How many times have you tried a diet and lost a bunch of weight and gained it right back. How many times have you tried different nutrition fads, tried supplements, the instant weight loss in 30 days, Abs in 10mins, or some other ludicrous thing being thrown all over the internet. Probably more times than we can count but what do they all have in common? Promising you instant results but never actually teaching you how this whole thing works. Wouldn’t you like to just be able to eat the things you enjoy and not be super restricted? Well I’m here to do my best to teach you about how this works and hopefully educate you a bit to make smart choices that lead you better to your results.

So the thing I try to teach all my clients is that I don’t want to put them on a “diet” but rather teach them how to eat to see results. I actually hate the word diet simply because that already implies that you’re going to be following something you hate, especially since we all know someone who’s the “YO-YO” dieter meaning they lose all this weight following some sort of popular diet but once they lose the weight they gain it back. So rather than this happening I like to teach people about Macronutrients (Carbs,Fats,and Proteins) and how their bodies are responding currently, where they need to be in order to achieve their goals, and how we bridge the gap. It’s important to truly understand what each macro does and why it’s important, how calories actually work, what you need to do to obtain your goals since there is no one size fits all protocol, and most importantly understanding how each thing you eat or drink affect you specifically.

Macronutrients are what makes up the calorie content of food.

Carbs

So let’s dive in and start with the beast that get’s a confusing wrap….CARBS. Carbs typically provide the most energy to the body and broken down into two categories: Simple and complex carbs.

Simple carbs- (think sugars) are made up of shorter chain molecules and are quicker to digest than complex carbs. Some examples would be cereal, candy, and fruit. This is going to give you that quick burst of energy because you get a spike in blood glucose or you might know it as a “sugar rush”.

Complex carbs -also raise blood glucose levels but for longer since it takes more time to break down. These foods are more nutritious than simple carbs, higher in fiber and keep you full longer. To name a few examples: Oats, rice, pasta, and potatoes.

• A gram of carbohydrates contains 4 calories

Protein

Proteins are organic compounds comprised of amino acids. Amino acids are essential to a person’s well-being and there are certain amino acids that can only be obtained through protein sources. Our body naturally makes 11 of the 20 amino acids but in order to function properly we need to eat protein to obtain the other 9. Making sure you consume enough protein is super important when it comes to building muscle and preventing muscle loss. Every cell in your body is made up of protein including your skin,hair,nails,muscles and so much more. Getting enough protein in will help you stay full and satiated throughout the day. We can get protein from animals, dairy products, protein powders, protein bars, seeds, nuts, and beans for example.

So how much protein does one need in their diet? Well that can certainly depend on goals and person to person but somewhere between .7 - 1.5 grams per body weight.

• A gram of protein contains 4 calories

Fats

Although fats, in the context of nutrition, are typically viewed as unhealthy, they have both structural as well as metabolic functions, and are a necessary part of the human diet. They are also highly energy dense and are the most efficient form of energy storage. Fats help with absorption of some minerals and vitamins, essential for blood clotting, muscles movement, and inflammation. Fats are broken down into polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, trans and saturated fats.

1. Polyunsaturated fats are essential fats. They are required for normal body functions and must get them from food. They are used to build cell membranes, covering of nerves, helps with blood clotting, muscle movement and inflammation. The two main types are omega 3 and 6 fatty acids which you can get from fish, flaxseeds, canola oil, vegetable oils, corn oils, ect.

2. Monounsaturated fats can help reduce bad cholesterol levels which can lower the risk of heart disease or having a stroke. They also provide nutrients to help develop and maintain your body’s cells. Examples of this: olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, sesame oil and safflower oil.

3. Saturated fats can help lower blood cholesterol levels and improve lipid profiles. The majority of foods come from animal sources including meat and dairy products. Examples include lamb,pork, butter, cheese,fatty beef to name a few.

4. Trans fats are bad fats and can be harmful to your health. They are often found in fried foods, processed snacks and baked goods.

• A gram of fat contains 9 calories

The Break down

Okay so now that we understand what macros are, what do we do with this information. Well the number of calories a person needs to consume on a daily basis is mainly based on a number of factors such as: height,weight, age, activity level and what their goal is. There are a number of calculators you can use from the internet that can help give you a good reference when figuring this out. It will at least help you figure out where you maintenance level is for your calories, break down of macros and from there you play with the percentage break down of your carbs,fats, and protein based off your goals and how your body responds to it.

I will typically have my clients use myfitnesspal which is a free food tracking app which makes life pretty easy for journaling everything you ate and drank for the day that gives you your total break down for those 4 categories. Having a good understanding what your body needs based off your macros is huge to get to your goals because it allows us to keep you at maintenance level, put you in a deficit (lower than maintenance) to help you lose weight, or eat in a surplus (over maintenance) to help put size on. I have people track because although we don’t have a strict eat this and eat that, it gives them the freedom to eat “healthy foods” and maybe some “unhealthy” foods they like to eat but the catch is getting them to make it all fit within their budget for the day of total calories/macros. This way you don’t feel restricted and follow something so intensely that you are miserable, can’t enjoy your life and ends up having you go on a binge.

So when considering calories there is more than simply just looking at how much your burned during exercise or even just movement throughout the day(NEAT- non-exercise activity thermogenesis). You need to understand when we talk about maintenance calories there is a certain amount of calories your body needs to just function on it’s own. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) requires calories to digest food, to breathe, to think, for your organs to work, to regulate hormones, growing and repairing cells, circulating blood and so much more. There are several factors that can change your BMR such as your body size and composition. The more muscle mass you have the more calories your burn even at rest. Your sex can factor into how many calories you burn for example a man and woman can be the same age and weight but typically men have more muscle mass so the man would burn more calories. Your age is a factor since the amount of muscle decreases as we get older which will slow down the calorie burning.

So when looking at the big picture with weight loss, weight gain or maintenance you need to consider that unfortunately it can be a complicated process due to genetic makeup, hormonal controls, diet composition, environment on your lifestyle, sleep, physical activity and even stress. But at the end of the day if you try following the tracking your macro approach it comes down to eating more calories than you burn if you want to put weight on and eating in a deficit burning more calories than you eat to lose weight.

Everyones needs are going to be different and the best thing is to journal how you feel after eating each meal. Pay attention to how certain foods make you feel such as happy, discomfort, bloat, inflammation, pain, tired, ect. That is key into learning how to eat rather than mindlessly following someone else’s plan to lose weight and gain it back in a vicious cycle. Tracking food I know can get to people as well which I totally understand it’s not for everyone BUT I do recommend giving it a chance for a month or two simply because if you have no idea how much you eat and how much you should eat it’s an eye opener. Especially if you have never payed attention to portion control since this will have you weighing out your food (food scale, measuring cups, ect) and this will also show you if you’re over eating or under eating within your macro count. I can’t tell you how many people I have do this and they realize how little protein they actually consume from day to day. In case you’re not someone who want’s to weigh things out you can also use the hand portion technique.