3 Keys To Dialing In Your Macronutrient Ratios

Building? Maintaining? Looking to lose some fat? What you eat is as important as how you work out. Craft your macronutrient ratio with these tips!

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I often get asked questions like, "What amounts of carbohydrates do you recommend for bulking?" "How much protein do I need during weight loss?" and "Is there an ideal macro ratio for getting rid of unwanted fat?" If you've ever asked someone these questions, you may have also tried a ratio you saw someone touting and found that it definitely didn't work for you. Maybe you felt groggy or exhausted all the time, or you expected gains that never showed up. This is all too common.

The truth is that just like everyone has different goals, everyone has to take a different road to get to their ideal body. Otherwise, building lean mass, shedding unwanted fat, and maintaining your goal weight would be easy—just adjust your calories and you'd be set! Sadly, it's not that simple.

Does this mean we're all doomed to start from scratch and tinker until we find our way? Definitely not. Here are three factors that can help you establish an effective starting point for your journey from "before" to "after."

>> Is protein key to weight loss?

FACTOR 1: FITNESS GOALS

Your first step is to choose what's more important to you: fat loss or lean mass gains. You may ask, "What if I want both?" However, this is one of those situations where you're better off tackling one goal at a time. While lean mass gains can occur alongside fat loss, neither process will occur at its full potential. Why? Higher carbohydrate ratios augment lean mass gains, while lower carbohydrate ratios tend to accelerate fat loss.

There are ways you can move incrementally toward fat and build muscle simultaneously, such as carb-cycling, where you alternate muscle-building phases of higher carbs with periods of lower carbs to encourage fat burning. Some recent research also supports intermittent fasting as a means of achieving both fat loss and mass gains. However, individual results vary in both cases, and neither is an excuse to disregard your macros altogether.

Regardless of what method you choose, you'll see more pronounced mass gains, or more rapid fat loss, if you focus primarily on one main goal at a time. Many pro fitness athletes utilize a "building" phase lasting several weeks or months, followed by a "cutting" phase to achieve a well-developed, yet lean physique. This doesn't have to be extreme or unpleasant in order to work, as long as you stick to these typical macronutrient ranges.

MACRONUTRIENT RATIOS

  

Notice that fat never goes below 15 percent of total calories. Since hormones are constructed from cholesterol and other fat molecules, getting any less than that can actually suppress normal hormone levels. This also has a negative effect on the bodily functions driven by those hormones, including growth and development, metabolism, reproduction, and mood. Low fat intake can also impair absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Even worse, not getting enough essential fatty acids can increase your risk of colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.

But as you might imagine, not just any fat source will do. Prioritizie healthy fat sources like monounsaturated fats like monounsaturated fats (avocados, egg yolks, olives, nuts, peanut butter, canola oil, olive oil, high-oleic sunflower oil), medium-chain triglycerides (coconut oil), and omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, and other fish, grass-fed beef, chia seeds,ground flax seeds, soybeans, tofu, edamame, beans, wild rice, and walnuts).

FACTOR 2: BODY TYPE

Once you determined your primary fitness objective, it's important to factor in your body type. This will help determine how well you tolerate carbs and establish where in the above ranges you should start.

There are three general body types, with many people falling somewhere in between. While the endomorph could be considered the polar opposite of the ectomorph, many people are a combination of "endo/meso" or "ecto/meso." Even if you end up determining you're somewhere in the middle, these categories are helpful for establishing a nutritional benchmark. Start with the body type you most resemble, and tweak as necessary.

ECTOMORPH

An ectomorph is best described as slender. Characteristically, they have delicate bone structure, small shoulders and chest, and a fast metabolism. Ectomorphs are the classic "hardgainers." They find it hard to gain weight and put on mass.

On the plus side, it's easy for them to get lean. They tend to require a greater percentage of carbohydrates to prevent muscle catabolism, as well as a higher calorie intake overall.

Diet Recommendations: Ectomorphs should stick to the high end of the range for carbohydrates, between 30-60 percent of total calories, depending on whether the goal is mass gains, maintenance, or fat loss. Higher carbohydrate ratios augment lean mass gains, while lower carbohydrate ratios tend to accelerate fat loss.

