From Calories to Macros

So far, we have covered the most basic concept behind weight loss and weight gain, which was calculating the calories you intake vs the calories you burn. Now we can progress a step further and talk about the 3 macronutrients, or “macros”, which are carbohydrates, protein, and fat. When it comes to losing fat or trying to put on muscle, the starting point should always be tracking the number of calories you are eating. But, when it comes to actually changing your body’s composition, macros are far more important!

Why Macros Matter More Than Calories

A calorie is a calorie, but not all calories are equal. For example, if you hit your goal for total calories every single day but your diet consisted of nothing but processed foods and sugar, how do you think you would look and feel? You would probably feel run down, be hungry more often and you would not have the lean-muscular physique that many of us want. This is because the types of calories that we are taking in have a direct effect on many different processes in our body. These include hormonal changes, energy, mental health, muscle growth and fat burning just to name a few. If you are serious about changing the way your body looks, then you must track your macros.

Calories per Gram of Each Macro

All 3 macros are measured in grams, and they can be found on any nutrition label or with an online search. Carbohydrates and protein both have 4 calories per gram, and fat has 9 calories per gram. These numbers are going to be important when calculating how much of each macro we want in our diet.

The app I mentioned earlier, MyFitnessPal, does an excellent job at helping you calculate and track these numbers, and it even gives you a pie chart that is easy to interpret. The very first step in tracking your macros is to decide what your percentage of each is going to be.

A Starting Formula: 45/35/20

A great starting formula for most people who are active and working out is going to be 45/35/20. These numbers refer to carbohydrates, protein, and fat, in that order. Therefore, 45% of your calories will come from carbohydrates, 35% from protein and 20% from fat.

For example, let’s say you have a daily target of 2000 calories, how would you figure out the total amount of each? The easiest method I have found is to take the total calories (2000) and multiply it by your first percentage, which is 45 (2000 x .45). That gives you 900 calories, which means 900 of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates. Since carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, we divide 900 by 4 and get 225. So, 225 grams of carbohydrates would be your target.

You would do the same with protein and fat, which comes out to 175 grams of protein and 44 grams of fat. Do not forget that fat has 9 calories per gram, therefore you divide it by 9 when getting your total. As you can see, since fat has more than double the calories of protein and carbohydrates per gram, the calories add up very quickly in a high-fat diet. Luckily if you are not good at math, the app does everything for you if you just type the numbers in.

Adjusting Your Macro Ratios

The 45/35/20 ratio is a great starting point for most people that want to get serious about what they are eating and changing their body composition. As I mentioned before, some individuals are extremely sensitive to carbs and do not process them well. Therefore, the number they might end up with would be lower than 45% for that macro.

The best method I have found is to give your body a couple of weeks and just look in the mirror or take measurements. Do not pay too much attention to the scale. If you are looking “soft” or just cannot seem to lose body fat, it is a good sign that you may need to lower your carbs. If you are pretty lean and looking to put on muscle, raising your carbohydrate percentage may help, and I will explain why in another section.

My Experience With Ratios

In my experience, the main number you should adjust is your carbohydrates, but feel free to adjust any of the 3 macros based on your body’s response. After trying different ratios over the years, I have found the one that works for me is 40/40/20.

On a side note, you want to get at least 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of bodyweight. So, if you are on a low-calorie diet and trying to lose weight, I would adjust your protein percentage to where it is at least at that level, and then figure out your other two macros. Also, I have not seen a need to go higher than 1.5 grams of protein per 1 pound of bodyweight. So, if you do decide to raise your protein percentage, keep that in mind.