The skinny guy’s bulk-up guide: count macros, not calories

Written by Martin Ebner
Updated Sept 2026

“Count macros, not calories” sounds as though they are two different jobs. They are not. Protein, carbohydrate and fat contain the calories. Counting macros simply tells you where those calories came from.

I find macros useful for skinny clients because “eat more” is too vague. If your weight is not moving, the numbers show whether protein is already covered and where the easiest extra food can go.

You do not need a perfect ratio. You need a sensible starting point, a few weeks of consistency and a way to adjust it without rebuilding your life around an app.

BEGIN WITH MAINTENANCE

Your maintenance intake is the amount that keeps your average bodyweight roughly stable. A calculator can estimate it, but your own food and weight records will tell you more.

I would track five ordinary days, including a weekend if weekends look different. These should be normal days, not the five cleanest days you can produce. Weigh yourself on three mornings during the same week, after the loo and before breakfast, then use the average.

If you have been eating like that for a while and your average weight is stable, you have a workable estimate of maintenance.

Add somewhere around 200 to 300 calories a day. That could be an extra bowl of yoghurt and granola, a sandwich, or larger carbohydrate portions at two meals.

Keep that change in place for two or three weeks before adjusting it again. Day-to-day scale changes are mostly water, food and digestion. The weekly trend is what matters.

SET PROTEIN FIRST

A daily protein intake close to 1.6 grams per kilo is a useful target when you strength train. At 80 kilos, that comes to roughly 130 grams across the day.

That could be thirty grams at breakfast, lunch and dinner, then another twenty to forty from a snack or shake. The exact distribution matters less than reaching a useful total consistently.

Chicken, turkey, lean beef, fish, eggs, Greek yoghurt, tofu, tempeh and protein powder all count. Nuts and beans contain protein too, but they also bring considerably more fat or carbohydrate. That does not make them bad foods. It means they do a different job on the plate.

Once protein is covered, leave it alone. If your calories need to increase, you do not need to keep turning the protein up. It is expensive and usually unnecessary.

GIVE FAT ENOUGH ROOM

Fat supports your health, makes food enjoyable and helps a small appetite reach a useful calorie intake. It also contains nine calories per gram, compared with four in protein and carbohydrate, so a casual pour of oil can move the total quickly.

Around 25 to 30% of daily calories is a practical starting range. That sits comfortably inside the broad adult reference range and leaves plenty of room for carbohydrate. It is not a special muscle-building percentage.

Olive oil, nuts, seeds, nut butter, avocado, eggs, cheese and oily fish are all useful. Measure the oil at least once. You do not need to weigh it forever, but it is worth learning what a tablespoon actually looks like.

CARBOHYDRATES TAKE THE REST

Once protein and fat are covered, carbohydrates fill the remaining calories. For most skinny men training to build muscle, this will probably be the largest macro.

Rice, oats, potatoes, pasta, bread, couscous, fruit and legumes are the useful staples. They are generally easier to eat in larger amounts than another chicken breast, and they support the work you are doing in the gym.

Carbohydrates do not build muscle by themselves. Progressive strength training still has to provide the reason for your body to adapt. Carbohydrates are simply the most practical place to put the remaining energy for many people.

A WORKED EXAMPLE

Take an 80-kilo man starting on 2,800 calories. This is an example, not a recommendation for every 80-kilo man.

Protein: 130 grams gives roughly 520 calories.

Fat: 80 grams gives roughly 720 calories, just over a quarter of the daily total.

Carbohydrate: the remaining 1,560 calories gives roughly 390 grams.

That may look like a lot of carbohydrate on paper. Across four meals it is much less dramatic. Oats and fruit at breakfast, rice at lunch, bread or yoghurt and granola around training, then potatoes or pasta at dinner will do most of it.

If 2,800 calories does not match your maintenance and activity, the example does not match you. Keep the method and change the starting total.

TURN THE NUMBERS INTO FOOD

Macros are useful only when they become meals you would willingly eat.

Build three or four repeatable meals around a protein source, a carbohydrate, fruit or vegetables and some fat. A shake or snack can close the remaining gap. Every plate does not need to be mathematically perfect.

The muscle-building diet plan for skinny men turns this method into a practical day of eating and a shopping list.

If appetite is the main difficulty, use my list of high calorie foods that help skinny guys build muscle. Add two useful foods to what you already eat rather than attempting a completely new diet on Monday.

HOW ACCURATE DO YOU NEED TO BE?

Not very, once you have learned the portions.

An app can be useful for a week or two if you have never tracked before. I would weigh calorie-dense foods and dry grains because guessing those badly can move the day by hundreds of calories. Whether a tomato weighs 118 or 132 grams does not matter.

After that, repeating meals makes most of the counting unnecessary. You will know roughly what your breakfast contains because you have made the same one twenty times.

Calorie counting should teach you something. It should not become a permanent relationship with your phone. If tracking makes you anxious or rigid around food, stop. Regular meals and measured portion changes can do the same job without the numbers.

WHEN TO CHANGE THE MACROS

Give yourself at least two weeks of consistent averages. If bodyweight and gym performance remain unchanged, raise your daily intake by about 150 to 200 calories. Carbohydrate is usually the easiest place to do it. Add oats, rice, bread, potatoes or fruit.

If your weight is increasing and your training log is moving, leave everything alone.

If your weight is increasing quickly but your strength is not, remove a small amount from carbohydrate or fat. Do not cut protein or overhaul the whole diet. One adjustment is enough.

The hardgainer workout and diet guide puts the numbers beside a simple two-session training structure. Food supports the work. It cannot replace it.

THE BIT WORTH REMEMBERING

Your total calorie intake largely determines whether your weight rises, falls or stays roughly the same. Macros tell you where those calories come from. Training gives your body a reason to use the extra energy for recovery and muscle growth.

Set protein. Give fat enough room. Let carbohydrates take the rest. Follow the trend for a few weeks, then make one small change.

That is the whole method. The clever part is leaving it alone long enough to work.

I write all about training, food and the bits around them in my newsletter, Check It Oot. Once or twice a month, straight to your inbox.

Cheers, Martin