How to Calculate Your Macros as a Woman (Step-by-Step, With an Example)

Counting macros — protein, carbs and fat — is one of the most flexible ways to eat for a goal without banning foods. But most online calculators give women numbers that are either too aggressive or completely generic. Here's how to calculate your own macros in four steps, with a full worked example.

Step 1: Calculate your BMR

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the energy your body uses at rest. The most widely used formula is the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, developed from measurements of 498 healthy adults^[1]:

BMR (women) = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age − 161

If you use pounds and inches: weight in kg = lb ÷ 2.2, height in cm = inches × 2.54.

Step 2: Multiply by your activity level (TDEE)

Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is your BMR times an activity factor:

Be honest here. Most people overestimate how active they are, and that's the most common reason a calculated target "doesn't work".

Step 3: Adjust for your goal

• Maintenance or hormone balance: eat at your TDEE.
• Fat loss: a moderate deficit of about 10–15% below TDEE — for most women that's 200–300 calories a day.
• Muscle gain: a small surplus of about 10% above TDEE.

A smaller deficit means slower loss on the scale, but it protects your muscle, energy and sleep. Aggressive under-eating is also one of the things that can make periods irregular.

Step 4: Split calories into protein, fat and carbs

Protein first: 1.6 g per kg of body weight

Protein keeps you full and protects muscle, especially in a deficit. A meta-analysis of 49 trials (1,863 participants) found that, alongside resistance training, protein intakes above about 1.6 g per kg of body weight per day brought no further gains in fat-free mass^[2]. Go up to 1.8–2.0 g/kg if you're building muscle or in perimenopause. Protein has 4 calories per gram.

Fat: about 30–35% of calories

Fat is essential — it's needed to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K and to make hormones — so very low-fat diets aren't a good idea. Aim for about a third of your calories, mostly from olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado, eggs and fish. Fat has 9 calories per gram.

Carbs: the rest

Whatever calories are left go to carbohydrates — fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, potatoes. Carbs have 4 calories per gram.

Worked example

A 30-year-old woman, 165 cm tall, 65 kg, who works out 3–4 times a week and wants to lose fat:

1. BMR: 10 × 65 + 6.25 × 165 − 5 × 30 − 161 = 1,370 kcal
2. TDEE: 1,370 × 1.45 = 1,987 kcal
3. Goal (−12%): 1,987 − 238 = about 1,750 kcal
4. Macros:
   • Protein: 65 × 1.6 = 104 g (416 kcal)
   • Fat: 33% of 1,750 = 577 kcal ÷ 9 = 64 g
   • Carbs: (1,750 − 416 − 577) ÷ 4 = 189 g

So her target is roughly 1,750 kcal: 104 g protein, 64 g fat and 189 g carbs. At maintenance she'd eat around 1,990 kcal.

Why 1,200 calories is usually too low

Notice that the woman in the example burns about 1,370 calories just at rest. A 1,200-calorie diet would put her below her BMR every day, before she's even walked to work. That's why so many women on 1,200 calories feel exhausted, hungry and stuck: the deficit is too big to sustain, and it tends to end in a rebound.

For most active adult women, a sustainable fat-loss target lands somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 calories. Your numbers may be different — that's exactly why it's worth calculating them.

One more adjustment: your cycle

If you have a natural menstrual cycle, your energy needs aren't the same all month. Resting metabolism tends to be higher in the luteal phase^[3], and women eat about 168 kcal more per day on average in that phase^[4]. Adding around 100–200 calories in the luteal phase makes the plan much easier to stick to. Read more in how many more calories you need in the luteal phase and our cycle syncing diet guide.

Re-check every few weeks

Formulas are estimates. Track your weight trend (comparing the same point in your cycle) and your energy for 3–4 weeks, then adjust by 100–150 calories if needed. Recalculate whenever your weight or activity level changes significantly.

References

1. Mifflin, M. D., St Jeor, S. T., Hill, L. A., Scott, B. J., Daugherty, S. A., & Koh, Y. O. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51(2), 241–247. doi:10.1093/ajcn/51.2.241
2. Morton, R. W., Murphy, K. T., McKellar, S. R., Schoenfeld, B. J., Henselmans, M., Helms, E., Aragon, A. A., Devries, M. C., Banfield, L., Krieger, J. W., & Phillips, S. M. (2018). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(6), 376–384. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608
3. Benton, M. J., Hutchins, A. M., & Dawes, J. J. (2020). Effect of menstrual cycle on resting metabolism: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 15(7), e0236025. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0236025
4. Tucker, J. A. L., McCarthy, S. F., Bornath, D. P. D., Khoja, J. S., & Hazell, T. J. (2024). The effect of the menstrual cycle on energy intake: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews, 83(3), e866–e876. doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuae093