As you probably know, Black Iron Nutrition doesn’t believe in restrictive or extreme diets or lifestyles. We believe in a holistic, evidence based approach to wellness, nutrition, and movement – as this is what is sustainable. We pride ourselves on helping you find your “sweet spot” with your nutrition in order to never feel starved or stuffed while making steady progress towards your goals. Your calories and macros provided by this calculator are a very accurate representation of the BIN coaching methodology. Whether your goal is body recomposition, improved health, improving athletic performance, fat loss, or muscle gain – understanding macronutrients is one of the most effective ways to reach your goals. Our calculator was designed using extensive research and insights from working with tens of thousands of clients over the last decade. By factoring in your personal details, activity levels, and goals, we provide you with the best starting point for success.

Our calculator uses somewhat complex algorithms and formulas to determine the optimal calories and macros you “should” be consuming each day in order to reach your goals. These calculations will work for most people but there will of course be outliers and exceptions due to many personal factors that can’t be accounted for in an online calculator. If the numbers calculated are quite far away from where you are currently at AND your current nutrition isn’t working for you, we highly suggest booking a Strategy Session or signing up for 1-on-1 coaching with a BIN coach where you can explain your nutrition, dieting, and training history in depth to a human being who will give you a more accurate and personalized plan after gathering more detailed and specific information from you.

Using the BIN Macro Calculator:

1. Enter Your Info: Start by entering your age, weight, height, activity level, and goal – then check off if you are currently breastfeeding or an endurance athlete in peak training. If you want your macros portioned by meal, select the amount of meals in the advanced option. TIP: If you have a weight gain or loss goal, calculate maintenance first for awareness. We even suggest staying here for a few weeks before starting a caloric surplus or deficit.

2. Deficit Tips: If you want to lose fat, you should be in a high protein caloric deficit, starting with the smallest deficit as the goal is to consume as much as possible while still achieving results. This is to avoid plateaus, hunger, dips in energy, and burnout. Be sure to recalculate if your weight has changed a considerable amount. Utilizing practices like diet breaks or reverse diets can be helpful in longer deficits and a BIN coach can assist you through this in a Strategy Session.

3. Surplus Tips: If you want to gain muscle, you should be in a high protein/carb caloric surplus. The main goal in a surplus is to gain maximum muscle and minimal fat – in order to achieve this, start modestly. Be sure to recalculate if your weight has changed a considerable amount.

4. Review & Adjust: After seeing your personalized macro breakdown, review the results. Use the sliders provided to adjust macronutrient ratios based on your preferences and goals. We’ll let you know if you’ve gone too far in either direction.

5. Customize Your Protein Intake: Utilize the first slider to customize your protein. We provide suggested minimum (1.8g/kg BW) and maximum (2.2g/kg BW) values – choose based on personal preferences and goals. Slide towards the higher end if building or maintaining muscle is important to you. You want to start with a target that you think you can consistently and enjoyably hit almost daily.

6. Adjust Carb & Fat Intake: Utilize the second slider to adjust carbs and fats to fill the remainder of your calories. By default, it's set to an even 50%/50% split (in total calories leftover after protein, not grams), but tailor it to your activity level, preferences, and goals.

>>> New to tracking macros? Check out our blog post Mastering Macros: A Beginners Guide to Nutrition Tracking

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