Macros 101
Let’s talk about Macros. Yes I know almost every fitness trainer has done this topic. You see it on reels in your IG feed, TikToks with dancing and pointing fingers. The difference is I am going to tell you why.
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What are macronutrients?
Macros are the three main categories of your food, protein, carbs, fat. They all play a vital role in our bodies.
Proteins plays a major role in muscle maintenance and building. If you were to put these in a rank I would for sure put protein as number one. If you can’t hit all your numbers every day then make sure you hit your protein number. Depending on the goal and diet you follow would determine how you rank the other two. When setting your macros protein will never move unless your overall calories number changes. You can manipulate your fats and carbs a bit to help with the results you are looking for.
Carbs are our bodies first choice of energy. We have very limited stores of this nutrient so whatever our bodies takes in it uses this first. Think quick source of energy, you have heard of many athletes “carb load” before a big event well this would be why. Studies have shown it doesn’t necessary help but thats another topic for another time. Have you heard the phrase push through the tired in your workout/training because thats when you are in a fat burning phase? Thats because your body has burned through all of the carbohydrates and the only thing left for fuel is fat, so then your body will use fat for its fuel. Which helps aid in fat loss.
Fats have a specific role as adipose tissue. One is to help with energy stores, lets think primal for a minute. You are hunting for food but it’s not ideal conditions for a bison to be running the plains. Well, thank goodness you have “energy stores” from when you had an abundance of bison that you hunted 2 months prior. Your body works in a survival mode much like that. The other function of this type of tissue is protection to vital organs. The last and probably most underrated function is It helps with the endocrine system, hormones, and transportation between them and our fat soluble vitamins to preform different functions in the body.
Why are macro nutrients important?
No matter what diet you are following you can still count macros. This is a way to really dial in your nutrition for your goals. If I am doing a fasting diet I can still track macros, keto I can still track macros, low sugar still can count macros. You will then just manipulate the percentage of fats, carbs, and proteins to fit your overall calorie levels.
How does this differ from calorie counting? If you are only tracking the calories you eat in a day you could go over on your grams per day of fat, or carbs, but still stay within your calories. The problem then lies with the “over eating” of a certain nutrient group. If you continue to go over on your fat macro group then what tends to happen is you have excess fat in your body which then leads to storage and then obesity.
“Grams give you the most accurate measurement of how much you are eating. A measuring cup can be skewed as my cup of rice might be different than your cup.”
How does one count macros?
See this is where a lot of people fall off the macro train. You have to weigh your food in grams. Food labels can be WAY MISS LEADING! Most of the time there is an app to help you calculate the weight of your food into macros. Grams give you the most accurate measurement of how much you are eating. A measuring cup can be skewed as my cup of rice might be different than your cup (see above picture). You will need a scale, get my favorite one here. Then you can download an app like my fitness pal, or macros inc, and get started. The apps have ways you can create recipes of your favorite dishes and scan barcodes for your prepackaged food to be able to log your favorite protein bar. They also have search engines for when you go out to eat and have things off a menu.
Check out our macro calculator!
How do I know what my macros should be?
With in the app you can calculate macros by putting your age, current weight, goal weight, desired date of goal weight, and gender. The apps have a formula that will spit you out a number. Now here is where you will have to take responsibility. Once you have your numbers you need to try these for 2 weeks and if you feel tired or hungry or never can hit your numbers because it’s too much food. You can play around and change your calorie intake to see what works for you. Each time you make a change give it two weeks before you make another change.
I hoped this helps you understand Macro counting a little more. If you have any questions leave them in the comments! I also help women learn how to help reach their fitness goals so if you want click here to learn about the programs I offer!
