Body Recomposition Female Macro Calculator
This calculator is designed specifically for women over 40 pursuing body recomposition—building lean muscle while reducing fat. By entering a few key details, you’ll get a personalized macro breakdown of protein, carbs, and fats to support strength, hormonal health, and a more defined, feminine physique—without the muscle loss often seen in traditional weight loss plans.
What Is a Female Macro Calculator for Body Recomposition?
The female macro calculator for body recomposition is a digital tool that determines your ideal dietary requirement to lose fat and gain muscle. The calculator provides you with the exact amounts of carbohydrates, protein, and fats required to transform your body, sustain energy levels, and maintain optimal health.
Why Women Need a Macro Calculator for Body Recomposition
Body recomposition can be achieved by combining resistance training, cardio, and correct nutrition. However, without a definitive plan or specific macronutrient targets, it can be difficult to know if you are on track to achieving your goals.
Calculating exact macronutrients provides you with a precise nutritional goal to achieve your goals for building muscle and burning fat while meeting the nutritional needs to balance energy and hormone levels.
How to Use the Body Recomposition Macro Calculator
- Select Metric Or Imperial Units: Select the unit you wish your height and weight to be displayed.
- Input Height, Weight, Age, And Activity Level: Influence your basal metabolic rate, determining your macronutrient ratios for fat loss.
- Choose Your Goal As "Body Recomposition": Changes the macro distribution based on your health and fitness goal. Fat loss and muscle gain for example encourage protein intake, while those wanting to maintain their weight are recommended a macronutrient balance.
- Specify Training Intensity And Resistance Training Frequency: Influences carbohydrate and protein requirements as these macros are needed for energy and building and preserving muscle.
- Click Calculate To Receive Your Macro Targets Aligned With Recomposition: Using the information provided it formulates ideal macronutrients for body recomposition.
What Are Macros?
Macronutrients refer to carbohydrates, proteins, and fats which are vital for many of our body’s functions. Each has a unique biochemical role in supporting physiological processes.
Below, we discuss each macronutrient and role, and for an in-depth look, read
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are an important energy source containing 4 calories (kcal) per gram. They are shown to make up 45–65% of our total calorie intake during a standard diet, and 40–45% during body recomposition.
Protein
Protein is essential for preserving and building muscle. Containing 4 kcal per gram, it makes up 10–35% of our daily calorie intake for a standard diet which is increased to 30–35%. Protein intake is elevated during body recomposition as it is required to maintain a positive muscle protein balance to build and preserve muscle. Additionally, it is proven to increase satiety, and thermogenesis, which is when the body burns energy to process food.
Fats
Fats are vital for supporting organs and absorbing nutrients. They make up approximately 20–35% of our daily calorie intake for the traditional diet, with requirements increasing to 30–40% for body recomposition. Fats contain 9 kcal per gram, making them a denser energy source than both carbohydrates and protein.
Fats can easily be divided into two different categories: unhealthy fats, and healthy fats. Unhealthy fats refer to trans and saturated fats that can be found in unprocessed foods and are associated with coronary heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
Healthy fats known as unsaturated fats (monosaturated and polyunsaturated) on the other hand are shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and lower bad cholesterol while supporting cell health and immune function.
Why Counting Macros Helps with Recomposition
Nutrition and resistance training are two of the biggest influences on body recomposition. As mentioned, body comp requires a slight decrease in carbohydrate intake, which is compensated with increases in protein and fat.
While eating sufficient protein and resistance training can contribute to changes in body composition, the lack of specificity means there is limited control over nutrition, which can lead to mixed results.
Counting macros on the other hand allows for greater control, which is vital during body recomposition. It provides precise control, allowing macros to be manipulated which increases the chances of successfully achieving your body recomposition goals. For a closer look at macro counting, check out how to count macros for women.
Macros vs. Calories: What's the Difference?
Calories and macronutrients are vital components in nutrition, with both serving unique roles. Calories represent the total energy in food, while macronutrients show the total number of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.
Here we compare two foods, both 100 grams but with different macronutrient compositions
Chicken breast and salmon are both excellent foods for a body recomposition with completely different macronutrient compositions.
