The Best Macros for Fat Loss: Protein First, Then Everything Else
By Ben Nelson · July 10, 2026 · 8 min read
Keto says cut the carbs. Old-school bodybuilding says cut the fat. The research says they're both missing the point: protein is the macro that decides whether you lose fat or just lose weight. Here's how to set all three numbers.
July 10, 2026 | Ben Nelson, Founder of ShredCoach
Macro debates have fueled twenty years of diet-industry warfare — keto versus low-fat, carnivore versus plant-based. Meanwhile, the actual research keeps saying something boring: once calories and protein are matched, fat loss looks remarkably similar across all of them.
That's good news. It means the "best" macros aren't a religion — they're a short priority list. Here it is, in the order that matters.
Priority 1: Protein — the Non-Negotiable
While you're cutting, your body has to choose what to burn: fat or muscle. High protein plus resistance training is how you force it to choose fat. It also happens to be the most filling macro per calorie, which matters enormously when calories are scarce.
The target: 0.8-1 gram per pound of goal bodyweight, every day. Cutting toward 190 lbs like I was? That's 150-190g of protein daily. Aiming for 140? Then 115-140g is your range.
If that sounds like a lot, it is — most people cutting on "vibes" eat half that, and a chunk of the weight they lose is muscle. That's how people end up lighter but not leaner, which is the great tragedy of dieting: all that hunger, and the mirror barely changed.
Priority 2: Fat — the Floor
Dietary fat isn't optional. It's the raw material for your hormones — including the ones that regulate hunger, mood, and (for everyone) sex hormones that already take a hit during long cuts.
The floor: about 0.3 grams per pound of bodyweight. For most people cutting, that's 50-80g a day. You can go higher if you prefer fattier foods, but going much lower for weeks is how cuts start producing brain fog, joint aches, and a general sense that life is gray.
Priority 3: Carbs — Whatever's Left
After protein and fat are set, carbs fill the remaining calories. On my 2,500-calorie cut at ~190g protein and ~70g fat, that left roughly 180g of carbs — and I spent them where they earn the most: around training and at dinner.
This is the part the diet wars get wrong. Carbs aren't fattening by themselves — excess calories are. If you train hard, carbs make the training better, and the training is what protects the muscle. If you're mostly sedentary, you'll simply feel better giving a few more of those calories to fat instead. Both work. Personal preference is a legitimate nutrition strategy.
A Worked Example
Take that 2,500-calorie target from my own cut:
• Protein: 190g → 760 calories • Fat: 70g → 630 calories • Carbs: the remaining ~1,110 calories → ~275g... adjusted down in practice to ~180g because I ran higher fat. The point: protein stayed fixed; the other two flexed around my preferences.
Your numbers will differ because your calories differ. The structure — protein locked, fat floored, carbs flexible — is the part that transfers.
What Actually Decides Success
Hitting your macros 90% of the time for four months beats hitting them 100% for three weeks and quitting. So pick ratios you can live with: if you love bread, don't go keto; if you love butter, don't go low-fat. The best macro split has always been the one you'll still be following in November.
ShredCoach sets these targets for you from your goal weight and preferences, then tracks them from photos and quick logs — so the math runs in the background while you just eat.
Download ShredCoach on the App Store
— Ben