Know your number.
Train with intention.
Most women are guessing. This gives you a real starting point for calories and protein in under a minute. Free, and we don’t need your email for it.
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Fill in the three steps and your daily calorie and macro targets appear here.
A number is a
starting point,
not a rule.
Every calculator on the internet, including this one, is an estimate. It uses an equation built from population averages, so it can be out by a few hundred calories either way for any individual person.
Use it like this: eat around your number for two to three weeks, weigh yourself a few mornings a week, and see what actually happens. Then adjust. Your own data beats any equation.
And if the number feels low, or eating this way starts feeling stressful rather than useful, that’s worth listening to. Fitness is meant to add to your life.
How this is worked out
1. Your BMR is what your body burns doing nothing at all, worked out with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which is the one most dietitians default to:
Female: (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) − 161
Male: (10 × kg) + (6.25 × cm) − (5 × age) + 5
2. Your maintenance is your BMR multiplied by your activity level (1.2 to 1.9).
3. Your target is your maintenance, minus 20% to lose fat, plus 5% to get stronger, or plus 10% to build muscle.
4. Protein is 1g per pound of bodyweight, which is the same as 2.2g per kg. The research range for women who lift is roughly 1.6 to 2.2g per kg, so this sits at the top of it. We use the top on purpose: it is the number that protects muscle while you lose fat, it is the easiest one to remember, and almost every woman we meet is eating half of it.
One limit. If 1g per pound would take protein past 40% of your calories, which happens at a higher bodyweight or on a big deficit, we cap it there so it doesn’t crowd everything else off the plate. You’ll see a note if that applies to you.
5. Fat is 25% of your calories, with a floor of 0.7g per kg, because you need it for hormones. Carbs are whatever calories are left. Carbs are what fuel a hard session; they are not the enemy.
Why protein gets talked about so much
Two reasons. It keeps you full, so eating slightly less feels manageable rather than miserable. And it’s the raw material your body uses to build and hold onto muscle, which is the thing that makes you strong, keeps your metabolism up, and protects your bones as you get older.
Most women we meet are eating roughly half of what they need.
Do I have to weigh and track everything?
No. Tracking for two weeks is genuinely useful because almost nobody can guess accurately. It’s an education, not a life sentence. After that most people keep an eye on protein and let the rest look after itself.
A note on what this is. This tool gives a general estimate using standard formulas and it isn’t medical advice. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, have a health condition, take medication that affects your weight or appetite, or have a history of disordered eating, please talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian before changing how you eat.
Numbers are
the easy part.
The hard part is doing it consistently, which is much easier in a room full of women doing the same thing. That’s the whole point of us.