Keto Calories: Counting And Determining Your Macros

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carb approach to eating that can help with weight loss and certain health conditions. To follow the keto diet, it's important to understand your calorie and macronutrient needs, which can be determined using a keto calculator. These calculators use factors such as your gender, age, weight, height, body fat percentage, and activity level to estimate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). This information is then used to calculate your recommended calorie intake and macronutrient ratios to help you achieve your desired weight goal. While keto calculators can be a useful tool, it's always recommended to consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new diet, especially if you have an existing medical condition.

Calculating your macros

The first step in calculating your keto macros is establishing your basic energy needs and your body type, weight, and activity levels. You can use a keto calculator to do the hard work for you.

Keto calculator

The keto calculator is a tool that can help you work out your personalised calorie and macronutrient recommendations. It takes into account various factors, such as gender, weight, age, activity level, body fat percentage, and your personal goals.

Basal metabolic rate (BMR)

The keto calculator uses your gender, age, height, and weight to find your BMR, the amount of energy you spend per unit of time while resting. In other words, it's how much energy you burn while doing absolutely nothing.

Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)

The calculator combines your BMR and your activity level to find your TDEE, the number of calories your body burns in 24 hours. Your TDEE tells the calculator how many calories you need to eat daily to cover your expenditure.

Calorie intake goal

Here you can tell the calculator if you want to maintain, lose, or gain weight by picking a calorie deficit or surplus. For example, if you choose a 10% calorie deficit, your total daily calories will be 10% lower than you actually need, which will help you lose weight.

Body fat percentage

Your body fat percentage is used to determine your lean body mass and contributes to a more accurate estimation of your TDEE. This helps the keto calculator work out how many calories from protein you need per day to lose weight without reducing your muscle mass.

Protein intake

It is recommended that you eat adequate protein on a ketogenic diet. For most people, it is undesirable to lose muscle mass. Set this ratio at a minimum of .8g/lb of lean body mass. Increase the ratio based on your strength goals and exercise demands.

Carb intake

It is highly recommended that on a ketogenic diet, you keep your carb intake to 5% or fewer of total calories. This works out to be an average of 30g net carbs a day.

Fat intake

On a keto diet, most of your daily calories (70-80%) should come from fat.

Determining your calorie intake goal

The number of calories you should consume daily depends on your goal weight. If you want to maintain your weight, keep your calorie intake the same as what you burn in a day. To lose weight, eat fewer calories than you burn. To gain weight, eat more calories than you burn.

You can calculate the number of calories you burn in a day by first calculating your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the number of calories your body burns when at rest. Your BMR depends on your gender, age, height, and weight. Men and women have different caloric requirements because their body compositions are different. Your BMR also decreases with age as your muscle mass declines, especially after age 30.

Once you have your BMR, you need to factor in your activity level to get your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). If you are sedentary, you will burn fewer calories than someone who is active. Your TDEE tells you how many calories you need to eat to cover your energy expenditure.

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than your TDEE. A moderate weight loss can be achieved with a calorie deficit of 10-20%. If you want to gain weight, you can eat 10-20% more calories than your TDEE.

Keep in mind that your calorie intake goal will also depend on other factors such as your body fat percentage, lean body mass, and health goals. It is recommended to keep your carb intake to 5% or less of total calories on a ketogenic diet, which works out to an average of 30g net carbs per day.

There are keto calculators available online that can help you determine your calorie intake goal. These calculators use your personal information, such as gender, age, weight, height, and activity level, to estimate your BMR and TDEE. They will then suggest a calorie intake goal based on whether you want to maintain, lose, or gain weight.

Understanding your basal metabolic rate (BMR)

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns to stay alive. This includes basic functions such as heart rate, blood flow, metabolism (digestion and nutrient absorption), and cell function, growth, and repair. It does not include the energy used for daily activities such as walking, moving, and exercising.

Your BMR is influenced by a number of factors, including:

• Age: Your BMR decreases with age as your muscle mass declines, especially after 30.
• Weight: Your weight is needed to know your unique body composition.
• Height: Your height is also needed to know your unique body composition.
• Gender: Body composition is different between men and women.
• Environmental temperature: Cold environments raise BMR because of the energy required to create a homeostatic body temperature.
• Dieting: Small, routinely dispersed meals increase BMR, while starvation can reduce it by as much as 30%.
• Exercise habits: The more active you are, the higher your BMR.

Your BMR can be calculated in several ways, including direct calorimetry, indirect calorimetry, or a quick math equation such as the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation. The Mifflin-St. Jeor equation is considered one of the most accurate ways to calculate BMR.

To calculate your BMR using the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation, you will need to use one of the following two equations:

• Males: 10 × weight (in kilograms) + 6.25 × height (in centimeters) – 5 × age (in years) + 5
• Females: 10 × weight (in kilograms) + 6.25 × height (in centimeters) – 5 × age (in years) – 161

For example, a 35-year-old, 200-pound (90.7-kg), 6-foot (183-cm) male would have a BMR of 1,882. At rest, he will burn around 1,882 calories per day.

