Cutting: Calories & Macros
A focused, time-bound cut to strip fat while protecting hard-earned muscle.
Example TDEE
2,740 kcal
Target
1,990 kcal
Protein
176 g
The strategy for cutting
Cutting comes down to one decision: how far to set your calories from maintenance. To cutting, aim for a deficit of about 750 calories below your TDEE. Anything more aggressive risks losing muscle (when cutting) or piling on fat (when bulking); anything too gentle and progress stalls. The sweet spot is a change you barely notice day to day but that adds up over weeks.
Macros do the fine-tuning. Protein stays high at around 2.2g per kilogram of body weight to protect or build muscle. Fat sits near 25% of calories to keep hormones healthy. Whatever calories are left go to carbohydrates, your main training fuel. In our worked example (a moderately active 30-year-old, 80 kg), that lands at 176g protein, 198g carbs and 55g fat on roughly 1,990 calories.
Get your own personal numbers by entering your details on the home page calculator, then track your weight trend and adjust every couple of weeks.
Why Cutting might be right for you
Cutting is a focused, time-bound fat loss phase — typically 8 to 16 weeks — not a forever diet. Unlike casual weight loss, cutting assumes you already have muscle you want to protect at all costs, so protein stays high (2.0 to 2.4g per kg) and the deficit is structured around training to keep performance from falling off a cliff. Without your TDEE as a starting point, you're just hoping.
Common mistakes people make
Cutting indefinitely with no end date — a cut should have a hard stop or it becomes a slow march to burnout. Also: slashing carbs too low for too long, which tanks training intensity, which leads to muscle loss, which completely defeats the purpose. And the classic: the post-cut rebound binge that undoes 12 weeks of disciplined work in 2 reckless weeks.
A real example
James ran a 12-week cut from 195 to 178 lbs. He set his calories at 500 below his TDEE, kept protein locked at 200g, and adjusted carbs down gradually only when fat loss stalled for 2+ weeks. He lost 17 lbs, his bench only dropped 10 lbs, and he transitioned smoothly to maintenance with a 2-week reverse diet. No binge, no rebound, no existential crisis.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories for cutting?
Start from your TDEE, then aim for a deficit of about 750 calories below your TDEE. In our example, a TDEE of 2,740 calories becomes a target of about 1,990 calories a day. Calculate your own TDEE on the home page first.
What macros work best for cutting?
For this goal we suggest about 2.2g of protein per kg of body weight, 25% of calories from fat, and the rest from carbs. In the example that's 176g protein, 198g carbs and 55g fat.
How fast will I see results with cutting?
~0.75 kg / 1.5 lb a week. Progress is rarely linear — weigh in a few times a week, average it, and adjust calories every 2–4 weeks based on the trend rather than any single day.
How fast will I lose weight on cutting?
With a 750-calorie daily deficit, expect to lose about 1.5 lb per week (roughly 0.68 kg). A pound of body fat is about 3,500 calories, so 750 x 7 = 5,250 weekly deficit. Real results take consistency — expect visible changes in 4–6 weeks, not days. Track with weekly averages, not daily weigh-ins.
What if cutting isn't working for me?
First, audit your tracking — most people underestimate what they eat by 20–30% without realizing it. Weigh and log everything for one week to calibrate. Second, confirm you are using your real TDEE, not a generic number. If the scale has not moved in 3+ weeks despite honest tracking, adjust by 200–300 calories in the right direction and give it 2 more weeks before changing course again. Sleep, stress, and daily non-exercise movement (NEAT) also have a bigger impact than most people think — fix those before slashing calories further.
Should I change my macros when doing cutting?
Protein is the anchor — keep it at 2.2g per kg of body weight regardless of calorie adjustments. Fat should stay above about 25% of total calories to support hormone function. The main lever for adjusting your intake is carbohydrates: add or remove 50–100g of carbs to shift total calories without touching your protein and fat floors. For cutting, that means about 198g carbs at 1,990 calories — adjust from there based on your results.
How to combine cutting with exercise?
When eating in a deficit for cutting, make resistance training your priority at 3–4 sessions a week to preserve muscle. Walking 8,000–12,000 steps daily adds meaningful calorie burn without the hunger spike that intense cardio can trigger. Keep high-intensity conditioning to 1–2 short sessions a week — too much while cutting risks burnout, poor recovery, and muscle loss.