MACROS MATTER  

To lose weight, energy in must be less than energy out. Energy for the body comes in the form of calories. To lose weight, we need to take in fewer less calories than we burn. This calorie equation is important to know, and I stress it all the time with my clients. We also must pay attention to the types of foods we are eating. The types of foods we eat are called macronutrients or macros for short. We can lose weight by simply eating less calories despite where the calories come from if the number is low enough. But this does not mean you are eating healthy by any means. 

The macronutrients are proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and water. They are called macronutrients because we need these essential nutrients in greater volume than we need other nutrients such as micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Micro does not mean less important. It simply means that we get what we need from lesser quantities. 

Protein is the macronutrient that is responsible for growth and repair of a cell. Often when people want to grow bigger and stronger muscles, they tend to focus on protein only, and they increase their protein to unneeded levels. This is a mistake. Yes, we need more protein but only so much is needed for the repair of damaged cells. We need BOTH carbs and protein to grow bigger, stronger, muscles. Our diet should be 10-20% protein. That little bit is critical. And we need protein right after a workout. Not only do macros matter but meal timing matters too. You should consume 15 grams of protein right after a workout.  

Carbohydrate's key role is energy. Both longer term energy and shorter-term energy. We need carbohydrates. They really need to be the main staple of the diet. There are many types of carbohydrates. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate, and it is needed for immediate energy. But complex carbohydrates are the type that are stored in the muscles. Stored carbohydrates are called glycogen. And if we don’t have glycogen, we don’t have energy and we cannot improve our fitness. These types of carbohydrates are needed for energy and growth. Without enough carbohydrates a person will not have energy, add muscle, or gain strength. 45-65% of the diet should be comprised of complex carbohydrates. Meal timing is critical here as well. You need to eat around 50 grams of carbohydrates right after working out so your muscles can refuel and recover. This is the time that sugary type (high glycemic index) carbs are appropriate. Right after a workout! This does not mean soda! But fruit such as a banana.  

Fats help produce hormones. For example, testosterone is made from cholesterol which is a type of fat. Fats also help regulate hormones and they help us feel satiated. We need fats. We don’t need a lot of fats, but we need fats. A gram of fat has nine calories. The types of fats we should consume are polyunsaturated. But you don’t have to go out of your way to add fat to the diet. We don’t need much and often we get plenty. 20-35% of the diet should be fats. That sounds like a lot, but when you see how we calculate the fat later you’ll see it’s not.  

Alcohol, which is not an essential nutrient, has seven calories per gram.  

Macros matter. As you read above, all these macronutrients have functions. Many people today want to lose fat. Many want to lose fat and maintain muscle. If you aren’t paying attention to the types of foods, you are eating you will not be able to maintain muscle mass let alone grow more muscle. Muscles need protein and carbohydrates to grow and get stronger. If you are not eating enough good quality carbs guess where your muscles get the carbohydrate energy from? The muscles. This is called gluconeogenesis. This means that when your body does not have enough stored glycogen, it breaks the muscles down to get it. If you are only paying attention to calories and not your macros, you may be losing weight, but you may be sacrificing muscle as you do. This is a doubly negative. When you lose muscle tissue, your metabolism will be lowered. When you begin to eat more again (after dieting) it will be easier to gain weight. Keeping muscle mass up is critical to overall fitness and heatlh. How do we do that? Strength train and eat quality carbs and quality protein.  

The first thing you need to do is determine how many calories you should be eating daily. After that you choose the percentage of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Remember above that protein should be anywhere from 10-20%, carbs 45-65% and fat 20-35%. I’m a proponent of the 20% protein, 60% carbohydrate, and 20% fat diet.  

Here is an example of a 1500 calories diet. For most people this is a weight loss diet. Using a 1500 calorie diet, 20% is 300 calories of protein, 60% of 1500 is 900 calories of carbohydrates, and 20% of 1500 is 300 calories of fat. Protein has four calories per gram, carbohydrates also have four calories per gram, and fat has nine calories per gram. Doing the math: 300 calories of protein is 75 grams, 900 calories of carbohydrates is 225 grams, and 300 calories of fat is 33 grams. Now you can track your macronutrients. In this case, the person would consume 75 grams of protein, 225 grams of carbohydrates, and 33 grams of fat daily.  

Not all macros are created equal. Let’s start with carbs. Carbs can be complex (good) or sugar (not so good). I often tell clients to make sure that the sugar stays under 15% of their carb intake (this will depend on some things but in weight loss cases we want to keep sugar low). In the above example the sugar grams would be kept to 34 per day. A banana is 30 by the way! I’m not against fruit at all. But learning what foods have what is so valuable to help you learn what you need! Fats are not all created equal. In the case here fat is set at 33 grams, that is low fat. I have my clients stay mostly with unsaturated fats and hardly any saturated fats. I tell all clients to keep trans fats to zero. A little quick FYI, the most crucial time to eat sugar would be after a workout. At this time, your body is craving more carbohydrates to fill back up the glycogen and sugar is gobbled up quickly and stored. It’s a particularly suitable time to consume sugar or high glycemic index carbohydrates.  

Protein does not have to be animal protein! That is another myth. You can get your protein sources however you choose. There are plenty of high-quality plant proteins now. Most of my personal protein choices come from plants. That’s just want I like and what works for me.  

What is the best way to track your macronutrients and/or calories? There are so many different apps now, it’s easy. Personally, I use My Fitness Pal. It works for me. In the olden days when I was studying exercise science in college, we used to look everything up and calculate. That had its value! But I’d prefer not! Now it's on an app and it’s so easy. When you enter your food into the app, all is calculated for you. You can simply enter your food and check through the day. If you aren’t where you should be, you can adjust the next day. It really works well. 

Some argue that this is a lot of work. I disagree. I think it’s a lot of work to have to wonder if you are eating what you should be eating. Studies show that when people guess how much they eat, they underestimate by 30%. We all do, right? How many times do I hear “I don’t need to track; I know what I eat.”  Tracking takes the mystery out and you can enjoy food more because you know that you can eat a certain food because there is room in the diet for it. When we really learn what works and why, we are really helping ourselves get in tune with our body.  

What about that essential nutrient alcohol? You would think by the reaction when I tell people they really cannot drink it AND lose weight that it was essential, but it’s not. Essential in the case of essential nutrients means that your body needs it and, that your body cannot produce it internally. It must come from an outside source. Your body does not need alcohol! You may disagree! Here is the deal, is drinking occasionally going to impact your fitness? No. I’ve been doing this for over 25 years, and I promise you that no one I’ve worked with has ever lost body fat (enough to tell) and drank regularly. It’s simply empty calories. Let’s say you are on a 1500 calorie diet to lose weight and you are supposed to have 80 calories of protein, 225 grams of carbs, and 33 grams of fat. You eat your 1500 daily but 200-300 or so calories are alcohol. Which essential nutrient do you rob? Yes, you can keep the calories under but as I explained above, macros natter and guess what alcohol pure sugar is, so it’s all wasted. Don’t shoot the messenger. You decide. Maybe lose the fat and then go on a bender?! Kidding.  

Macros matter. I know I left some unanswered questions, but I hope I’ve made the case that’s it’s not just about calories. If you want to hold on to muscle, strength, and energy you’ll need to make ure you are eating all the nutrients you need. You really are what you eat.