OK, how many macros should I eat? – There is no standard amount of macros a person should eat. It is different from person to person and depends on a person’s height, weight, activity level, age and personal goals. The first step is determining daily calorie intake, followed by a macro breakdown. To do this it’s often best to work with a nutritionist or dietitian who can use his or her expertise to guide each individual through this process.
Even after a person determines their starting numbers, they will likely have to wiggle things around to find the macros that work best for their body. As each person sees success and experiences a change in body composition, they will have to continue to adjust the macros based on new body metrics.
How do I keep track of everything? – The tracking process may seem a bit daunting, but apps like Cronometer make it easier to set up daily goals and track your macro intake throughout the day. Most people who successfully count macros as part of their daily routine recommend meal planning and prepping to help you stay on course.
If daily tracking seems too cumbersome (we get it, like you need ANOTHER thing to do every day), try just tracking your macros for a week. This can help you identify places you could optimize your diet. Many people find that they’re light on protein and can make an effort to include more protein at each meal. Veggies are also commonly missing from the plate, but making a conscious effort to add an extra serving or two a day will serve most people well.
Tips for Tracking –
- Measure food by weight (using a scale to measure ounces, grams, mL, etc). This can make or break your tracking efforts. Some foods like peanut butter that you measure with a tablespoon are extremely inaccurate once weighed on a scale. Your “tablespoon” measurement can be two to three times the serving size of one tablespoon of peanut butter.
- Refrain from taking “little bites”, “taste”, or “licks” too often without tracking. Surprisingly all of these can be to blame if you are having trouble progressing towards your goals. Just a few “bites” or “licks” can add hundreds of calories.
- Remember to track cooking oils that you use when sautéing, frying, or baking foods. Cooking oils can add up quickly, in fact 1 tablespoon of oil is around 11 grams of fat or 100 calories. If you aren’t measuring your oils, you could be eating a large amount of fat and calories that you had no idea about!
- Stick with whole foods as much as possible. Eating “hard to track” foods too often can make tracking tedious and inaccurate. This includes fast food, takeout, restaurant food, and even home cooked meals that are ‘mixed together’ like casseroles, soups, etc.
- Use ‘raw entries’ when possible. The nutrition label on all meat products is stated as 4oz of raw meat, not cooked. Many meats and veggies lose up to 25% of their weight when cooked.
Do you need help in determing your personal macro targets? Check out my nutrition coaching page for guidance. I offer a vareity of levels of nutritional support from simple help in determining your custom macro targets, to full day-to-day nutrtion support. You can find my nutrition coaching page here: Nutrition
Up next in our Intro to Macros Series: Making better choices, aka: Nutrient Density