I recommend the high end for mass gains, the mid-upper end for maintenance (45-55 percent), and the low-end for fat loss. At least 25 percent of total calories should come from protein, with the remainder from fat.

MESOMORPH

A mesomorph is someone who trends toward being muscular. They're often strong, athletic hard-body types with well-defined muscles, broad shoulders, and dense bone structure. Mesomorphs generally have little trouble gaining muscle or losing fat, though they will put on fat more readily than ectomorphs.

They can handle a moderate level of carbs due to their ample capacity to store muscle glycogen. Weight gain will happen, however, if carbs and calories are overly high. No body type is immune to a bad diet!

Diet Recommendations: Mesomorphs do well in the middle range for carbohydrates, between 20-50 percent of total calories. Again, I recommend the high-end for mass gains (40-50 percent), the middle for maintenance (30-40), and low-end for fat loss (20-30).

To prioritize fat loss, increase both protein and fat while lowering carbohydrate intakes, with no more than 40 of calories coming from fat.

ENDOMORPH

The endomorph is best described as soft. They typically have a round or pear-shaped body, shorter limbs, a stocky build, and a slower metabolism.

Endomorphs can put on a lot of muscle, but they also tend to carry more adipose tissue and thus have a greater propensity to store fat. Because excess carbohydrates in the endomorph's diet end up as fat, a high carbohydrate intake will make it difficult for them to get lean or lose weight.

Diet Recommendations: Endomorphs should stick to the low end of the carbohydrate range, between 10-40 percent of total calories, depending on their goals. Here, I recommend no more than 30-40 percent carbohydrates for mass gains, the middle range for maintenance (20-30), and low-end for fat loss (10-20).

As with the other body types, protein and fat provide the remainder of your calories, with 25-50 percent of total calories from protein and 15-40 percent from fat.

FACTOR 3: GENDER

Gender is usually less pronounced of a factor than goals or overall body type, and it's far more prone to individual variation. However, it's nevertheless important for you to keep somewhat in mind as you work to find your ideal number.

In general, women are more efficient at burning fat and less efficient at burning the glycogen stored in muscle. As such, they may be able to operate on lower carbohydrate intake than men.

Research suggests a variety of reasons that women have a greater reliance on fats for fuel during exercise, including:

1. Estrogen enhances epinephrine production, the primary hormone that stimulates lipolysis (fatty acid breakdown).
2. Estrogen promotes the release of human growth hormone (HGH), which inhibits the uptake of carbohydrates and increases the mobilization of fatty acids from adipose tissue.
3. Women have increased blood flow to adipose tissue, which could assist in fatty acid mobilization.
4. Women have higher levels of intramuscular triglycerides (IMTG), a fat-based source of fuel that spares muscle glycogen during moderate to high intensity exercise. This sparing of muscle glycogen may actually give women an endurance edge when performing at high intensities against men!
5. According to one study, men appear to rely more on stored carbohydrate for fuel than women when doing the same exercise.

Diet recommendation: Does this mean that women should always have a lower carb intake than men? Not necessarily. An ectomorphic woman training at high intensity would likely need a higher carbohydrate percentage than a sedentary endomorphic man.

On the other hand, a mesomorphic male trying to maintain weight would likely require a higher percentage of carbohydrate, perhaps in the range of 40 percent, while a woman of the same body type with the same goal may wish to start at around 30 percent.

Nevertheless, if you're a woman training at low to moderate intensity, I would suggest first referencing the above macro ranges to select a ratio that corresponds to your fitness goals and body type. Then, start on the low end for carbohydrates and see how you do.

Male or female, if you feel fatigued and weak from your workouts, yet you fail to build muscle mass, you should consider increasing your carbs.

Macros are just one part of the puzzle

After the hundredth or so time that you hear "abs are made in the kitchen," it can be tempting to spend all your time worrying about macronutrient ratios and pay less mind to other factors that are just as important to your overall results. Don't lose the forest for the trees!

