Macros, Macros, Macros

You hear more and more people these days talking about ‘macros’. So what are macros? Macronutrients (macros) are fats, carbohydrates (carbs) and proteins. Your daily calories are made of these macros. Each day, it is recommended that you get a certain amount of each of these macros for a healthy lifestyle. Every person is different so every person will have different macros. Your personal daily macros depend on a lot of different factors; height, weight, sex, lifestyle, daily activity level, goals and more.  

So, how do you figure out your macros?

Carbs have 4 calories per gram. It is recommended that 30-45% of your daily caloric intake should come from carb sources. Carbs are a very hot topic and a lot of time deemed as “bad” and they will make you gain weight. Carbs are your body’s preferred source of energy and if you consume the correct amount of carbs that work for you, your body will thrive. Again, every person is different depending on many factors so some may be able to consume 300g of carbs on a daily basis while others may only be able to consume 120g to maintain their current weight.  Now if you are looking to lose or gain weight, you would want to adjust your carb intake accordingly.

Fats have 9 calories per gram. It is recommended that 20-35% of your daily caloric intake should come from fat sources. There are different types of fats like trans fats, saturated fats, unsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats and so on. When you count macros, a fat is a fat. It doesn’t matter if it is healthy or fat or not. Should you be consuming 35% of those calories from trans fats? Absolutely not. I recommend you get your fats from the “UN” fats; unsaturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated (olive oils, avocados, nuts, eggs). Again, your personal daily intake of fats depends on your body (height, weight, sex, etc).

Protein has 4 calories per gram. It is recommended that 25-40% of your daily caloric intake should come from protein sources. The amount of protein one should consume daily is also a debated topic. The amount varies from person to person depending on different factors.  Proteins are the building blocks of your body that make up and support muscles, tendons, organs, skin, hormones and many other important things to help your body function properly so you want to make sure you are getting an adequate amount daily. 

The carbs, fats, and proteins make up your daily calories. For example, let's say we’re following a 2000 calorie diet with a 40/30/30 macro split (40% carbs, 30% fats, and 30% protein).

2000 * .40= 800cal      800/4=200g carbs

2000 * .30= 600cal      600/9=67g fats

2000 * .30=600cal       600/4=150g proteins

Everyone will have different macro splits based on their body composition and fitness goals. That is what I am here for: to do all the math for you, to coach you along the way, and to make adjustments as needed. Following a macro based diet is food freedom, in my opinion. I use the word ‘diet’ loosely because you do not need to restrict any foods. You can still have pizza and ice cream everyday if you want to, you just have to count them into your macro count. I actually have pizza every Friday and I am still hitting my goals! I wouldn’t eat pizza everyday because I like to get the most bang for my buck. What I mean by that, is let's say you order a large ‘The Works’ pizza from Papa John’s. For two pieces, there are 28g fats, 78g carbs, and 26g protein. If you’re following the 2000 calories diet with 40/30/30 macro split, you have 39g fats, 122g carbs, and 124g protein left for the day. That’s still a lot of food left for the day, but you could be eating more healthful food for the grams instead of those two pieces of pizza. 

If you count macros, you will learn and see what portion sizes actually are and then eventually you’ll get good at eyeballing servings of food so you won’t overeat or undereat. It may sound crazy, but sometimes people don’t see their fat loss results they want because they aren’t eating ENOUGH food. When you are consistently consuming the correct amount of macros that work for your body and lifestyle, your body will thrive. Think about driving a car. Let’s say the oil is the fat, the gas is the carbs and the human is the protein. All three of those components are required for the car to operate. You need the oil to keep the engine’s parts moving properly, the gas for the car to run, and the human to operate the car. Macros work the same way in the body! This method is a freestyle way to enjoy the foods you love while counting calories in a healthy way, resulting in the perfect balance.