To work out your macros, figure out how many calories you need to maintain your weight. 2,500kcal is a good place to start if you don't already know how many calories you need.
Then, calculate your lean mass - i.e. your weight * (100% - your body fat percentage).
- Eat 2.2g of protein for each kg of lean mass.
- Eat 1.25g of fat for each kg of lean mass.
- Fill in the rest of the intake with carbohydrate.
Protein is 4kcal/g, and fat is 9kcal/g. This means to get to your 2,500kcal, you have to deduct the calories used on protein (i.e. 2.2g * lean mass * 4kcal/g) and the calories used on fat (i.e. 1.25g * lean mass * 9kcal/g) - whatever you're left with is the number of calories you can use on carbohydrate, and you can divide those calories by 4 to get the amount of carbs in grams.
Here is a worked example:
You need 2,500kcal.
You are 75kg at 10% body fat.
This means your lean mass is 75kg * (100% - 10%) = 67.5kg.
Protein: 2.2 * 67.5kg = 149g (which is the same as 596kcal)
Fat: 1.25 * 67.5kg = 84g (which is the same as 756kcal)
Carbohydrate: 2,500kcal less 596kcal less 756kcal = 1,148kcal (which is the same as 287g).
(As a quick test/proof, this means the ratio of protein:carb:fat comes out at 596:1148:756, which is basically 25:45:30 - pretty textbook "generally accepted" numbers for most healthy adults. However, using ratios to work out macronutrients is generally a stupid idea. Use grams per kg of lean mass instead!)
Monitor your weight for 3 weeks or so.
If you're losing weight too quickly, add 10-20% to the number of calories you're eating (this means you'll be eating additional carbohydrate).
If you're gaining weight too quickly, deduct 10-20% from the number of calories you're eating (and clearly the amount of carbohydrate will reduce accordingly).
Or you might decide to keep them the same if you're at a weight you're happy with
The amount of protein and fat will remain relatively static, as your weight is a fairly slow-changing quantity. You shouldn't be losing/gaining more than 1kg/week at the absolute most. When you increase/reduce calories, the difference will come mainly from carbohydate. You can recalculate your macros every 3 weeks or so to keep them in line with your actual lean mass and calorie requirements.
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