How do i work out my macros?
If you want to know how to calculate your daily macronutrients then this will guide you through the steps to understand it. Understanding macronutrients and how much of each you should eat is essential to managing your performance, weight and measurements. You need to have a balance of fat, protein and carbohydrates to get the best performance possible and ensure you are fueling your body correctly. A balanced diet is key to ensuring you eat just enough of each of the elements for the amount of activity you are undertaking.
To find out more about macronutrients check out our other post here and before we calculate our macros we need to know what our daily calories should be…
How Do I Work Out My Daily Calorie Intake?
Firstly, to work out your caloric requirements for your body to lose weight effectively (or to maintain performance) – follow these steps…
Firstly calculate your age x 5 and your height (in cms) x 6.25. Then work out your weight (in kgs) x 10.
Using these numbers then calculate...
For WOMEN: your weight + your height – your age – another 161
For MEN: your weight + your height – your age + another 5. This is your base level of calories I need to breathe, sleep, blink etc.
Most people do in fact MOVE so in addition to the calories you have to live - you need extra to cater for your activity level. This is how you ensure you have enough fuel in the tank to perform well in the gym/ on the field....the range is between 1.2 and 1.9
For a person who is only lightly active you would multiply your overall number from step 1 by 1.2. If you’re training or doing a fitness class a couple of times a week or go jogging, then this could be 1.5. If you’re really going for it and training say 5 or more times a week you might want to go up as high as 1.7
Lets leave 1.9 for the pros!
How Do I Calculate My Macronutrient Intake?
Following on from understanding how many calories you should eat each day, you now need to work out how to divide those calories between fats, carbs and proteins. Having a balance of them all will mean you are giving your body all the fuel it needs to perform at its best without leaving you too tired to get the most out of your training.
If you want to lose weight, you might want to reduce your calorie number from step for by 15% – 20%. More than 20% would be drastic and I don't recommend it if you still want to be able to perform well.
Remember there is a limit to how much fat the body can burn.
So that you can optimise your diet and therefore your performance, base your calories initially on the ratios of 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. Remember, protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram where as fat is 9 calories. So divide your calories up accordingly and this will give you your macronutrients
Now you understand how it works...
Here's a link to a helpful calculator I found which will do the tricky maths for you!
CalculatorFinally, consider sugar
Eating too much sugar on a daily basis is obviously not going to do your diet any good. To work out how many grams your should be eating each day all you need to do it take the first 3 digits of your calories and divide this by 4. This is how many grams of sugar you should have per day.
