Guide
How to track macros: a simple guide with real numbers
What are macros?
"Macros" is short for macronutrients, the three nutrients that bring almost all the energy in food: protein, carbohydrates and fat. Calories tell you how much energy a meal holds; macros tell you what that energy is made of.
| Macro | Energy per gram | Where you find plenty of it |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 4 kcal | Chicken, fish, eggs, yogurt, cheese, lentils, beans |
| Carbohydrates | 4 kcal | Bread, rice, bulgur, pasta, potatoes, fruit |
| Fat | 9 kcal | Olive oil, butter, nuts, tahini, cheese |
Because fat carries more than twice the energy per gram, a spoon of olive oil (884 kcal per 100 g) moves a plate's calories much more than a spoon of rice. That's no reason to avoid it, just a reason to count it.
How to calculate your macros
A macro calculator works in three steps:
- Start from your calorie target. It comes from your resting energy, activity level and goal; the calorie calculator does this part.
- Choose a split. Doydum uses 30/40/30 (protein/carbs/fat) to lose, 25/45/30 to keep and 25/50/25 to gain.
- Turn shares into grams. Protein and carbs: kcal ÷ 4. Fat: kcal ÷ 9.
Here's one example person under each goal: a 35-year-old man, 180 cm, 90 kg and lightly active, who needs about 2,551 kcal a day.
| Goal | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lose 0.5 kg a week (30/40/30) | 2,001 kcal | 150 g | 200 g | 67 g |
| Keep (25/45/30) | 2,551 kcal | 159 g | 287 g | 85 g |
| Gain 0.5 kg a week (25/50/25) | 3,101 kcal | 194 g | 388 g | 86 g |
Check the first row yourself: 30% of 2,001 is about 600 kcal, and 600 ÷ 4 = 150 g of protein. These are estimates from a formula, not a prescription, and needs differ. Try your own numbers here:
Macros for weight loss: why protein gets a bigger share
When you eat a little less overall, every gram has to work a little harder. That's why Doydum gives protein a bigger share when you're losing: 30% instead of 25%.
The arithmetic shows why. At 25%, dropping from 2,551 to 2,001 kcal would shrink protein from 159 g to 125 g. At 30% it stays at 150 g, close to where it was, and carbs make most of the room instead.
Fat stays at 30% of calories, in line with the WHO's healthy diet advice to keep total fat under about 30% of energy. The same fact sheet builds meals around vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts and whole grains, which fit any split.
No split is magic. Over time, your overall calories do most of the work on the scale; the split shapes how your meals feel and what they're made of. If a doctor or registered dietitian has given you different targets for a medical reason, follow theirs.
How much protein do I need?
It depends on your body, age, activity and goals, which is why online calculators give such different answers. Doydum keeps it simple: protein is a share of your calories, so it rises and falls with your plan.
- In the example above, 150 g a day works out to about 1.7 g per kg of body weight.
- Someone with a lower calorie target gets proportionally fewer grams.
- For a reference value based on your own age, sex and size, the USDA DRI calculator is built for health professionals, and anyone can use it.
Spreading protein across the day is usually easier than catching up at dinner: eggs or yogurt at breakfast, then a portion of chicken, fish, meatballs or legumes at lunch and dinner. If you have kidney disease or another medical condition, are pregnant, or are under 18, ask a doctor or registered dietitian before raising your protein.
