How we calculate your macros.
Online calculators guess. We measure. Here’s the entire chain — from the breath you take in our lab to the palm of food on your plate.
Measure RMR — not estimate it.
Activity multiplier → TDEE.
- · Sedentary — ×1.20
- · Lightly active — ×1.375
- · Moderately active — ×1.55
- · Very active — ×1.725
- · Extra active — ×1.90
Goal adjustment → calorie target.
- · Fat loss — minus 20% of TDEE. Aggressive enough to see movement, conservative enough to keep training quality.
- · Maintain — TDEE itself, no adjustment.
- · Performance — plus 5%. A small surplus to fuel hard sessions and recovery without storing fat.
- · Muscle gain — plus 10%. Enough surplus to build, with a higher protein target to make sure the calories land as muscle.
Protein and fat are pinned. Carbs fill the rest.
- · Protein — 1.6–2.2 g per kg of body weight, depending on goal. We raise the floor for adults 65+ to protect lean mass.
- · Fat — 0.8–1.4 g per kg, depending on macro preference. There’s a sex-specific minimum so essential-fat needs are met.
- · Carbs — whatever calories remain after protein and fat are paid. They scale up when you train more and shrink in a deficit.
Hand portions: grams without the food scale.
- · Palm = one protein portion (chicken, fish, tofu, eggs)
- · Fist = one carb portion (rice, oats, potato, fruit)
- · Cupped hand = one veg portion (greens, peppers, broccoli)
- · Thumb = one fat portion (oil, butter, nut butter, cheese)
A 5-page personalized macro guide.
We email a Fit Evaluations-branded PDF the same day your test runs:
- · Cover with your name and test date
- · Your measured RMR plus the supporting readings (RQ, VO₂, fuel mix)
- · The full calculation: RMR × activity → TDEE → goal-adjusted target
- · Daily macro grams, kcal, and macro split
- · Hand portions per day and per meal
- · Example meals tailored to your eating style and any allergens you flag
A few details, expanded.
The online calculator is a free Mifflin-St Jeor estimate. It’s a useful starting point if you’ve never thought about calories before, but it’s a population average — your actual RMR can sit ±300 kcal off it depending on muscle mass, recovery state, medication, thyroid function, and a dozen other variables.
A measured RMR replaces the estimate with your number. Same calculation chain runs downstream — just with a real anchor instead of a guessed one.
RQ is the respiratory quotient — the ratio of CO₂ you exhale to O₂ you inhale at rest. It tells us roughly what fuel mix your body is burning right now: near 0.7 = mostly fat, near 1.0 = mostly carbs.
It’s a snapshot, not a verdict — food, training, and stress all move it. We include it because some clients find it interesting; the macro plan doesn’t hinge on it.
Your RMR doesn’t change unless your body composition does. We can re-run the downstream calculation with a new goal or activity level any time — no retest needed. A retest is worth it after a meaningful body-comp shift (10+ pounds, or a significant training change) since RMR follows lean mass.
Yes. We pick from a curated meal-card library tagged by eating style (anything, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, paleo, keto) and allergen (gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs, soy, shellfish, fish). The meal ideas in your guide skip anything you flag.