While it is useful to know your BMR, it is important to remember that it is not the number of calories your body needs per day. To calculate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), you need to multiply your BMR by an activity factor.

Adjusting your protein intake

Protein is one of the three macronutrients that provide calories, and it is essential for muscle maintenance and growth. On keto, a range of 1.2 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of target body weight is the recommended protein goal.

If you lift weights or train hard in the gym, you may want to increase your protein intake. If you are a male who lifts heavy weights often, you may want to eat at the higher end of the protein range. If you are trying to lose weight, your protein needs will be different than if you are trying to maintain your body weight.

It is recommended that you aim for a minimum of 20 grams of protein at each meal. If you are trying to lose fat mass while building or maintaining lean mass, you may want to aim for the higher end of the protein range, between 1.6 g/kg and 2.0 g/kg.

If you are an older person, it is recommended that you obtain more nutrients like protein and vitamin D. Older people need a minimum of 1.2 grams per kg daily to counteract muscle loss and other age-related changes.

If you are an intermittent faster, you may want to increase your protein portions at your meals. If you are following an OMAD (one meal a day) diet, it may be challenging to eat adequate protein. In this case, you could consider eating OMAD a few times a week, with higher protein intake on the other days. Alternatively, you could eat within a 2-hour time window, allowing you to snack on nuts, cheese, or meats to increase your protein.

If you are trying to lose weight, nuts and seeds are not ideal as your primary protein sources, as they are very rich in calories. However, they can be a good way to boost your protein intake if you are falling short of your daily goal.

If you need to significantly increase your protein intake, adding an extra serving of meat to your meals or having a protein shake as a snack are simple ways to do so.

Tracking your macros

The keto diet is a very regimented way of eating, with little room for cheating. Tracking your macros can help you maintain ketosis and ensure you're following a high-fat, moderate-protein, and very low-carb plan. This is important because precise intakes of macros lead to better results, including weight loss and body composition changes.

How to track your macros

The two most popular ways to track macros are through a food journal or a macro-tracker app.

Food journal

Food journaling requires a few extra steps but is an equally effective means of tracking macros. You can rely on the information found on a food's nutrition label and valuable tools like the USDA Nutrient Analysis Library, which allow you to determine the nutrient content of generic and branded foods, as well as fresh produce. Once you've determined the macronutrients in your food, simply follow these formulas when journaling:

• For percentage fat: Multiply total grams of fat by nine. Divide the result by total daily calories. Multiply this number by 100 for the percentage of calories from fat.
• For percentage carbohydrates: Multiply total grams of carbohydrates by four. Divide the result by total daily calories. Multiply this number by 100 for the percentage of calories from carbohydrates.
• For percentage protein: Multiply total grams of protein by four. Divide the result by total daily calories. Multiply this number by 100 for the percentage of calories from protein.

Macro-tracker app

There are a lot of different macro-tracker apps to choose from these days. All of them serve the same primary function – to show you the percentage of calories you've consumed from each macronutrient based on the food you've tracked that day. Some go a step further, allowing you to track your weight over time, plan healthy meals, and even scan barcodes of food packaging for easier tracking.

Tips for tracking macros on keto

• Write things down: When you write something down, you're more likely to make it happen. Practically speaking, this could mean using a journal to plan your meals and macros each morning and logging your meals in an app, comparing your actual results to your plan.
• Track ketone levels: Ketones are tiny molecules produced when your liver burns fat. Once released into circulation, they fuel your brain and body with clean, efficient energy. To test ketone levels accurately and affordably at home, consider picking up a Keto-Mojo meter.
• Use a macro tracker: When you embark on your keto journey, don't do it alone. Hire a digital health coach to guide your steps. A macro tracker app makes your keto diet much easier. You tell it what you ate; it queries a massive food database, and out pops your macro ratios. Then you adjust accordingly.

Customising your macros

No diet is one-size-fits-all. You're a unique individual, and you have unique needs. If you're doing keto for weight loss, for example, you might want to cut carbs below 5%, lower than a person maintaining weight. Alternatively, if you're extremely active, you might want to bump up the carbs and protein a bit. Protein, in particular, is essential for repair and recovery after exercise.

The keto sweet spot

Despite best-laid plans, it can sometimes be difficult to follow diets like keto because they require such strict attention to detail. Having convenient keto options on hand, such as keto shakes and powders, can help you hit your macros when you're on the run or don't have time to prepare a balanced keto meal or snack.

Striking a balance and the keto flu

While your macronutrient ratio will play the most critical role, it's not the only consideration when adhering to the keto diet. Certain lifestyle factors, like hydration and exercise, will also contribute to your success. Dehydration can exacerbate symptoms of keto flu – temporary side effects of your change in diet, including headache, fatigue, nausea, and muscle cramps. Manage side effects by sipping on calorie-free and electrolyte-rich beverages throughout your day. Add in regular exercise, which can help boost your resting metabolic rate and support the desired outcomes of the keto diet.

And despite keto's emphasis on macros, you still need to remember the value of micronutrients. Potassium, calcium, and vitamins C and B are just a few of the micronutrients that are essential to supporting optimal health.

Frequently asked questions