High-protein foods, Turkish and everyday
Protein per 100 g from our calorie chart, so you can compare like with like:
| Food | Protein | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, grilled | 31 g | 165 kcal |
| Turkey breast, roasted | 29 g | 135 kcal |
| Tuna, canned in water | 25.5 g | 116 kcal |
| Chicken shish kebab (tavuk şiş) | 25 g | 150 kcal |
| Sea bass, grilled | 24 g | 124 kcal |
| Grilled meatballs (köfte) | 18 g | 230 kcal |
| White cheese (beyaz peynir) | 14 g | 264 kcal |
| Egg, boiled | 12.6 g | 155 kcal |
| Cottage cheese (lor) | 11 g | 98 kcal |
| Green lentils, boiled | 9 g | 116 kcal |
| Greek yogurt (süzme yoğurt) | 9 g | 97 kcal |
| Chickpeas, boiled | 8.9 g | 164 kcal |
| Red lentil soup | 3 g | 55 kcal |
A few things stand out. Grilled chicken breast and tuna pack a lot of protein into few calories. Lor and süzme yoğurt are easy breakfast wins. Green lentils and chickpeas bring protein and fill a plate generously for their calories. And a 250 g bowl of red lentil soup adds about 7.5 g, which is why soup alone rarely covers a meal's protein.
Here's how a day adds up: two boiled eggs at breakfast (100 g, 12.6 g protein), a 150 g chicken shish kebab at lunch (37.5 g), a 250 g bowl of white bean stew at dinner (15 g) and 150 g of süzme yoğurt on the side (13.5 g). That's 78.6 g before bread, cheese and everything else. Browse more in the calorie chart.
How to track macros day to day
- Log as you go. A photo before you eat takes seconds; rebuilding a whole day from memory at bedtime rarely works.
- Get the portion roughly right. Grams matter, decimals don't. A kitchen scale for a week or two trains your eye.
- Watch protein first. When protein is on track, carbs and fat tend to fall into place within your calories.
- Think in weeks. A day high in carbs and low in protein is just a day. Look for patterns.
- Remember what's in the pan. Oil, butter and sauces are where fat hides, so add them to the dish.
How Doydum shows macros per item and per day
Every way of logging in Doydum gives you the same four numbers per item: calories, protein, carbs and fat.
- Photo: the AI names each item on the plate with its grams, calories, protein, carbs and fat, plus a confidence. It's an estimate, so you review and edit every item before saving. More in our guide to the AI calorie counter.
- Barcode: packaged foods come with values per 100 g from Open Food Facts, scaled to your portion. See how barcode scanning works.
- Type it: 168 everyday foods, Turkish and international, plus your recents, favourites and your own foods, with a quantity dial in grams or servings.
Through the day the totals add up, so you can see your protein, carbs and fat so far. And when a plate is protein-heavy, Doy celebrates with a little flex once he has read it. You can watch him read a plate on our home page.
How to track macros in Doydum
- Set your goal Choose lose, keep or gain when you build your plan. Your plan splits your calories into protein, carbs and fat grams for that goal.
- Snap or scan a meal Take a photo of your plate or scan a barcode. Each item arrives with grams, calories, protein, carbs and fat.
- Check every item Before saving, review each item and fix anything that looks off, such as the grams.
- Type what has no photo Search 168 everyday foods, your recents and your favourites, then set the amount in grams or servings.
- Read the day's totals Protein, carbs and fat add up as you log, so you can see what the next meal could bring.
Questions people ask
Do I need to hit my macros exactly?
No. Treat your grams as a target zone, not a pass mark. What matters more is being roughly on track with calories and protein across the week. A day that runs high in carbs or low in protein is just one day; the pattern over weeks is what you are shaping.
What macro split should I use to lose weight?
Doydum uses 30% protein, 40% carbs and 30% fat when you are losing, because a bigger protein share keeps your protein grams from shrinking along with your calories. There is no single best split for everyone. If a doctor or dietitian has given you different numbers, use theirs.
How much protein is in an egg?
A boiled egg has 12.6 g of protein per 100 g, so a 50 g egg gives about 6.3 g. Two eggs at breakfast are a solid start towards a daily protein target, alongside yogurt, cheese, legumes, fish or chicken later in the day.
Do macros matter if I already count calories?
Calories set the size of your day; macros set what it is made of. Two days with the same calories can look very different, one built around protein, vegetables and grains, another mostly around snacks. If you only want to count calories, that is fine: the macros are simply there on every item when you want them.