Calories & macronutrients

This week, our expert team of nutritionists answer some of your most commonly asked questions about energy intake and macronutrients. Enjoy!

Q1. How do I know how much energy I need?

At daveynutrition, we use our Performance Nutrition Calculator to calculate your calorie & macronutrient needs based on your goal (fat loss, maintenance or muscle building). Your energy needs will be calculated based on a number of factors such as height, weight, age and physical activity level. If you choose a fat loss goal, a calorie deficit will be calculated for you and if you choose a muscle building goal, a calorie surplus will be calculated for you.

Q2. How can I calculate my macronutrient requirements?

At daveynutrition, we use our Performance Nutrition Calculator to calculate your calorie & macronutrient needs based on your goal (fat loss, maintenance or muscle building). Carbohydrate, protein & fat needs will vary depending on each individual and their goal. Macronutrient intakes such as carbohydrates & fats may also vary depending on a person’s activity level on a certain day. Don’t forget that all of our recipes are nutritionally analysed so you know exactly how many calories are in each one in addition to the macronutrient breakdown per serving. Check out the below image for an example of a nutritionally analysed recipe:

Q3. How much energy do I need to build muscle?

In order to build muscle mass, you will need to consume more calories than you use up day to day. We recommend between a 10-20% calorie surplus on top of maintenance calories in order to build muscle mass. A more severe calorie surplus (such as closer to 20%) will lead to a faster increase in body weight and muscle mass, however, often includes a higher deposition of fat mass. 

The following are options for building muscle mass listed on the performance nutrition calculator:

Maintain: these are the calories needed to keep your current bodyweight the same

Build lean mass: this involves increasing your calorie intake by 10% above your maintenance calories in order to build lean muscle mass

Hard gainer: this involves increasing your calories by 15% above your maintenance in order to build muscle mass more quickly. However, with the ‘hard gainer’ option, there is an increased possibility that more fat mass can also be gained compared to the 10% surplus where some fat mass may be gained in addition to muscle mass. This is a naturally part of increasing calories and is important to consider and be aware of. Future information can be found in this blog.

Q4. I want to lose body fat – how can I do this?

In order to lose body fat, we must be in a calorie deficit. This means that we must consume less calories or use up more calories through movement than we ‘burn’ throughout the day. At daveynutrition, we usually recommend a calorie deficit of between 10-15% in order for fat loss to be sustainable and healthy. This calorie deficit will also minimise the amount of muscle mass lost whilst in a calorie deficit. Future information can be found in this blog.

Q5. Is it possible to build muscle & lose body fat at the same time?

The short answer to that question is yes, in certain circumstances but not all situations! If you are new to resistance training, this may be possible however, as your training age increases, this becomes much more difficult to achieve. For this reason, we suggest choosing one goal and sticking to this for a minimum of 8-10 weeks. Read more about this topic in this article.

Q6. I used the performance nutrition calculator and my energy needs seem quite high – what should I do?

If you have been following a low-calorie diet (eg; 1500-1700kcal) you may notice that the calculator recommends more energy than this for you. At daveynutrition, we do not recommend very low calorie plans. You will see on the website that the lowest calorie plans we have are 1800kcal plans. This is because we believe that any lower than this is unsustainable for the majority of individuals. 

Q7. There are no meal plans to match my calorie requirements – what should I do?

Pick the meal plan which best fits your calorie requirement and customise it to suit you. For example, if you are following a 2450 calorie plan you can choose a 2400 plan or a 2500 plan and simply add or remove items to meet your calorie needs. It is also important to remember that meal plans and calorie targets should be used as a guide & adapted regularly to suit your lifestyle. The How To page has helpful videos to show you how best to customize your meal plans.

Have we missed any questions about energy or macronutrient intake? Let us know by emailing your question to expertsupport@daveynutrition.com.

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