A free vegan macros calculator

If you’ve calculated your vegan macros and felt disappointed before, this guide will explain why. 

Most vegan macros calculators aren't designed well. This is why you see so many differences among calculators online. 

Most people quit calculating their macros. As a result, they struggle with their health or fitness goals. 

External tools, like calorie trackers, don't need to be used long-term unless you want them to be. 

Like all tools, they're useful when used correctly.

They're especially useful when you start your fitness journey, such as during the habit development phase. 

But like any tool, it's just a tool. Don't get obsessed with the tool; just use it right.

 When you eat above, below, or at maintenance calories paired with resistance training, it can change your current body composition.

This is called body recomposition (the science of changing your current levels of muscle and fat tissue).

If you haven’t lifted weights recently (or ever), you might see body recomposition. This means you can lose fat and build muscle at the same time, even for a short while.

It’s even possible in a slight deficit, though less common.

Focusing on your daily actions and staying consistent will put you ahead of 95% of people who keep changing their fitness habits.

It’s easy to get distracted in the world of fitness and health.

So the vegan macros calculator we’ve created will give you a head start on your initial caloric calculations. 

But where do you go from there? 

That's where this guide comes into play. 

You'll learn how to create your initial calculations, what to do with them, and how to make your macros work for you this time without feeling frustrated.

If you're tired of getting generic macros or wondering how many calories you should hit as a high performer over 40, this guide will simplify this for you.

As a side note: This calculator will serve you well whether you’re fully plant-based or just curious about adding more plants.

If you’re a high performer over 40 with kids and a busy lifestyle, this will probably be your jam (especially if you care about optimal health, strength, and longevity).

Let's dive in. 

1. Your initial macros calculation

Your initial calculations are just that: initial calculations. 

Like everything in exercise and nutrition, the body will adapt. Getting your initial adjustments is important. It’s also useful to understand the principles of nutritional science:

You change your calorie intake to change your body composition. 

Your first adjustment is a hypothesis. You may need to adjust the numbers from your first calculation. This depends on how your body reacts in the first 2-3 weeks. 

My recommendation here is two-fold: 

• Be patient with your results

• Track your data diligently 

These both go hand in hand. It's tempting to give up and cut calories when your macros seem off. But that's usually not the real issue. 

Patience and data tracking are key to winning in fitness. They help you avoid yo-yo dieting and keep your weight steady over time. 

This is how you win for life in health. 

So, back to your initial adjustment. 

Our free macro calculator gives you the numbers you need to start losing fat, build muscle, or improve sports performance and health. 

But your macros are the first part of the equation.

So let's say you're a 45-year-old man who entered your biometrics (height, weight, gender, etc.) into the calculator. You entered your activity levels and your desired fat-loss goal. 

Let's say, hypothetically, that based on your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), your maintenance calories were 2,600 kcal per day. 

The gold standard for fat loss (weight loss) is 0.5-0.75% of your body weight in pounds per week. This would average out to 1-1.25 pounds of fat loss per week. 

With that in mind, the calculator estimates a caloric deficit (negative energy balance) goal of 2,100 kcal per day. 

This puts you in a -500 kcal/day deficit, which, multiplied by 7 days (500 x 7), equals -3,500 kcal; you're eating less each week. 

Since 1 pound of body fat contains roughly 3,500 k/cal, this should put you right on track to start dropping weight. 

This is a scientific hypothesis. Like all hypotheses, it needs to be tested and validated first. 

A few factors might affect this initial adjustment. I'll share more details later in this guide. 

To summarize: your initial adjustments are your starting place. 

Start tracking your nutrition with at least 80% accuracy for the first 3 weeks. Aim for at least 5 days of tracking each week. 

After 3 weeks, you’ll know whether your adjustment is on track or needs changes. 

As a side note, in your first 2-3 weeks, you might see some weight gain, even if you're cutting. This is more common if you're a woman on your period. Even after menopause, water retention can still happen. 

Or you may notice an initial loss of 3-4 pounds in water weight. Ignore this. It’s just water weight. 

The initial drop in carbs will initiate this process, especially for fat-loss goals. 

If you have been undereating for months and then start making changes, your body may resist staying at lower calorie levels. 

Keep this in mind when you're calculating your numbers. 

Let's continue. 

2. How long will these macros work?

The body always strives for balance. 

On average, you can expect 3-6 months from your initial caloric adjustment. Again, each person is different and responds uniquely to exercise and nutrition protocols. 

