you think that you’re going to have to work all this out with pen and paper, let me tell you that there’s a much simpler solution.

Whether you’re in a calorie deficit or surplus phase, start journaling all your food intake with the Noom app or another similar application.

Even Noom's free version will help with tracking and calculating your macros intake. All you need to do is pick your food and ingredients and enter how many grams you eat.

At the end of the day, you’ll have a number for your calories along with the overall macros.

Counting macros couldn’t be easier, and it just takes a few minutes each day.

Yes, you can balance building muscle mass and fat loss, but does your body burn fat or muscle first?

This is a difficult task that depends on several factors.

Researchers have shown that how your body builds muscle and stores fat is not just dependent on your diet and metabolism but also on your hormone balances [8].

So you end up with multiple different things that could be competing for either growing muscle fibers or fat reserves, or both at the same time.

Rather than let that become a highly frustrating process, I generally recommend that people focus on lean bulk and muscle building and then go through cutting phases where they religiously count calories and reduce fat.