Calculating and tracking macros to reach your goal

There are 4 macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein, fat, and alcohol.

1 gram carbohydrate = 4 calories

1 gram protein = 4 calories

1 gram fat = 9 calories

1 gram alcohol = 7 calories

This is the most basic way to calculate your macros to track how many grams of each macronutrient you should be eating per day to achieve your goals. Keep in mind that everyBODY is different. Some people have very fast metabolisms, some people do better with higher carbs and lower fats, some people live sedentary lifestyles (sitting at a desk most of the day)- These are all factors to take note of! When you are doing these calculations really think about yourself and where you lie on the scale of those factors.

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Step 1: Find your maintenance calories.

Maintenance calories=Your weight (lbs) X 14-16

Example: 140lbs X 14-16 = 1,960-2,240

You need to eat between 1,960 calories-2,240 calories per day to maintain your weight of 140 lbs. This exact number varies depending on the individual.

Step 2: Establish your goal

Is your goal to lose weight or gain muscle? It is very difficult to gain muscle while losing fat so I would choose one or the other depending at what point you are in your fitness journey. If your goal is to lose weight (fat) you will be in a caloric deficit (meaning you will consume less calories than your body burns), and if you want to gain muscle you will be in a caloric surplus (consuming more calories than your body burns).

Step 3: Choose your daily caloric intake based on your goal

Goal: Lose weight- select a caloric goal that is 300-500 calories less than your maintenance calories.

Example: Let's say the 140 lbs individual in our previous example decided her maintenance calories were at 2,100. She would set her daily caloric goal to 1,600-1,800 per day to lose weight.

Goal: Gain muscle- select a caloric goal that is 200-400 calories above your maintenance calories

Example: If the 140 lbs individual decided her maintenance calories were at 2,100 she would set her daily caloric goal to 2,300-2,500 calories to gain weight.

Step 4: Calculating protein

Goal: Lose weight- Your weight (lbs) X 1-1.3

Example: 140lbs X 1-1.3 = 140-182 g protein/day

Goal: Gain muscle- Your weight (lbs) X 1.2-1.5

Example: 140 lbs X 1.2-1.4 = 168-196 g protein/day

Step 5: Calculating fat

Goal: Lose weight- Your weight (lbs) X 0.3-0.4

Example: 140 lbs X 0.3-0.4 = 42-56 g fat/day

Goal: Gain muscle- Your weight (lbs) X0.5

Example: 140 lbs X 0.5 = 70 g fat/day

Step 6: Calculating calories from protein and fat

As I said earlier 1g protein=4 calories and 1g fat=9 calories, so to find the total calories you have so far from protein and fat you do the following equation:

(grams of protein X 4) + (grams of fat X 9) = calories from protein and fat

Example: (150g protein X 4) + (48g fat X 9) = 1,032 calories

Step 7: Calculating carbohydrates

Daily caloric goal (found in step 3) - calories from protein and fat (found in step 6) = calories from carbohydrates

Example: 1,600-1,032 = 298 calories

There are 4 calories per 1 gram of carbohydrate. So to find how many grams of carbohydrates you should be eating you would do the following:

calories from carbohydrates/4 = grams of carbs

Example: 298/4 = 74.5g carbs/day

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Macronutrients need to be tracked. If you are following the macros you calculated for 1 week and not seeing progress based on your goal then adjust as necessary. EveryBODY is different and what works for one person might not work for you.

I would suggest purchasing a food scale and downloading the MyFitnessPal app to track your macros. It makes it extremely easy! If you want a tutorial on how to use MyFitnessPal leave a comment below!