Understanding and Calculating Macros
Welcome to day 2. Today we will be discussing and calculating your macros. We are going to do it manually because it isn’t very hard to do.
First of all, let’s discuss the importance of Macros.
When you hear about a diet: Keto, Low carb, high protein, lean diet, etc… the only difference between any of them is the macronutrient (macro) profile. Keto is fat dominant. Low carb is exactly that low carboyhydrates. High protein is protein dominant. And lean means it’s low fat. Whether you want to build muscle, lose weight, or burn pure fat your macro profile will be based on your caloric intake. We calculated this on day 1 of the Fitness for Life Program.
What are macros:
For the sake of our 5 day plan, let’s keep it simple. There are more than 3 macros but the ones we care about are carbs, proteins, and fats. Even though alcohol is a macro and in red wine has health benefits, we’ll only use it as a caloric extra and we’ll treat it like a supplement. Supplements are in day 4.
Macros simply put have calories. Carbs and protein carry 4 calories per gram. Fat carries 9 calories per gram. Yes fats have more than twice as many calories as carbs and protein but do not overthink things and think it’s a bad thing. We’ll use these known facts to create our macro profile.
Carbs usually are the ones that provide microminerals. That’s your vitamins. They also provide glycogen which is our main source of energy for us to perform muscular movements. Proteins play a very significant role in our body’s functions but for us we need it for muscle protein synthesis. For us we’ll limit our love for protein as a tool to build and recover muscles. Fats also play major roles in our body’s function especially in hormonal balance and are critical to our health and fitness success.
How we approach macros and nutrition programming:
A complete nutrition plan has all 3 macros in their efficient and proper amount. With that said, if you have diabetes or some other underlying condition that prevents you from consuming a macro that is a different ball game for which you should consult with a licensed nutritionist or dietitian.
Per my years of trial and error I’ve found this to be the best way to calculate your macro profile:
On day 1 we figured out how many calories you should be consuming per day based on your ideal body type and goal. You need this number right now.
We are going to calculate our macro profile in the following steps:
Step 1 – Calculating protein intake
What is your ideal body type weight? That is how much protein I want you to consume.
Let me give you an example: a 5’4 woman whose ideal body type is athletic muscular, using the chart on Day 1, her ideal body weight is 145 lbs. That’s her protein macro profile. She will be trying to consume 145 grams of protein per day.
Step 2: Calculating carb intake
Multiply your ideal weight, the same number in step 1, and multiply that by 1.15 for women and 1.5 for men. That is your max carb intake. Just a reminder, this is an estimate. Some people because they are leaner and train much more intense and longer can eat more. At that point this whole thing becomes customized.
So that same woman we discussed in step 1, her maximum carb intake is 145 x 1.15 = 166.75 grams. Round that up to 167 grams. As long as she doesn’t exceed this number she will be okay.
Step 3: Calculating Fat intake
Ok, using the same example, the woman in step 1 needs to consume 145 grams of protein per day and 167 grams of carbs per day. MAXIMALLY. Using these numbers we can calculate her total fat intake.
The first thing we need is to add the carbs and protein and then multiply by 4. This will tell us our maximum calorie intake from these macros. In this example it’s 145 + 167 = 312 —-> 312 x 4 = 1,248 calories.
Her Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), using the day 1 formula (I prefer if you get yourself an activity tracker or smart watch that gives you an average output based on your heart rate) is…
145 x 11 = 1,595 calories.
We then subtract BMR – Calories from Carbs and Protein and this is how many calories we will be getting from fats. This equals to 1,595 – 1,248 = 347 calories.
In order to get the grams of fat that our example can consume we divide 347 by 9. This equals to 347/9 = 38.5 grams. Round that up to 39 grams.
Creating the Macro profile:
In our example, the macro profile for a woman who is 5’4 and wants to have an athletic muscular body is the following:
145 grams of protein, 167 grams of carbs, and 39 grams of fats.
How do you use this information?
If you want to be successful you have to do two things. Weight and input your foods into a calorie tracker such as MyFitnessPal.
It takes minutes and sometimes seconds to do this. You should make it a lifestyle because again it does not take an enormous amount of time or effort.
At the end of the day, when you review your macro breakdown on the app, it’ll tell you how many carbs, proteins, and fat you consumed during the day. If you can get close to the numbers we established in today’s lesson, then we are on point. If not, then we need to keep modifying until we hit the numbers.
This may take some time. My recommendation is eat as many meals as you need to hit your calorie intake and your macros. In general, I recommend the following per meal.
Women: 4 ounces or 115 grams of carbs, 5 ounces or 144 grams of protein, 1.5 ounces or 42 grams of fats. One serving of protein shake per day that has about 25 grams of protein.
Men: 6 ounces or 200 grams of carbs, 6 ounces or 172 grams of protein, 2 ounce or 58 grams of fats. One serving of protein shake per day that has about 25 grams of protein.
This is the weight of the food. It has nothing to do with the grams we calculated to create our macro profile. Do not get confused. All foods have different macro profiles.
Some people prefer to eat less meals per day. You may eat more food per meal. For example, instead of 4 meals per day you can eat 2 and double the amount of food recommended. This will be up to you.
Another note, some foods have different macros. For example, chicken is much more leaner than steak. If you’re vegan, different protein shakes can have higher amount of fats. When you add these foods to your calorie tracker you have to keep track to ensure you are using the right servings. Do not get caught up with what the brand says is a serving. Go off your measurements.
Conclusion:
As you can see this is simple but by no means easy. It’s best to take it step by step. This is a learning process but you will figure it out. Thank yourself and pat yourself on the back for finishing day 2. Tomorrow we’ll be going about how to set up our training program. See you tomorrow!
This is the original article. Check it out:
https://trainercarlos.com/diets/what-are-macros
This another article you may find useful:
https://trainercarlos.com/fitness-education/lose-weight-walking-treadmill