IF YOUR HEALTH WAS A MATH EQUATION IT WOULD LOOK LIKE THIS: (X+Y+Z)(A+B+C)= U. THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF FACTORS, AND YOU MUST ADDRESS THEM ALL TO GET THE RIGHT ANSWER.

One crucial additional factor is the total calories you take in. Even the perfect macronutrient ratio is ineffective if your calorie intake is too high or low. And along the same line, you can't expect to achieve a toned, muscular physique if you are unwilling to take training seriously!

This may sound like a lot to keep in mind, but don't get frustrated. You're building a healthier lifestyle here, not just doing math. Determining your ideal nutritional strategy will take time, and as your fitness goals evolve, your ideal macro ratio will too. But with determination, resolve, and a willingness to change, you'll keep progressing toward great things.

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Is There A Magical Macronutrient Ratio For Fat Loss?

Q:

"I'm trying to lose some fat, but everywhere I go to look for helpful information, I get conflicting views on the proper macronutrients ratio. Is there a right answer?"

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Great question! In reality, when you're trying to lose weight, there's no ironclad macronutrient law for mapping out your diet plan. No macro mix can save you if you eat way too many calories or way too few.

Yet your macro mix is an important consideration. Your body type, metabolism and weekly physical activity level all have some bearing on your ideal percentages for that moment in time. But that doesn't mean it will be the macronutrient ratio you'll use forever. It may change if and when your body weight or body fat fluctuates, or if you run into any plateaus.

Then there's the fact that you have to continuously manipulate your ratios throughout any fat-loss plan. The macronutrient ratio I typically play with for maintenance purposes is 50% protein, 35% carbs and 15% fats. But that's for me. I need to stay lean all year round. That ratio won't necessarily work for you because you have a different body type, fitness goal and activity level.

My body type is an ecto-mesomorph, which means it has a higher tolerance for carbs than most people. Even if I increase my carbs to 40-to-50 percent, I won't suffer. Not everybody is like that. Individuals who are carb-sensitive have to monitor their carbs closely and make adjustments in their ratios.

MACRO-MORPHING

Each body type or combination of body types will have a different reaction to various macronutrient ratios. If you're not sure which type you are—or how to even begin thinking about your macros—here are the ISSA recommendations:

Ectomorph: If you're an ectomorph, you're naturally thin with skinny limbs and a high tolerance for carbohydrates. Usually, your metabolic rate is fast. A good starting macronutrient ratio for you would be something like 25% protein, 55% carbs and 20% fat.

Mesomorph: Mesomorphs are naturally muscular and athletic. They have a moderate carbohydrate tolerance and a moderate metabolic rate. Mesomorphs can usually start at a 30% protein, 40% carb, 30% fat macronutrient ratio.

Endomorph: If you're naturally broad and thick, you're probably an endomorph. Endomorphs have a low carbohydrate tolerance and a slow metabolic rate. If you're an endomorph, try a ratio of 35% protein, 25% carbs and 40% fat.

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Don't let your body type be an excuse for not reaching your goals. If you're an endomorph and have a difficult time leaning out, or are an ectomorph and can't seem to gain weight, don't give up. You can beat your biology; you just need to put some serious work into doing it. You need to want it bad enough.

Bottom Line: These ratios are a starting range for most body-types, but don't be afraid to experiment for better results. Sometimes, decreasing your carbs and increasing your good fats can show remarkable fat-loss results. Get to know your body!

Comment below and let me know if you use macronutrients to lose weight? How has it worked for you? Do you have any tips you'd like to share?





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How Much Do Macronutrients Really Matter?

Macro-focused diets say that by getting the right balance of proteins, carbs and fat, you can lose weight and be healthier.

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OK, you might not have heard of the term “macronutrients” before, but you still eat them every day.

They are carbohydrates, protein and fat, and your body needs a lot of them – which is why they’re called “macronutrients,” not “micronutrients,” such as iron and zinc. Macros also provide your body energy: Each gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories; protein contains 4 and fat, 9. (The only other substance that feeds our bodies calories is alcohol, which has 7 calories per gram. But, since we don’t need booze to survive, it doesn’t get to be a member of the macronutrient club.)

