Important: This is based on a 1:1 protein to fat ratio and you may need to consult with our Carnivore doctor or nutritionist to adjust it to your goals and current health condition.
World's 1st Carnivore App
The Carnivore Diet Macro Calculator is designed to simplify your Carnivore Diet experience by offering personalized dietary recommendations. However, it's essential to understand its unique approach and the crucial role of professional guidance.
Carnivore Diet Macro Calculator uses the Katch-McArdle Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator as a foundation to determine your daily calorie requirements. This BMR calculation forms the basis of your dietary plan, representing the calories your body requires for fundamental functions while at rest.
Once your BMR is established, the calculator suggests your optimal daily protein intake, carefully tailored to your lean body mass. Protein is a cornerstone of the Carnivore Diet, and our animal-based diet macro calculator ensures you receive the right amount to support muscle maintenance and growth.
To help you meet your calorie target, it offers guidance on the amount of fat grams required to reach your calorie target, enabling a perfect balance between protein and fat. This personalized approach ensures alignment with Carnivore Diet principles and supports your weight loss goals, all while optimizing your overall health.
The Carnivore Diet Macro Calculator is a valuable tool, but consulting with doctors and nutritionists is essential for personalized guidance and to ensure your health aligns with your dietary choices. Their expertise complements the calculator, helping you make informed decisions for your well-being.
The Katch-McArdle equation is a formula used to estimate an individual's Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which represents the number of calories your body needs at rest to maintain basic bodily functions, such as breathing, circulation, and cell production. It takes into account lean body mass (LBM), which is a more accurate measure of metabolic rate than just body weight.
To determine your total daily calorie needs, you can multiply your BMR by an activity factor that represents your daily activity level:
Please remember that these are general estimates, and individual variations can exist. To achieve specific fitness or weight goals, you may need to adjust your calorie intake according to your needs and monitor your progress.
You need to balance how you source the daily caloric intake. On a Carnivore Diet, your calories should mainly come from fat and protein, and minimal -sometimes zero, like in the Strict Carnivore Diet - amounts of carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates, calories, fat, and protein affect your body in different ways and the goal of the Carnivore Diet is to help you achieve your health goals by balancing the main macros.
On a Carnivore Diet, your total calorie intake will come from animal-based foods like ruminant meats, fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, and some dairy products.
The calorie density of animal-based foods differs based on their sources, i.e., fatty meats and fish are very calorie-dense while leaner protein sources like chicken are lower in calories.
For example, 100 grams of 80% lean ground beef has around 254 calories, while 100 grams of skinless chicken breast has only about 165 calories.
Each person’s calorie needs vary based on factors like age, gender, activity levels, and goals like weight loss or muscle gain. But if you’re trying to lose weight, you need to create a caloric deficit, i.e., burning more calories than you consume.
Fat is the main focus of the Carnivore Diet, as it provides energy and keeps you feeling full and satisfied between meals. You need 0.8g-1g of fat per 1lb of body weight.
Carbohydrates are limited on a standard Carnivore Diet so fat can become the primary fuel source. This fat is only obtained from animal sources like fatty meats, poultry, fish, and sometimes dairy.
Many Carnivores aim to get 70-80% of their daily calories from fat sources to achieve ketosis, which means burning fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. This state provides benefits like appetite control, weight loss, improved mental focus, and better physical endurance [source] [source].
Proteins help build and fix muscles, bones, skin, and hair and also help make hormones, enzymes, and antibodies that keep you healthy [source] [source].
Proteins are made up of smaller parts called essential and non-essential amino acids. The human body can't make essential amino acids like leucine, so we have to get them from the food we eat. But our bodies can produce non-essential amino acids like alanine and glycine.
On the Carnivore Diet, you get proteins from animal-based foods that have all the essential amino acids your body needs. Protein makes up about 20-30% of your daily caloric intake.
Getting enough protein by eating animal-based foods helps your muscles grow and repair themselves. It also allows your body to make important substances like enzymes that aid digestion (e.g. pepsin that breaks down proteins in the stomach) or antibodies that fight infections (e.g. immunoglobulins that recognize and neutralize viruses and bacteria) [source] [source].
Now that you know the theory behind the calculator, let’s see how you can use the output of the Carnivore Diet Macro Calculator to reach your goals.
There are two main types of carbohydrates: simple carbs and complex carbs.
Simple carbohydrates are sugars like table sugar, honey, and fruit that give you a quick burst of energy.
Complex carbohydrates are starches and fibers that provide longer-lasting energy. Whole grains, beans, and veggies contain complex carbs. These are considered healthier than simple carbs because they don't spike your blood sugar levels.
Carbohydrates are a source of energy for the body, but not the best one, as relying too much on them, especially simple carbs, can lead to several drawbacks like inflammation, weight gain, and blood sugar spikes [source].
That’s why true Carnivores gain 0-5% of their daily caloric intake from carbohydrates, and try to keep it as low as possible.
In the Carnivore Diet Macro Calculator, you can see many sections, such as calories, protein, and fat, and all of them are carefully calculated based on the information you entered.
Each of them shows how many of that nutrient your body needs based on your sex, age, activity level, weight, and height.
Protein is very important for both weight loss and weight gain plans because it helps maintain lean muscle mass during weight loss and supports muscle repair and growth during weight gain.
If you're sedentary you'll need around 0.8-1g of protein per pound of your goal body weight and 1-1.2g of protein per pound of your goal body weight if you're very active or trying to gain muscle.
Fat should be considered the most important Carnivore macro for weight loss as it’s the main energy source in the Carnivore Diet.
You'll need about 0.8g-1g of fat per 1lb of your body weight. It’s lower than protein intake because fat produces more calories than the same amount of protein.
As you know, the Carnivore Diet tries to switch the body’s energy source from carbohydrates to fat, so the carbohydrate levels must be very low to help the body enter the state of ketosis.
The carb intake couldn’t be zero because there are trace carbohydrates in the foods you consume on a Carnivore Diet. However, the main focus is to keep the level of carbohydrates below 5 grams per day.
To keep the carbohydrate intake in the limited range, you can consume various animal-based foods.
The amount of Carnivore Diet kcal shown in the Carnivore Diet Macro Calculator shows how many calories you need to reach your ideal weight based on your activity level and other factors.
Generally, women can consume 1600-2000 calories daily, and men can consume 2000-3200 calories daily.
On the Carnivore Diet, you can consume:
To include these foods on a Carnivore Diet, you need a balanced meal plan. You can use the sample 1-day Carnivore Diet meal plan provided below.
Here’s a sample 1-day Carnivore Diet meal plan:
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snack
Of course, the meal plan and portion size should be personalized based on your health conditions and activity level. This can be a bit overwhelming at first, especially for beginners. But no worries, as the Go Carnivore experts are here to help you reach your health and fitness goals.
If you’re looking for an expert guide on the Carnivore Diet, check out the Go Carnivore app, the world's first Carnivore app designed to help you reach your health goals with a supportive community.
With access to Carnivore doctors, meal plans, challenges, recipes, and tools, you'll have everything you need to start and stay on a Carnivore Diet.
Also, unlock 200 hours of support from experts and nutritionists and join monthly giveaways to stay inspired on your journey to better health.
