How to build a diet: from calories to macros, step by step

Building a diet isn't about cutting out everything you like — it's about organizing how much and what you eat to reach your goal. The process has three steps: calories, macros and meals.

Step 1: set your calories

Everything starts with your daily calorie total. There's a number that maintains your weight (maintenance). From there:

• To gain muscle: eat about 10% above maintenance.
• To lose fat: eat about 15 to 20% below (a calorie deficit).

A calorie calculator estimates that number from your weight, height, age and routine.

Step 2: split the macronutrients

With your calories set, split them across protein, carbs and fat:

• Protein: 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg of body weight. It's the most important macro for keeping and building muscle.
• Fat: 0.8 to 1 g per kg.
• Carbs: the rest of your calories. It's your main training fuel.

Step 3: build your meals

Spread the macros across the meals that fit your routine. There's no magic number of meals — 3 or 5, what matters is hitting your daily total.

Example day

• Breakfast: eggs, oats and a piece of fruit
• Lunch: rice, beans, chicken and salad
• Snack: yogurt with whey
• Dinner: potato, meat and vegetables

Common mistakes

• Cutting calories too hard and not being able to sustain it
• Forgetting about protein
• Thinking "healthy" means "eat as much as you want"

Conclusion

A good diet is one you can follow. Start with calories, make sure you get your protein, and adjust over the weeks. In Health & Lifts, you count calories by search or barcode, and Dumbell helps you build a plan with the right macros for your goal.