◉ DAILY_CALORIC_QUOTA
Calculate your daily protein, carbs, and fat targets based on your weight, height, age, activity level, and goal. Uses Katch-McArdle BMR and Lean Body Mass formulas.
Lean Body Mass is your total weight minus body fat — it includes muscle, bone, organs, and water. MacroCalc uses LBM as the base for all macro targets because fat tissue has minimal metabolic activity and does not need protein or carbs to be sustained. This gives more accurate targets than using total body weight.
BMR is the number of calories your body burns at complete rest — the minimum energy needed to keep organs functioning. MacroCalc supports three equations: Mifflin-St Jeor (best for general population), Revised Harris-Benedict, and Katch-McArdle (most accurate when body composition is known, uses LBM).
TDEE = BMR × an activity multiplier. Sedentary (×1.2), Lightly active (×1.375), Moderately active (×1.55), Very active (×1.725), Extremely active (×1.9). This gives your actual daily calorie burn including exercise and lifestyle activity.
Protein and fat are set in grams per kg of LBM based on your goal. Carbs fill the remaining calories. Maintenance: 1.8 g protein/kg LBM, 1.0 g fat/kg LBM. Surplus: 2.0 g protein, fat at 25% of total calories. Definition: 2.5 g protein, 0.9 g fat/kg LBM.
Maintain keeps calories at TDEE for weight stability. Surplus adds +300 kcal to TDEE to support muscle growth. Definition subtracts −300 kcal from TDEE for moderate fat loss (estimated ~0.5 kg/week per 500 kcal deficit).