For years, diets have ganged up on this-or-that macronutrient, telling us to banish them as much as possible to lose weight. In the 90s, it was the fat-free craze. But then research found that healthy fats such as avocados, walnuts and olive oil can help you shed fat. For instance, one study in the British Journal of Nutrition shows that adults who eat the most unsaturated fat have lower body mass indexes and less belly fat than those who eat the least.

Then, in the early 2000s, the Atkins Diet stormed onto the scene, and urged people to cut carbs – even from fruits and veggies – and fill up on protein and fat. But some research disputes that approach. In one 2014 PLOS ONE study, when adults tried two different diets, one rich in whole grains and low in red meat and one low in whole grains and rich in red meat (both diets packed the same number of calories), they enhanced the diversity of their gut bacteria, lost more weight and body fat and improved their BMI more than when they swapped whole grains for red meat.

That brings us to today’s macro-focused diets, including The One One One Diet and the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) diet, along with apps such as My Macros+ and Fitocracy Macros. These diets don’t cut macronutrients, but instead tell you to get them all.

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“Carbohydrates provide us with energy as well as fiber, which improves heart and digestive health; protein is the building block for strong muscles and healthy tissues and also helps make hormones and enzymes; and fats help maintain healthy tissues and cells, ensure proper nerve and brain function and increase the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins,” says nutritionist Rania Batayneh, author of "The One One One Diet: The Simple 1:1:1 Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss." She adds: “Put simply, each macronutrient plays a very different role in keeping your body healthy, and skipping out on any one of them can compromise health.”

Counting Macros

The One One One Diet focuses on getting one serving of carbohydrates, one serving of protein and one serving of fat at every meal and snack. “Because every meal or snack contains a protein, a carb and a fat, you’re supporting each structure and function of your body with nutrients every few hours, which leads to overall health and wellness," she says. Plus, by combining them at each meal, you can stay full longer, keep your blood sugar from spiking, prevent fat gain, and give your muscles a constant supply of protein for muscle growth.

“Portion control is inherent in the diet and based on the formula when you stick with one of each of the macronutrients,” she says. For example, in The One One One Diet, a serving size of nut or seed butter (which would count as a fat), is 1 tablespoon, not 2 as indicated on the nutrition label. Some foods, count as two different macronutrients, for example, beans count as both a carb and protein, and cheese counts as a fat and protein. In her book, Batayneh provides a cheat sheet of common foods, their macronutrient classifications and serving sizes. Those serving sizes are critical to keeping your macro intake balanced as well as not overdoing it on calories.

Meanwhile, the If It Fits Your Macros diet requires a lot of math. You have to know how many calories your body burns in an average day, and eat 10 to 20 percent fewer calories every day than that number. Then you’ve got to split those calories so you get 40 percent of them from carbohydrates, 40 percent from protein and 20 percent from fat during the course of each day.  It doesn’t matter when you get each of them. Meanwhile, drink plenty of water and make sure you’re getting a good bit of fiber from the foods you’re eating. It’s worth mentioning that while some nutritionists say this is a pretty healthy split, the diet was designed by competitive bodybuilders, not licensed health professionals.

Does It Guarantee Healthy Eating?

“Eating a variety and balance of each macronutrient ensures that you meet your micronutrient goals, which is also key in promoting good health. Proteins tend to be high in iron and zinc; carbs boast fiber and B vitamins; and fats offer omega-3 fatty acids and help absorb fat-soluble vitamins found in many fruits and vegetables,” Batayneh says.

