How to figure out your macros.
So, we know we need more calories out than in to achieve fat loss, correct? But how many is that? It’s really not a secret and not exactly a magic formula, but here is how you figure out what you need.
(I hate math and I can do this, so bear with me, it’s a little backwards.)
Once you have your numbers, great! But then what do you do with it? Well, I’d encourage you all to try to stick to it as much as possible for a few days. How? Be PLAIN. 4 oz cooked chicken breast is 120 calories, 0-1g fat and 24g protein. If you add spices, it doesn’t change. If you add oil, say 1 tsp, that’s 40 calories, 4.5g fat. Add in your vegetable, say broccoli. If you steam it, you can get a cup for 30 calories. Add butter, just 1 TB, now you’ve got 9g fat, 120 extra calories. Add cheese, you get another 140 calories 9-13f fat, and that’s just in 1/4 cup. So, steam your broccoli and add paprika, salt, pepper, garlic salt, etc, and you’ve added no calories. See where I”m going with that? Casseroles can have healthy ingredients but it’s hard to track when you add it all together.
Here’s the math:
- Take your bodyweight and multiply it by 10. That’s the number of calories a day to lose. Seem too low? Try this way, Bodyweight x12, then subtract 500-600 calories. That gives you the amount of calories you need in a day to lose. 500 calorie deficit per day x 7 days = 3500 calories and 1 lb of fat. So you have you calories, now you have to break it down into macronutrients (macros).
- Convert your bodyweight (bw) to Kilograms (kg). Multiply that number by 1.4. That’s how many grams of protein you need. Now, multiply that number by 4 (there are 4 calories per gram of protein) and that will give you the calories from protein per day you need.
- Take your total calories (bwx12) , that number x 20% (or.2) that will give you a calorie number. There are 9 calories per gram of fat so take your new number and divide by 9, that’s how many grams of fat you need per day.
- Now take your two calorie numbers and add them together.
- Then subtract that from your total calories (the 12xbw – 500-600 cal). That is how many calories from carbohydrates you need. There are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate, so divide your final number by 4 and you get how many grams of carbs you need to lose weight.
Example on a 160 lb. person:
BW x 12 = 1920 calories to maintain weight.
1320-1420 calories to lose weight
1.4g protein x kg bw (72.5kg) = 101.5 grams protein x 4g/cal = 406 calories
1920 x 20% = 384 calories divided by 9g/cal = 43g fat
406 + 384 = 790 calories.
1420-790 = 630 calories left.
Divided by 4g/cal = 157.5 grams carbs
Total macros per day to lose fat: 101.5g protein, 43g fat, 157.5g carb
Clear as mud? That’s why people pay me to do it 🙂
Now, these are baseline numbers. Give them a try for a week or so, you should be able to tell right away how you feel. Some people feel better on more carbs, less fat (especially if you’re into endurance athlete training like running, cycling, hiking, etc.) some feel better on more fat and less carbs (those with PCOS, higher insulin resistance, diabetic and/or obese) but those are not hard and fast rules. The only way to know for sure is to get a genetic test. That will tell you what you REALLY need, how to eat not just for weight loss, but for better skin, energy, lower inflammation, less pain, more endurance, longer life, etc. Will also tell you how to eat to combat stress, etc.
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