So what's all this talk about macros??

So let's talk about macros.  What the heck does it even mean?  Do I need them?  Are they scary?  Ok maybe you don't have that last question, but macros and the number crunching you hear fitness gurus doing can get a little overwhelming, so let's break it down to the basics.


Macros are what is known as macronutrients.  Macronutrients are required by every organism to sustain life and there are three major macros:  protein, carbohydrates, and fats.  Each of these three are an essential part of the human diet to live.  You have probably seen varying diets that remove one of these, typically fats or carbs.  While this might work in the short term, it isn't sustainable for life.  Your body needs healthy fats for your hair, skin, nails and at times energy stores.  Carbs are essential to energy and powering through workouts.  They are also essential in recovery after a hard muscle building workout as they can help get glycogen back to the muscle and, when consumed with protein, begin to rebuild that muscle stronger and larger.  Muscle breakdown and rebuild are crucial for creating a certain shape or physique, but requires all these macros.


So now that you know what macros are, how do you incorporate them into your diet?  Aren't calories what count?  Well yes and no.  Weight loss is essentially a mathematical formula of calories in versus calories out, but the quality of those calories can be huge in how you want your body to shape itself.   And if you are looking to gain lean muscle, then your mix and caloric intake can be quite different then just x + y = xy.  Did you know that 1 gram of protein or 1 gram of carbs equates to 4 calories while 1 gram of fat equates to 9 calories?  So what does that mean?  It means it would take your body an activity that would expend 4 kilocalories worth of energy burn.  That's essentially what a calorie is and how it is measured.


Now that I have thrown that math at you, let's keep going.  Finding a solid mix of macros is helpful in your goals at the gym and it looks different for everyone.  Some people do well with equal mix of protein and carbs, and lower fats.  Something like a 40% Protein, 40% Carb, 20% Fat mix.  Others need less carbs and more fats.  I tend to recommend starting with the 40-40-20 mix and make small adjustments as your body responds or stalls.  Now what are those percentages coming from?  They come from your overall calories.  So if you set your calories at 1500, your break down would be as follows:


(1500 * 0.40)/4 = 150 which is 150 grams of protein and 150 grams of carbs
(1500 * 0.20)/9 = approximately 33 grams of fat


So each day you would try to set goals (using an app like MyFitnessPal is very helpful for tracking) to eat about 1500 calories with 150g of Protein, 150g of Carbs, and 33g of Fat.  As a side note, I would also try to stay at 35 to 40 grams of sugar or below.  Sugar will derail your progress quickly!


Now how does one arrive at their total caloric intake?  There are several online calculators to help you determine this.  A good one is here on Bodybuilding.com. Be very honest when setting the activity level, meaning if you sit at a desk job all day like I do, but you are pretty intense in exercise, I would select Moderately Active because most of your day is sedentary.  If you are on your feet all day and exercise on top of that, then select appropriately.  You can set your macros based on your goals.  I would recommend keeping protein levels between 1 to 1.5 grams of your body weight at a minimum if you want to maintain or gain lean muscle mass.  And I don't recommend ever going below 100 grams of carbs to keep your energy levels up to power through workouts.  Also for lean mass gains, you will need to add calories to your diet.  To lose weight, you will need to remove some calories, or increase your workouts (this kind of varies from person to person), so please message me if you need help with this.


Now if you are feeling adventures and want a more advanced macro calculator (that I honestly think is more accurate) try this one at Cori-Fit's website.  Keep your protein at the suggested levels and then you can adjust your fats and it will set your carbs.  If you want help with this, contact me and I will help you with the calculator and making adjustments.  Everyone's macro mix is different and I would love to coach you individually along the way if I can, including providing you with some Excel sheets to help you track your macros when meal planning.   I am going to make these available on the blog soon!  Remember this is all in conjunction with a fitness routine, so which abs are made in the kitchen, a total package is made in the gym (or home gym!)  You can maintain a solid fitness routine at home if that best fits your life and I can help you with that as well.  Look for routines to be posted here soon, but if you want a jump start, please message me.  My lack of blog spots shouldn't stand in the way of your goals :)


Now that I have explained macros a little, I know you have questions.  Would you guys like a video Q&A to answer these?  If so, leave your questions in the comments below and I will try and answer them all.  Please share with your friends and have them leave questions.  Let's spread the fit life around :)


Love ya'll!!


Misty