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Is that an excuse to get your carbs from donuts and your protein and fat from bacon? There, The One One One diet and IIFYM diet don’t agree. According to Batayneh, you can moderate hits to your health by making sure splurges pack all three macros in roughly similar amounts, but a salmon fillet with brown rice and a green salad with lemon and olive oil is still going to pack more vitamins, minerals and healthy fats (not to mention fewer chemicals) than a fast-food cheeseburger made of processed ground beef, American cheese and a white-bread bun. However, according to IIFYM.com,bodybuilders designed IIFYM so that dieters could eat so-called “dirty” foods without gaining weight. According to the diet, it doesn’t matter if you get your carbs from whole grains or cupcakes, as long as you get the right number of calories from carbs that day

Other health experts such as Wesley Delbridge, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, gravitate toward the The One One One approach. “All carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, but we are seeing that refined ones are adsorbed and stored differently in the body,” he says. Focus on getting your macros from whole, unprocessed foods and weight loss will likely follow, says Holly Herrington, a registered dietitian in the Center for Lifestyle medicine at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. But remember that to lose weight, you still have to take in fewer calories than you’re burning, she says. Getting your macros at every meal will make that easier by reducing insulin spikes, crashes and cravings.

While counting macros may be the nutritional ideal, it’s not super practical, Delbridge says. For those who aren’t up to measuring serving sizes or tabulating percentages, simply taking a quick scan of your plate and making sure it contains some of each macronutrient is an easy way to lose weight and be healthier. “If you are really mindful of getting whole, fiber-filled carbs, lean proteins and healthy fats at each meal, you will get yourself into a habit where you won’t really have to think about calories,” he says.

“What I think is missing from the common American diet is that we aren’t focused on getting all of our macronutrients for every meal and snack. People wake up and have a granola bar and an apple for breakfast and think they are doing well. Not to knock apples, but without fat and protein in that breakfast, too, they are just going to be starving and tired in an hour,” he says. Protein and fat delay gastric emptying (how long it takes for food to leave your stomach), prevent blood sugar spikes and help keep your hormone levels stable for longer-lasting fullness and energy.

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The American Heart Association recommends that no more than 30 percent of your daily calories come from fat (only 10 percent should be saturated fat). That leaves 70 percent or more of your calories to divvy up between protein and fat. There’s debate over what that split should be, but Herrington recommends that 40 to 60 percent of your total calories come from whole carbs and 20 to 30 percent from lean protein.

The point is, you have wiggle room – as long as, at every meal, you get all three macronutrients.

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The Truth About Calories, Macronutrients, and Weight Loss

Imagine this scenario:

Your DOCTOR diagnoses you with a life-threatening illness.

The only treatment, he says, is “brain surgery.”

Panic stricken, you visit a different doctor for a second opinion.

It turns out the first doctor was right about the illness but wrong about the treatment.

“Antibiotics will suffice.”

Do you see where this is going?

Relieved but still worried you visit a third doctor. Again he agrees with the diagnosis but not the treatment. It turns out, “you need to have your leg amputated.”

You feel confused and helpless, so you visit 20 more doctors and get 20 different suggested treatments. What option do you choose?

This is a ridiculous situation, right? No way would 23 experts all disagree on the best treatment for a life-threatening illness… would they…?

Well, I’ll rephrase the question:

You are morbidly obese, and a doctor tells you a heart attack is imminent unless you improve your diet. Scared into action, you start visiting nutritionists for help with choosing the right diet. You visit 23 in total.

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They all agree that you have a high risk of heart attack but disagree about which diet is best for you. You feel confused and helpless, so you write down the list of diets in order to make a better decision. It looks something like this:

“Vegetarian, vegan, weight watchers, south beach, raw food, Mediterranean, pescatarian, paleo, zone, Atkins, slow carb, blood type, glycemic index,  alkaline, green smoothie, gluten free, ketogenic, fasting, low fat, low sodium, macrobiotic, organic, slimming world.”

Welcome to the world of nutrition.

The most contradictory and confusing science on earth…

That’s how it seems anyway. But nutrition from a practical standpoint, isn’t actually that complicated at all. It only appears that way because people study it the wrong way round.

They choose a diet that looks interesting and reverse study nutrition through the framework of that diet. This causes all kinds of information gaps. It’s like an illiterate trying to learn English through a Shakespeare play.

I think that learning the alphabet first would be a slightly better strategy.

