Many of you may have heard the term “macros” or have been asked “what are your macros?” and had no clue what that means. Don’t worry most people don’t.
It sounds scientific but once you learn the basics…it’s easy to understand.
Macros are the breakdown in percentages of the three primary macro nutrients in your diet: fat, carbohydrates, and protein.
Someone on a low carb or keto diet typically has a macro breakdown of 45% of protein, 45% of fat, and 5% carbohydrates for their daily diet.
A person eating a more normal diet in carbs and wants to build muscle and lose fat could have a daily macro split of 40% carbohydrates, 30% Protein, and 25% fat.
You can adjust your macro ratios based on your goals and what works for your lifestyle.
Let’s take the macro concept further and apply it to your resting metabolic rate or RMR.
Your RMR measures how many calories you burn while in a resting state. It has many variables such as age, lean body mass, and genetics.
The Harris and Benedict Formula is a widely used formula to calculate your RMR:
- Men – 88.362 + (13.397 × weight in kg) + (4.799 × height in cm) – (5.677 × age in years)
- Women – 447.593 + (9.247 × weight in kg) + (3.098 × height in cm) – (4.330 × age in years)
Once you calculate your RMR, you can apply this number to your macro goals or what your ratio should be.
For example, let’s say your RMR is 1500 calories, and you burn another 1000 calories through daily activities such as walking to your car, exercising, brushing your teeth, etc.
The 1000 calories you burned plus your RMR is your Active Metabolic Rate or AMR.
1000 Active Calories+1500 RMR = 2500 Calories AMR
If my goal is weight loss, I need to be at a caloric deficit, meaning burning more calories than I take in.
Based on my current AMR of 2500 calories, I need to set my diet to have less than 2500 daily calories.
You can play with how much of a caloric deficit you want rest at, but for this example, I set my daily calories at 2000.
I am burning 500 calories more than I consume daily.
An excellent macro ratio for a 2000 calorie diet would be 40% carbohydrates (800 calories), 35% Protein (700 calories), and 25% Fat (500 calories).
Over time as you lose weight, your body will adjust and burn fewer calories, so adjustments will be needed as you progress.
There are also many variables with weight loss and muscle building, such as age, genetics, sleep habits, and stress levels.
Nevertheless, you can see how some raw numbers, such as RMR and macro ratios, can set the foundation for a diet conducive to your goals.
Remember, consistency over the long run adds up to results.
I wish you all good health.