There is a 43 kcal difference between the chicken breast and salmon which comes from salmon’s higher fat content. Even though these are healthy fats, they lead to an increase in total calories.
While these are both excellent nutrient-dense foods, these small differences will need to be considered when tracking your daily macro intake. For a better understanding, read counting macros vs calories.
Best Foods for Macro Tracking During Recomposition
Tracking your macronutrients can be simplified by choosing the correct food. Nutrition apps can streamline the tracking process. However, you still must make a conscious effort to eat a balanced diet to meet your daily requirements.
Below, we categorized carbohydrates, protein, and fats, and vitamins and minerals to highlight the best foods for easy macro counting.
Protein
Fats
Carbohydrates
Best Macro Ratios by Goal
Adjusting your macronutrients is an effective tool for achieving your body's recomposition goals. Below we list the best macro ratio and calorie intake by goal.
Fat Loss
- Calorie Intake: Calorie Deficit (consume fewer calories than your basal metabolic rate)
- Carbohydrates: 40–45% of daily calorie intake
- Protein: 30–35% of daily calorie intake
- Fats: 25–30% of daily calorie intake
Maintain Weight
- Calorie Intake: Maintenance (consume calories equal to your basal metabolic rate)
- Carbohydrates: 55–60% of daily calorie intake
- Protein: 30–35% of daily calorie intake
- Fats: 15–20% of daily calorie intake
Building Muscle
- Calorie Intake: Calorie Surplus (consuming more than your basal metabolic rate)
- Carbohydrates: 45–45% of daily calorie intake
- Protein: 25–30% of daily calorie intake
- Fats: 20–30% of daily calorie intake
As you can see, macronutrient ratios and calorie intake influence play a role in achieving your fitness goals. For fat loss, a calorie deficit is needed to burn fat. However, protein intake must also be increased to preserve muscle mass.
To maintain weight, calorie intake must be equal to energy expenditure and macros follow a traditional breakdown. Meanwhile, building muscle requires a surplus of calories and a focus on protein intake.
For more information on the best macros by goals, read the following resources:
- Best Macros for Women’s Weight Loss
- Macros for Muscle Gain (Women)
- Best Macros for Maintaining Weight (Female)
Best Macro Ratios by Age
As the body ages it undergoes physiological changes. For example, from the age of 20, energy expenditure reportedly declines by 1–2% per decade due to a decrease in fat-free mass, and muscle mass is shown to decrease by 3–8% per decade after 30. This ultimately led to a reduction in bone mineral density due to decreased mechanical stimulus from gravity and muscle contractions.
Fortunately, these concerns can be addressed through macronutrient intake and correct nutrition. To find out more about how macronutrient ratios affect age, check out these excellent resources:
How Macros Support Muscle Retention in Menopause
Retaining muscle can be challenging during menopause. Estrogen is shown to reduce muscle protein breakdown. However, when estrogen levels decrease during menopause, muscle retention can be harder.
Studies show that muscles are constantly synthesized and breaking down protein. Here a positive protein balance is required to maintain muscle mass. Macronutrient tracking and an increase in protein intake ensure daily protein requirements are met to maintain a positive net protein balance, leading to greater muscle retention.
How to Track Your Macros for Body Recomp
The benefits of tracking macros can be seen with countless body recomposition success stories. While exercise does provide a significant stimulus to promote muscle growth, macronutrient manipulation and calorie control are what burn body fat, and reveal a lean muscular physique.
Fortunately, tracking macros has never been easier, with hundreds of nutrition apps offering nutrition-tracking capabilities. Complete with macronutrient and calorie tracking interfaces and extensive food databases, they streamline the process.
Sources
- Espinosa-Salas, S. & Gonzalez-Arias, M., 2023. Nutrition: Macronutrient Intake, Imbalances, and Interventions. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594226/
- Halton, T.L. and Hu, F.B., 2004. The effects of high protein diets on thermogenesis, satiety and weight loss: a critical review. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 23(5), pp.373–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2004.10719381. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15466943/
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