This article is not a diet or an eating plan and does not push any dietary agenda your way. Its only concerns are the elements of nutrition that are irrefutable and omnipotent in every single diet on that list: calories and nutrients.

All I invite you to do, before you decide which nutritional road to travel down, is to first get acquainted with the roadmap. 

The Nutritional Roadmap

Scientific definitions are often really detailed and precise but lack practical value. We struggle to relate the intricacies of biochemistry to our own personal health goals. I’ve simplified everything here as much as possible, but without overlooking what I consider the most important elements.

What Are Calories? (kcal)

Scientific definition: the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1 °C, equal to one thousand small calories and often used to measure the energy value of foods.

 

As I said, not exactly practical huh?

Calories are energy or fuel. We’ll be thinking of them as building blocks or bricks since energy is vague and does not summon a concrete image in our minds. Whether you gain weight, lose weight or maintain weight is entirely down to the calories you consume versus the calories you burn (the energy balance equation).

For this reason, calories are the most important factor in body recomposition. It’s impossible to gain weight in a calorie deficit (eating less that you burn), and it’s impossible to lose weight in a calorie surplus (vice versa).

To give calories some practical significance just keep in mind that 3,500 calories = 1lb of fat. 

There are some people who argue that calories don’t matter and that the hormones that our bodies produce are the main cause of weight gain or loss. One of the biggest proponents of this view is the best-selling author of Good Calories, Bad Calories, Gary Taubes.

He argues that carbohydrates are the cause of nearly every metabolic disorder because they spike a hormone called insulin, which causes us to gain weight. It’s a lovely idea, but it’s wrong. By the end of this section, you’ll understand more about calories than 99% of the population, including Taubes.

A common argument against the energy balance equation goes as follows:

“So you’re saying a person will gain the same amount of weight eating 1000 calories of ice cream versus 1000 calories of lean tuna?”

Let’s look at the ‘calories in’ part of the energy balance equation. We don’t breathe calories, we don’t usually absorb them through our skin, we eat them and drink them. That’s pretty much it.

The person asking the above question obviously understands this. But so does everyone else. It’s the ‘energy out’ part of the equation that confuses people. You see, there’s more to burning calories than cardio…

The 4 Ways To Calculate Calories Burned

1. Thermic Effect of Activity aka Exercise (TEA)

Okay, so cardio does burn calories. But not many compared to what we eat. A 35min run at 6.7mph will help you burn roughly 400 calories, equivalent to a muffin.

So if we do the math, and a pound of fat is 3,500 calories, all you need to do is run for 45 minutes at 6.7mph, seven days per week, while maintaining the exact same daily intake of food and you’ll lose one pound! Yeah, what I thought… muffins aren’t that nice.

2. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

Your BMR is the total daily amount of calories you burn by quite literally being alive. Your BMR is what you would burn if you were in a coma. One of the main differences between dead people and people in a coma is that people in a coma still need to eat!

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In the same way a car with the engine turned off doesn’t require fuel, a car with the ignition on does – even if it remains stationary. In a human body, everything needs calories. Your heart, your lungs, your skin, your eyes, your brain and every cell in between. Your BMR is where most of your calories go on a daily basis.

 3. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) 

NEAT accounts for all of the activity you do throughout the day that you wouldn’t really class as an exercise, i.e. fidgeting, being expressive, pottering around the house. You’d be surprised how many calories you’re capable of burning from this type of activity. For an energetic fidgeter, possibly hundreds each day.

4. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

Ah, now this is the one most people don’t understand. Remember our question about whether you’d gain the same amount of weight if you ate 1000 calories of ice-cream versus 1000 calories of tuna?

Well, I have to concede to the ‘carbs are the devil’ people here. Because you would indeed  gain more weight if you ate the ice cream than if you ate the tuna, even though they contain the same amount of calories. But don’t rule out calories yet. They still count. Here’s how:

Food is made up of calories, but calories are made up of something themselves: macronutrients such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins (we’ll get into more depth in a moment).

Different macronutrients are processed and utilised differently by the body and require different amounts of energy (calories) to do so. This process is called  the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF).