But this gives you an average timeline to work with. 

Some of you might make 3-4 months of progress from your first adjustment, while others might take 6-8 months. 

It really depends on how quickly your body adjusts to changes in calorie intake. Other factors, like sleep, stress, and steps, also play a role. 

So there's no straight answer here. 

I follow a simple guideline. It helps me estimate how long to keep someone in a deficit or surplus. 

It's called the 4:2 ratio. 

For every 4 months in a cut (deficit) or a build (surplus), return to your maintenance calories for 2 weeks. 

Focus on the trends > fluctuations. 

It is not perfect, but it accounts for metabolic adaptation. This tricky mechanism keeps the body coming back to balance. 

This will help you plan future adjustments, especially the duration of each fitness phase. 

3. What's the evidence behind this vegan macros calculator?

This calculator is based on recent research by Greg Nuckols and his team at MacroFactor and StrongerbyScience. 

Greg is one of the world's leading experts in exercise and nutrition science. 

His team also built one of the best macro-tracking apps, using a similar reasoning model. 

You can read more about his BMR models and dive deeper into how we put together the formulas here.

What I really like about our calculator is that it sets us apart from 99% of online macro calculators: we use upgraded BMR models based on Nuckol's formulas to account for metabolic adaptation. 

This combination makes our tool unique and effective. 

Metabolic adaptation is part of the fitness game. 

Your body adapts to your exercise and diet. Over time, these methods may lose their effectiveness. 

If you have stayed in a deficit for a while (more people than you would expect, especially women) or are below 10% of your all-time highest body weight, you may be experiencing metabolic adaptation. 

If so, our free calculator will cover you in either situation. 

It's still not perfect. 

I doubt any calculator will ever be perfect, since the human body has many nuances and changes daily. Still, this is one of the closest models that will work. 

Here's a quick summary from this other article where Greg discusses how weight loss affects BMR. 

Exercise and nutrition aren't separate in body transformation. They work together in a web that affects our health. 

Here's Greg's recap:

1. Your BMR will likely decrease as you lose weight. However, most of that decrease is simply due to tissue loss. A smaller body requires less energy.

2. Preserving fat-free mass by losing weight gradually, exercising (especially resistance training), and eating plenty of protein will help you lose more fat and less fat-free mass, reducing BMR reductions.

3. Metabolic adaptation – reductions in BMR in excess of what you’d predict based on the magnitude and composition of the tissue you lose – is a normal part of weight loss.

4. Metabolic adaptation of about 5-10% is pretty typical. More metabolic adaptation is generally seen with greater total weight loss and faster rates of weight loss.

5. Reducing your rate of weight loss can help mitigate metabolic adaptation. Smaller, consistent energy deficits and intermittent dieting strategies seem similarly effective at reducing metabolic adaptation.

6. Metabolic adaptation mostly resolves when you return to maintenance, and your weight stabilizes. Though a slight metabolic adaptation may persist – around 3-5% seems typical (which usually amounts to less than 100 calories per day)- many studies report that it goes away entirely.

Again, absorb what's useful, leave the rest, and focus on what matters to you. 

4. Why should I trust you?

You shouldn't. Trust is earned. 

I'd advise you to question everything you hear or read online (and offline). 

If you want credibility, I've helped hundreds of folks over the past eight years, both in person and online. We’ve created simple, effective caloric and macro plans based on the science outlined in this article for years.

If I didn't do a good job, I wouldn't have work today. 

But I believe trust is earned. 

Which is why I invest hours each week in writing, speaking, and teaching to earn your trust. 

The easiest way to spot fraud in the fitness industry is to test their knowledge and experience. 

At the start of my career, I believed every nutrition claim. I thought cinnamon powder burned fat, intermittent fasting made you shredded, and training five days a week was the best way to build muscle. 

So I've been burned more times than I can count by the industry that I loved. 

It's what I wish I had 15 years ago when I first started lifting weights and changing my body composition. 

5. I tried to calculate my plant-based macros before, but it didn't work

That's understandable. 

Most macros or calculators don't set you up for success, especially after the initial calculations. 

They also don't tell you what to do next or what to do if something isn't working. 

This vegan macros calculator aims to address some of those problems (though I recognize it may not be perfect). 

Here's how you can make it work this time: 

• Track your data, especially in the first 3 weeks. Fluctuations will occur in either direction (for fat loss or muscle building). 

