Calculating My Daily Calorie Needs and Macro-Nutrient Requirements

How I calculate daily calorie needs contradict the method I was taught, and there is good reason for that. The reason is very simple – RESULTS!

If you are curious about how I calculate it, continue reading…

Calculating my daily protein requirement

The most widely recommended amount of pure protein your body needs on a daily basis, to maintain normal bodily function, prevent muscle wasting and increase lean muscle mass is to aim for 1g of pure protein per pound of your Ideal or Goal Weight.

Lets do the math:

1. Goal weight: 60kg

2. Convert goal weight into pounds: 60 x 2.2 = 132lb or 132g of pure protein per day

Calculating my daily calorie intake

First, lets calculate how many calories there are in 132g of protein. There are 4 kcal in in 1 gram of protein, so we multiply 132g by 4 = 528 kcal

For effective fat burning and generous lean muscle gains, it is recommended that 40% of your total daily calorie intake comes from protein. Therefore, with 528 kcal derived from protein, we can easily establish your target, total calorie intake by applying the following calculation:

528 (kcal from protein) is 40% of what? = 1320kcal

How to factor fats and carbohydrates into your total daily calorie intake

With a total daily calorie intake of 1320 kcal and 528 kcal derived from protein, the remaining balance must come from fats and carbohydrates.

1320kcal – 528kcal = 792kcal

It is recommended that 20-30% of your total daily calorie intake should come from fat. Fat allows you to feel fuller for longer and promotes fat loss, and since healthy fats are an essential macronutrient and carbohydrates aren’t, it makes sense to aim for the maximum of 30% fat, with carbohydrates making up for the remaining 30%.

Therefore we simply divide 792 kcal by 2 to establish how many calories must each come from fats and carbohydrates.

792kcal divided by 2 = 396 kcal

Now let’s take a look at what we have so far:

1. Total kcal: 1320kcal

2. 40% Protein: 528kcal

3. 30% Fat: 396kcal

4. 30% Carbs: 396kcal

Next we are going to convert the number of calories to grams for each macronutrient. We have already established that 528 kcal equals 132g of pure protein, now let’s do the same for fats and carbohydrates.

Just like protein, carbohydrates also contains 4kcal per gram, therefore we simply divide 396 by 4 to know how many grams of pure carbs you need to eat on a daily basis.

396 / 4 = 99g of carbohydrates

Fat on the other hand contains 9kcal per gram, we therefore divide 396 by 9 to know how many grams of pure fat you need on a daily basis.

396 / 9 = 44g of fat

So there you have it:

1. Total kcal:   1320kcal

2. 40% Protein:  528kcal/132g

3. 30% Fat: 396kcal/44g

4. 30% Carbs: 396kcal/99g

On weight training days I increase carbohydrates by 25g for an extra boost of energy supply.