HOW TO CALCULATE MACROS FOR CUTTING

How many calories you need each day?

Take your bodyweight in pounds (KG x 2.2) and multiply it by 11 to 14.  See scale.

Multiply by 11 if you have a sedentary job and do little to no exercise

Multiply by 12 if you have a relatively active job or sedentary but train 2-3 times per week.

Multiply by 13 if you have an active job and train 2 to 3 times per week, or have a sedentary job and train at an intense level (ie. weight training, or high level aerobics) 4 to 6 times per week.

Multiply by 14 if you have an active job and train at an intense level (ie. weight training, or high level aerobics) 4 to 6 times per week, or you’re an athlete training every day or multiple times per day.

Note: Be honest. Don’t think that by picking multiplying by 11 when you’re really a 14 will lead to you getting shredded sooner. You will probably drop weight quicker, but you’ll also lose muscle mass, and performance will suffer. Likewise, if you occasionally, sometimes, when you feel like it and when your friends are also up for it, go to an aerobics class a couple of times per week, you can’t justify this moderate activity by putting yourself at 13 or 14.

Remember this number.

You need between 0.3 and 0.6 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight.

This should be largely based off personal preference, as provided you’re hitting a minimum of 0.3 and not exceeding 0.6, you’re okay. To determine what your ideal intake should be, ask yourself what your favourite types of foods are.

If you tend to eat fattier foods, such as cheese, bacon, nuts and fatty desserts, then aim for 0.5 or 0.6 grams of fat per pound. You’ll likely enjoy a diet far more (and therefore be much more likely to stick to it) if you have more room for your preferred higher-fat foods in your diet.  This makes complete sense.

If, on the other hand, you’re more of a carb-o-holic, and crave bread, pasta, crisps and pretzels, aim for 0.3 to 0.4 grams per pound. Your carb and fat intake will be inversely proportional, so the higher one is, the lower the other. Therefore, you can go lower with your fat intake in order to consume more carbs.

The only caveats to the above (though these are really minor details) is that athletes focused on performance and needing to recover quickly should keep their carbohydrates high to moderate, while if you rarely train, or only ever partake in gentle exercise, your carb tolerance is likely lower, so set fat towards the higher end of the scale.