• Learn to decipher trends vs. fluctuations. Fluctuations occur daily, and trends reveal themselves over time (1-2 weeks). 

• Plateaus are inevitable parts of the process, but they don't always mean something is wrong. It's an opportunity to test, evaluate, and refine. 

For fat loss, expect water weight loss. This can be 3-4 pounds out of the gate or 3 weeks later. But it will happen. 

Sometimes your body retains water weight (more common in women), so be patient if that is the case. 

For muscle building, you may gain 3-4 pounds (mainly water weight, especially with higher carbohydrate intake). Again, this can happen right out of the gate or a few weeks down the line. 

Get ready, both mentally and emotionally, for these ups and downs. Watch your results like a curious scientist. 

I recorded an in-depth episode on plateaus here if you'd like to listen. 

6. What about refeeds and diet breaks?

These are great. They can be helpful tools along your fitness journey. 

But timing is everything. 

Refeeds, or higher-calorie days, aren't very useful for muscle building. Little evidence shows they help with muscle growth. 

Refeed days can help with fat loss. Still, current evidence suggests they may offer only a slight benefit for advanced lifters. 

For most people lifting to lose weight, high or low days aren't worth the extra effort. 

That said, it can be a psychological break. 

If you’ve been in a deficit for a while, it's perfectly fine to have higher-calorie days when you lift and lower-calorie days when you don’t. 

Just factor in your weekly calorie target to make sure you're still on track with your fat-loss goals. 

You can use high vs. low days on the progress tracker. 

Example: If your daily deficit puts you at 1,500 k/cal per day, that means you're negative 500 k/cal per day x 7 days = 3,500 k/cal, which averages to 1 pound of fat loss per week. 

Your weekly caloric total would be 10,500 k/cal with this current setup. 

If you want higher-calorie days for lifting, you could have 1,800 kcal on lifting days and 1,100 kcal on non-lifting days. 

This would still give you the same weekly caloric total of 10,500 k/cal. 

However, health loves simplicity, so if this seems too complicated, it probably is. 

As for diet breaks, I've mentioned this above with the 4:2 ratio guideline. 

Every four months of cutting or building should include about 2 weeks of maintenance calories. This helps offset metabolic adaptation. 

Keep it simple and sustainable. 

That's how you'll create lifelong health results. 

Do less, better. 

7.  How do I use the progress tracker?

The bonus progress tracker I've added to our body recomposition macro calculator helps power up your results even faster. 

Your calories and macros are the first piece of the puzzle. 

Knowing what to do next with them is the second part of the puzzle. 

The progress tracker helps you make informed decisions each week without feeling like you're self-sabotaging your results or stuck in plateaus for weeks on end. 

All you need to do is input your biometrics on the left-hand side, choose your macro split preference, add any training or cardio notes, and then start tracking. 

Daily, you'll add your bodyweight, tracked macros, and any physical activity notes. 

That's it. 

You can track your stats daily in under 3 minutes (I've timed it), and weekly, you can start to see trends in your body composition. 

Whether you're focused on weight loss, muscle building, or sports performance, the progress tracker here will help you achieve your goals while simplifying data collection. 

Play around with it and make it yours. 

Remember to 'make a copy' of both the macros and data tracker tabs, so you have full access to both copies. 

If any formulas are deleted by accident on your end, you can always reaccess the original copy below. 

8.  Can I go faster than the vegan macros calculator says?

Absolutely... it's your body and life. 

But here's why I wouldn't recommend this:

1. The faster you drop weight, the higher the risk of muscle loss and a potential weight rebound (after you finish the cut). 

2. The faster you try to gain weight (muscle), the higher the risk of extra fat gain. 

3. Although we live in a culture that loves extremes, health favors sustainability. Maintaining a steady pace benefits you in many ways, not just physically. It also enhances your mental wellness, for example. 

So you can certainly go faster. I just wouldn't suggest it for th’re serious about creating lifelong results. 

And as someone who's pushed himself at every opportunity, I learned this lesson the hard way.

Do the right things for your health, and the results will follow. 

It's the journey of making the right choices in the right order. 

95% of health and fitness 'strategies' are just distractions. 

They'll keep you confused for years. 

Focus on the fundamentals, and results will follow. 

Enjoy using our ZH vegan macros calculator and keep things simple.

The best way to see results is to take action.

Calculate your macros and then start putting them to work.

6 months from now, you’ll be grateful you started.

Enjoy the journey ahead.