Macros, What are they? An easy way to a balanced healthy diet for Fat Loss & Muscle Gain.

Nutrition and understanding food requirements are vital to meet your goals.

Nutrition is key to everything we do..... After all this is the fuel our body uses to function. But people seem only to focus on this when wanting to lose weight (FAT). They join slimming clubs and often take on popular diets the celebrities are promoting and calorie deficits (more about that later). But focussing on calories alone will not change what you want to eat. That change comes from education, understanding why you are choosing a certain food source over another.

But do remember, you must build or maintain lean muscle see blog about Weight Loss V Fat Loss, because losing weight without this focus on FAT will result in losing muscle as well, so that means RESISTANCE TRAINING!

(https://www.dannidobsonpt.com/post/do-you-want-to-lose-weight-or-lose-fat)

This article is designed to share some knowledge about Macros, or Macro Nutrients. How focussing on this rather than Calories as a measure to what you eat is a great healthy, balanced way to change the way you view food. This concept is widely used by professional athletes around the globe, but it's not just for athletes, it should be used or at least understood by all of us.

Rather than solely focusing on a calorie counting, the macronutrient approach optimises your diet by determining the percentage of calories you should get from protein, carbohydrates and fat each day. Whether you are interested in cutting body fat or boosting muscle mass, macronutrient breakdowns can be catered to meet your goals. Not only that there are lots of apps now, widely available that you can check macros, simply put in your Macro percentages (details on how to get that below) and hey presto! Some will even build you a menu, with ingredients! But if you would prefer, seek guidance from a Nutritionist who (for a fee) will create meal plans etc for you....its not hard to do, take a look at food packaging, it shows the % Protein, Fat and carbohydrates, broken into per 100g and often per pack/tin or whatever....it really is not hard to do.

But you do need to understand what MACROS are and why focussing on them can make a big difference to the way you both eat and view your food.

Macronutrients can be basically broken down into 3 categories

WHAT ARE MACRONUTRIENTS?

Well they fit into three main categories: Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats. They provide the vast majority of our bodies energy and essential elements to function (no time to discuss Micro Nutrients here) in the basic form of calories, keeping us fuelled throughout the day. Not enough and our bodies take energy from our stores....FAT (you know that stuff we want to shift)!

So you count Calories.... but “Is a calorie a calorie?” Well, according to the laws of thermodymanics, yes, all calories are created equal (at least on paper). But—and this is a big but—the way the body breaks down carbohydrates, proteins and fats, the three main sources of calories in our diet (four if you count alcohol), and the effect they have on our bodies differ vastly.

Acknowledging that not all calories are created equal: 100 calories of chocolate, 100 calories of broccoli or 100 calories of Chicken technically provide the same “energy” to your body but are processed very differently. Think about eating 500 calories of ice cream and 500 calories of spinach; these two choices are reflected identically in the counting calories approach but contribute very differently within a macronutrient breakdown. See why counting calories is not exactly the best approach? 2000Kcal of Crisps may be below your Calorie Counting target but not exactly healthy eh?

Metabolically speaking, foods high in Protein and Fibre keep us feeling fuller longer, leading to reduced calorie intake (if we actually listen to our bodies and not mistake thirst for hunger). Conversely, foods with high glycemic indexes, such as white bread and cookies, spike our blood sugar for a short time, providing quick energy but leaving us with a “sugar crash” soon after. The speed that carbohydrates hit our system affects subsequent overeating and weight gain. This means it’s much more valuable to choose whole grain carbohydrates that are slowly digested (and often contain fiber!) rather than processed grains.

PROTEIN

Protein comes from many sources, you don't have to eat meat

Proteins primary role in the body is to maintain and build new cells. Protein needs are greatest during childhood, adolescence and pregnancy, when the body is growing and adding new tissues. (Resistance Training required Protein to build muscle tissue) But we now also know that protein is beneficial during weight (FAT) loss, as it contributes to satiety, we feel fuller, longer and helps to offset the amount of lean muscle that is burned for energy, in addition to fat, during a calorie deficit.

All proteins provide about 4 calories per gram but there are higher quality proteins, which may reduce appetite and optimise muscle repair and recovery (think: fish or eggs), and lower quality proteins (think: beef burger meat or plant derived protein that lack essential amino acids....no I won't go into Micro nutrients!). In this case, you get more nutritional vale if you consume 4 calories of high quality protein.

FATS

There are different fats in our diet, some better than others

In addition to being a potent and flavorful source of energy, fats slow digestion, deliver important fat-soluble vitamins to the body, and provide important building blocks for every one of our cells.

All dietary fats provide about 9 calories per gram but, as you likely already know, some fats are better for our health than others. For example, polyunsaturated omega-3 fats, found in foods like wild salmon and flaxseed, have protective, anti-inflammatory properties, whereas artificial trans fats have been linked to increased inflammation and heart disease.

CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates come in many forms. Low GI Carbs release Glucose more slowly over time

When it comes to differentiating calories, carbohydrates are by far the most complex (pardon the pun), mostly because our bodies use the different types of carbohydrates (such as fiber, starch and sugar) in very different ways.

Carbohydrates are used by the body as a quick source of energy, particularly for the brain, liver and muscles. All carbohydrates (with the exception of fiber, which our body can’t digest) provide 4 calories per gram. But just as there are healthier fats and higher-quality proteins, there are varying degrees of carbohydrate quality.

