Counting Macros 101
Counting macros is quickly growing in popularity in the dieting world. In fact most wouldn’t really call it being on a “diet”. I like to think of it more as a style of tracking what you eat that holds you accountable for what you consume each day, but gives you flexibility.
Everything you eat can be classified in one of three categories: Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat. Some may ask, what about vegetables? Where do they go? Well, they are carbs. Anything that is not fat, or protein, is a carb. They are very low in carbs and high in vitamins, and nutrients, but carbs nonetheless. Each category represents a percentage of your total calories for the day. For example, if you planned to each 1800 calories a day, you would assign a certain percentage of those calories to each macro nutrient. Maybe something like this: 50% carbs (900 calories or 225 grams of carbs) 30% protein (540 calories or 135 grams of protein) and 20% fat (360 calories or 40 grams of fat). On the Calculating Macros page, I go into more depth on how to calculate a macro split for you that is in line with your specific goal.
The main thing that I use for counting macros each day is the app called My Fitness Pal. It’s a great tool to track everything that you eat each day. You can even enter in and save your own recipes on it. You can also put in your specific goals and macro nutrient percentages and it will track them through the foods that you enter in and tell you how much you have left for that day in each macro category.
So if you are tired of trying to “diet”, give counting macros a try. It’s been successful for me and can be for everyone weather you are trying to lose fat or build muscle or both! It seems time consuming at first, but you quickly learn what’s in the food you are eating each day and gets much easier. Counting macros is all about creating healthy habits that you can maintain long term!