Protein, for instance, has a TEF of about 20-30%. This means that 20-30% of the calories you consume from protein get used up just in the digestion process.

So out of 1000 calories of tuna, 200-300 calories would be ‘burnt’ just by the mere processing of it. 1000 calories of tuna, when all is said and done is actually closer to 700 calories of tuna.

Carbohydrates, on the other hand, have a low TEF of 6%. So of course tuna, when you subtract its thermic effect is not going to make you as fat as ice-cream! Calories in, calories out. There’s no way around it.

What are Macronutrients?

Scientific definition: a type of food (e.g. fat, protein, carbohydrate) required in large amounts in the diet.

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Our body has no emotional attachment or concept of what ‘food’ is. Whether we eat a bowl of sugar or a plate of greens, the only thing our bodies recognise are the nutrients within. So that’s what we’ll be studying here.

There are only 5 types of Macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein, fiber, alcohol). While calories determine weight gain and weight loss, macronutrients determine where that weight gain or weight loss comes from. For instance, weight loss can come from fat loss, or just as easily from muscle loss depending on the macronutrient composition of your diet.

An easy way to think about it is this:

Calories determine how heavy you are, macros determine how heavy you look.

The best analogy to help think of and understand the interplay of calories and macros, and one we’ll be referring to throughout, is that of a house. As previously stated, the calories represent the total number of bricks, the macros represent the architecture of the house. With the same amount of bricks, it’s possible to create two very different looking houses.

Broken Down Food Pyramid

It’s worth remembering,  food itself very rarely consists of a single macronutrient. Bread, potatoes, and rice, for instance, are commonly thought of as carbohydrates. While these foods may consist predominantly of carbs, they also contain fat, protein and fiber.

The same applies to other singularly dense macronutrient foods, i.e., chicken, protein powder with the rare exception of things like lard, which by definition is pure fat.

 1. What Is Protein?

Scientific definition: any of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds which have large molecules composed of one or more long chains of amino acids and are an essential part of all living organisms, especially as structural components of body tissues such as muscle, hair, etc., and as enzymes and antibodies.

Straight off the bat, most people don’t eat enough protein.

Most of our cells are made out of protein, and it’s essential to keep them healthy and in a constant state of regeneration. Protein is also the most satiating (filling) of all the macronutrients, has the highest TEF, helps stabilise blood sugar and helps preserve muscle mass. (Muscle mass is the first thing to go in old age – my advice, eat more protein).

The way to think of protein in our house analogy is the cement and foundations that holds everything together. Not eating enough protein will make your house weak, unstable and less resistant to the harsh effects of the environment.

 Protein Stats:

• 4 kcal per gram.
• TEF 20-35%

2. What Are Carbohydrates?

Scientific definition: any of a large group of organic compounds occurring in foods and living tissues and including sugars, starch, and cellulose. They contain hydrogen and oxygen in the same ratio as water (2:1) and typically can be broken down to release energy in the animal body.

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If you were to simplify carbohydrate’s practical uses into one word, that word would be ENERGY. Your body doesn’t need carbohydrates to survive because at very low levels your body makes it’s own  called ketones. But for most modern active people, this isn’t worth getting caught up with.

In our house analogy, carbohydrates would be the electricity keeping everything powered optimally. Powering your body on ketones, is like a house running on candle light. It still functions but creates unnecessary limitations.

 Carb Stats:

• 4 kcal per gram (100 grams of pure carbohydrate = 400 Calories)
• TEF = 5% (Remember TEF? It means that 5% of the total calories consumed from carbohydrates are used up by your bodies processing of them)

3. Dietary Fats

 Scientific definition: Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides: triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids

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We cannot survive without fat in our diet, neither can we survive without fat on our body (even people with six packs have some fat).

Fat to put simply is the HORMONAL REGULATOR of the body.

If you go too low on fat –  libido, menstrual cycles, skin health, eye health and a host of other very important biochemical processes get thrown off.

