Why Macronutrients Matter?
I would love to help you figure out your daily calorie and macronutrient intake. I struggled with that myself for years and couldn’t find one that I could stick to. When I finally did, that’s when I could get to the level of leanness I needed in order to step on stage.
Macros – Let’s talk about how it works
Macros are short for macronutrients. Macronutrients are the three categories of nutrients you eat the most and provide you with most of your energy. They are:
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Fats
These three components are all important in order for our body to function properly and it’s best and they all have different purposes. We need a good balance between them and we should not exclude any of the three sources BUT during a weight loss phase we need to cut down on either carbohydrates or fats.
Protein is usually set on a pretty steady number, around 2 g per kg or 1 g per pound of your desired body weight. If you are a 60 kg woman you should eat around 130 g of protein each day. BUT be aware, this does NOT mean that you will get the protein you need from one 130 g steak or chicken. Unfortunately it is not that simple.
100 g of raw lean meat or chicken has about 23 g of protein. And protein sources higher in fat include even less protein per 100 g and more fat. So a piece of meat is not built up by 100% of pure protein which means you need to calculate how much protein you get from different sources during the day in order to reach your goal. To make it even more complex some Carbohydrate and fat sources also include some protein which will add to your daily goal.
In order to break down the protein you need in a day, if you don’t follow a meal plan, you might want to use an app or a similar tool to calculate what foods to eat to reach all your thresholds for your macros – Carbohydrates, Proteins and fats. You don’t need to do it every day but it can be a good thing to try a couple of days just to get an idea and be aware of what the food you eat includes.
Calculate calories
Before even doing that you also need to figure out what your daily target calories are which you can do by using the Harrison Benedict Equation or a similar tool. When you have that number, let’s say 2300 kcal per day you need to split those calories up between carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Break it down
Proteins – Around 2 g per kg and 1 g per lbs of body weight
Fats – 25% of your daily calories
Carbohydrates – If possible, most importantly for women, DO NOT get under 130 g of carbohydrates per day for hormonal reasons. And maybe even men, our brain actually uses that much carbs each day for fuel.
That is the simplified way to figure out what your macro split should be like. To complicate things even more we might need different macro splits depending on your body type. We have three different body types:
Ectomorph – They usually do better on a higher carb diet
Mesomorph – They usually do better on a balanced diet between carbs and fats
Endomorph – They usually do better on a higher fat diet
Depending on your body type you can figure out what your macro split should be.
So as you see it is pretty complex to figure out your nutrition goal for each day, but when you do, you will reach your goal!
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LOVE,
Coach Josefine