Though not a source of calories, fiber is considered a high-quality carbohydrate since it slows digestion (thus making you feel fuller, longer) and can moderate the absorption of other nutrients, like sugar. For this reason, high-quality carbohydrates typically contain fiber and are minimally processed. These include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Lower-quality carbohydrates almost always lack fibre (with the exception of dairy which contains natural sugars packaged with protein) and add little more than “empty calories” to our diets.

Sugar, Sugar Everywhere

There are three main Sugars in food

By now it’s probably clear that a calorie from fat is not the same as a calorie from protein or carbohydrate. But let’s take it a step further and compare calories from two different types of sugar: glucose and fructose.

Starchy foods like rice, potatoes and pasta, are predominantly made up of glucose, a simple sugar that that can be burned for energy by every cell in our bodies. It’s stored in our liver and muscles for a quick source of energy during exercise or while we sleep. Unprocessed starchy foods, like brown rice, potatoes with the skin on and 100% whole-wheat pasta, contain the food’s natural fiber as well as some vitamins and minerals.

Unlike glucose, which can be burned for energy by all organs, fructose can really only be broken down in the liver. It’s also the sweetest tasting of the three simple sugars which makes it enjoyable on the tastebuds. In nature, fructose is found in fruits bound tightly to indigestible fiber that, as we already know, reduces and slows its absorption. Unfortunately, the majority of fructose in our diets isn’t from fruits–it’s from sweeteners added to sweetened beverages and the majority of processed food.

Here’s the main difference between these two sugars: While too many calories from glucose can lead to weight gain and accumulation of the less harmful but not desirable subcutaneous fat, too many calories from fructose (found in calorie-containing sweeteners like sugar, honey, high fructose corn syrup etc… you know the stuff they add to fizzy drinks and processed foods!) can overwhelm the liver, contributing to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, insulin resistance and more.

As you can see, a calorie of carbohydrate is not the same as a calorie from fat or protein, nor are all carbohydrate calories created equal. As a general rule of thumb, I recommend consuming the majority of your calories from minimally or unprocessed whole foods since, ultimately, the quality of what we eat determines the quantity of calories we consume, which impacts not only our weight but also our overall health and well-being.

THE CASE FOR FOCUSING ON MACRONUTRIENTS

What's to lose? The worst case is that you eat a more balanced diet

So, calories don’t tell the entire weight-loss (FAT LOSS) story. But, it’s important to remember that you can’t have macronutrients without calories. Each gram of fat provides nine calories, while protein and carbohydrates provide four calories per gram. Remember that you’re not eating macronutrients just for calories because every macronutrient has a purpose:

Fats work to slow digestion, provide essential fat-soluble vitamins and have protective anti-inflammatory properties (omega-3s!).

Protein provides the building blocks for muscle and cell tissue, while also satisfying hunger and improving satiety.

Carbohydrates provide a quickly accessible form of energy and fiber, which can leave you feeling full longer and slow the absorption of other nutrients (like sugar).

So what do I do next?

Now calculate your Macros and related calories for your goal, it is easy!

Depending on your age, weight and activity level, your body requires a certain amount of calories to maintain its weight... your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). Let's assume it is 2500Kcal......There are many calculators out there to work this out, but be aware they often slightly differ and are generic to body composition, I cross reference body composition when I do this..... so, take an average of at least two.... (search TDEE calculators).

Now calculate how much Protein you will need. Again there are many conflicting studies on this as you can imagine but for the sake of this article stay at c2g of Protein/Kg of body weight as optimal.... so if you are 80Kg, you will need to eat c160g of Protein per day. As there are FOUR Calories/g of Protein, then that (160g of protein) equates to 640 Kcal.

So if 2500Kcal is your Maintenance calorie intake, macros would look like this:

640 Kcal protein (25.6%) of your total target.That means you have 1860 Kcal to be split between Carbs and fats, a good measure is not to go below 15% of dietary FAT, so if we stay at around 20% Fat, that leaves 51.2% for carbohydrates.

640 Kcal protein (28.8%) or 160g of protein

500 Kcal fat (20%) or 55g of Fat

1360 Kcal Carbs (51.2%) or 340g of Carbs

If you were trying to reduce 1 pound of FAT per week (1 pound of fat = 3500Kcal), you would reduce your maintenance Kcal by 500Kcal/day to 2000 to reduce your weekly intake by the 3,500 Kcal. This is the Calorie deficit mentioned earlier....Then your Macros would then look like this:

640 Kcal Protein (32%) or 160g Protein

300 Kcal Fat (15%) or 33g Fat

1060 Kcal Carbs (53%) 265g of Carbs.

It is important to remember to combine Resistance Training to build/maintain lean muscle. This will require this protein to build but also will reduce/minimise muscle loss and promote fat loss.

Focusing on macros promotes a more balanced diet by encouraging us to take a hard look at the foods we are eating. Both of these Macros and calorie targets, is a lot of food, when we select the best foods to meet the MACROS.

The bottom line is to view your diet from a broader perspective that considers the nutritional benefits of different options and not only their calorie count! Managing % is easier than counting every Calorie, if you get the %s right, you just need to alter the amounts you eat.

I do hope you stuck with this, there is a lot of details here. I am passionate about my role and when you get your nutrition sorted, alongside a progressive, targeted exercise plan, the results are simply amazing!

As always, please share with friends, comment and like and if you want to discuss this article, maybe to go into your Macro calculations or any other matter, please use contacts below:

Contact me by e-mail: Dannidobsonpt@outllook.com

Call/Text 07811 888394

Facebook @Dannidobsonpt

Insta and YouTube coming soon!

Danni X

Danni X