![]() For most people, that’s roughly 30 grams or so per meal. For a 200 lbs individual, for example, that’s between 200-300 grams, or 800-1,200 calories from protein alone.įor starters, your body needs a certain amount of protein in each meal to maximize muscle protein synthesis – the body’s process for repairing and building muscle. You may have already noticed that getting 1-1.5 grams of protein each day is what many would consider a high amount. With that in mind, let’s start with the most important macro: Protein. The point here is that there’s a big difference between 2,000 calories a day from ice cream and 2,000 calories from a balanced, macro-based diet. There are several options you can choose to increase your fat loss or lean muscle gains even further, like intermittent fasting and carb cycling, but they all start with this introduction to counting macros instead of calories in general.īefore getting more specific, let’s be clear: counting macros is counting calories, in a way. ![]() ![]() (If you’re over 230 lbs and looking to lose fat, use that to set your targets at first.) Jim Stoppani’s meal plans like Dieting 101 and Muscle Building Nutrition Rules recommend 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, 0.5 grams of fat, and set your carb target depending on your starting point and goals. The gist of this alternative is that, rather than having you bust out a calculator to multiply grams of each macro by their caloric content (9 calories per gram of fat, 4 calories per grams of protein and carbs) and then figure out percentages, you just track the grams themselves and apply them to a simple formula. The alternative? A simple system that’s customizable, uses grams of each macro based on your bodyweight and goals, and adapts as you progress toward those goals. These general guidelines tend to miss the mark in a few aspects – namely, that there are no one-size-fits-all ratios, your needs will change over time, and calculating the percentage of calories you get from each macro is an unnecessarily complicated way of doing things. For muscle-building, the ratio may be closer to 60/10/30. If you’ve ever encountered the concept before, it was likely presented in terms of percentages and how much of your diet should be made up of each macro.įor example, one may suggest 40% of your calories come from protein, 30% from fats, and 30% from carbs. Just like any other approach to dieting, there are a few versions of macro-tracking. That having been said, let’s dig into some details… That’s another reason the macro-based approach is so effective – you’ll be far less likely to feel deprived or starved, which helps to keep your willpower going and your new lifestyle on track. The goal is to eat as much as you can and maintain muscle while also losing or keeping off unwanted fat. You’re not going to build or maintain the muscle you want, or reach and maintain your ideal level of body fat, with simple calorie counting. And while depriving yourself for short-term weight loss may be tempting, it’s actually fat loss you want to focus on – a plan that provides better performance and lasting results, without costing you any lean muscle gains.Ī macro-based diet is about giving your body what it needs, and both a muscle-building and fat-loss lifestyle. What you need to succeed isn’t just a new diet, it’s a change in your lifestyle. If you eat nothing but fast food, that’s your current diet. ![]() By following a macro-based meal plan, you can take advantage of those interactions for better results.īefore continuing, there’s one more common bit of confusion that needs clearing up: a “diet” is not some special plan you follow – it’s whatever your regular eating habits are. And this is true in terms of your daily intake as well as each meal you eat.īecause of the way these molecules interact in the body during digestion, your macro ratio can have a significant impact on your metabolism. What makes them so important versus just counting calories is how much of each macro you get in your diet. What are macros? Primarily, they’re where your calories come from: protein, fats, and carbohydrates.
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