In our nutritional house, fat would be the maintenance guy. Without fat your home would become rusty, faulty and broken. Fat keeps everything well-oiled and functioning as it should.

There are four different subtypes of fat called polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, saturated fat and trans fat. This article is not about dietary recommendations, but if I were to make one quick suggestion, the only fat you should stay away from is trans fat (man-made).

As you can see in the fat stats below, fat contains more than twice as many calories per gram as protein and carbohydrate, which is why low-fat diets are so effective. They allow you to slash the least amount of food volume from your diet while creating the biggest caloric deficit.

The only problem is, very low-fat diets taste like cardboard and are difficult to adhere to.

Fat Stats:

• TEF 3%
• 9 kcals per gram

4. What Is Fiber? 

Scientific Definition: dietary material containing substances such as cellulose, lignin, and pectin, that are resistant to the action of digestive enzymes.

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There are two types of fiber: soluble (mixes with water) and insoluble (doesn’t mix with water).

Fiber helps massively with digestion, stabilizing blood sugar, and keeping us satiated.

Most people consume a shockingly low daily amount of fiber. And not surprisingly, bowel cancer is the third most common type of cancer in men and woman.

Lyle McDonald refers to fiber as, ‘natures broom’. So in our house analogy, fiber is the cleaner. I won’t get too graphic, you get the picture.

Fiber Stats:

• Fiber does contain calories 1.5-2 cal/gram depending on the type. But since it’s absolutely vital, and is a massive benefit in fat loss due to it’s slowing down of digestion and blood sugar regulation. Don’t dare worry about gaining weight from fiber. Every grown adult should have at least 20g per day at a minimum.

5. Are There Calories in Alcohol?

Scientific Definition: a colourless volatile flammable liquid which is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel.

Alcohol, the pure chemical, unfortunately, does also contain calories. Many people don’t realise this. Diet coke and vodka may contain minimal amounts of fat, protein and carbohydrates, but because alcohol is never listed on the ‘nutritional information’ people don’t realise that it’s a macronutrient in its own right.

In our house analogy, alcohol would be a temporary power cut. The calories in alcohol don’t store as fat. But the catch is when you consume alcohol, your body, in order to get it out of the system, places it high on its metabolic priority list.

In other words, consuming alcohol shuts down the fat burning process for the other foods you’ve eaten that day. So be extra careful about what you eat on the way home from a night out.

For a comprehensive guide to alcohol, there’s no better article than Martin Berkhan’s  ‘The Truth About Alcohol.‘

Alcohol Stats:

•  TEF = 20% (close second to protein)
• 7 Kcals per gram

What Are Micronutrients?

Scientific definition: a chemical element or substance required in trace amounts for the normal growth and development of living organisms.

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals.I won’t be able to go into too much depth here because there’s so many of them.

Vitamins are not very important for overall body composition since they don’t contain calories, but they are very important for general health and wellbeing. Eating 10 multivitamins per day doesn’t necessarily make you super healthy, but being deficient in certain micronutrients certainly makes you superunhealthy.

A classic example is scurvy caused by vitamin C deficiency or anaemia caused by iron deficiency.

Examples of micronutrient dense food are salad, fruit and vegetables. Think of these as the furniture of our nutritional house. What good is it looking good on the outside if inside you’re barren and lifeless? Too much on the other hand is not necessarily better. But too little, and your home becomes uninhabitable.

Nutritional Roadmap Summary

So there we have it. A nutritional roadmap for you to follow whenever you get inundated with extraneous nutri-babble. As they say ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’, so the next time you feel lost in the contradictory world of nutrition, just think of this house and the following 9 points, and you’ll be sure to find your way back home.

 1. Calories affect how heavy you are; macros affect how heavy you look.
2. There are 3,500 calories per pound of fat.
3. We burn calories, through being alive, exercising and the thermal effect of food.
4. Carbohydrates are energy.
5. Protein repairs, heals and keeps you strong.
6. Fat regulates your hormones.
7. Fiber is nature’s broom.
8. Alcohol contains calories and shuts down fat burning.
9. Micronutrient deficiencies causes illness.



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