Let’s be blunt: Dieting is difficult. But if you belong to the healthy community, then you may have come across the term macros. In this article, we will discuss what are Macros when it comes to diet.
If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) or flexible dieting is a fantastic way to lose weight while eating anything of your choice. Instead of counting your calorie intake, count your macros.
By following the macro diet, you can lose weight by eating fewer calories. You just need to stick to your daily macro goals.
Though it’s an extravagant concept for healthy living, counting macros is relatively simple. And there are numerous benefits like shedding weight, gaining muscle, and achieving various health targets.
What are Macros in Diet?
You have started guessing what are macros, then you should know first that all foods are a combination of macros.
Macros are the short form of macronutrients.
These are the nutrients you need in abundance to survive. They are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats which you require in some quantity on a daily basis in your diet.
Carbohydrates
Sugar, starches, and fibers come under carbohydrates. They broke into the form of glucose which is used as immediate energy by the body. If not used, they are stored in glycogen molecules.
Carbs contain 4 calories per gram. Your maximum calorie intake (45-65%) comes from carbs. It is mostly found in foods like grains, vegetables, fruits, beans, dairy products, bakery products, etc.
Proteins
Same as carbs, protein also contains 4 calories per gram. Proteins are essential for immune functions, cell signaling, tissue building, hormones, and enzyme creations.
It comprises of 10-35%of your entire calorie intake. Eggs, chicken, meat, fish, tofu, cottage cheese, lentils, etc. are examples of protein-rich foods.
Fats
Fats contain the highest calories, providing almost 9 calories per gram. And of course, your body needs fat (20-30%) in order to produce hormones, absorb nutrients, and maintain body temperature.
Usually, it is easy to be successful in having a higher fat diet. It is found in foods like fatty fish, avocado, nuts, butter, oils, coconut milk, cheese, seeds, etc.
Macros for Weight Loss
There was once a panel of bodybuilders who got really tired and frustrated having dull, boring, and tasteless food. They came up with this new concept called counting macronutrients.
It is time to have indulgence with delicious food keeping the weight loss technique undisturbed. The only difference is to know how to track macros instead of tracking the calories.
How to Calculate Macros to Boost Weight Loss Efforts?
It can be made easy with few steps to follow how to count macros. If you are new to this, there are few macro trackers and apps that have the best macro calculator.
1. Figure out your calorie intake
Depending upon your current height, weight, age, sex, activity level, and health goals, your first step is to find the target calorie-intake. This is known as the total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).
TDEE is the sum of resting energy expenditure (REE) and non-resting energy expenditure (NREE). They are the number of calories burned during rest or activities. This varies for men or women and also depending upon your lifestyle.
For that, you can take the help of any app and fill the profile details or you can even check in a simple online calculator. So if you are trying to lose weight or gain muscle, you have to add or subtract from your TDEE.
2. Set your Macros
The second step is to determine how to divide the calories into these three macronutrients. This will be your daily nutrition goal. You can be able to do so in the app.
The app gives options for viewing or editing your macro distribution. You can even get the option to set the goals in grams or percentages.
The macronutrient ratio will vary for different persons having different dietary preferences, health goals, and other factors.
For example, an athlete requires higher carbs-intake and a person following the ketogenic diet would require lower carbs and more fats. If you want to reduce your blood sugar level and excess body fat, the macro diet may comprise 35% carbs, 30% fats, and 35% proteins.
3. Plan and track your macros
Tracking your macro diet is actually logging your meals and snacks in the app or food diary. Most apps are designed specifically and also user-friendly.
It is not necessary to have a digital food scale as many apps may feature a barcode scanner that determines the serving quantity of the scanned food.
4. Repeat and refine
Remember, it is not always necessary to meet the goals. You can still be fit by opting for healthy food and not strictly meeting the target. It will soon become a healthy habit. The execution of eating by macros becomes simpler with time.
Things to Remember While Going Macro Diet
- Do not get involved in the unhealthy eating habit by cutting down the micronutrients like vitamins and minerals.
- Choose a suitable and correct option for carbohydrates. Try to include fibrous carbohydrates like brown rice, oats, whole grains, etc. to the diet plan. You can surely eat cookies over brown rice but don’t make that a daily feasting habit.
You may have now got an idea about what’s macros diet, how to count and follow that. Then start to log your food intake and in no time you will feel way better.
