Remember, if you didn't put it in MyFitness Pal, then it didn't count.
TLDR; Carbs help with performance. Fats aid hormone regulation. Protein for the gainz. You need a blend of both. Stop demonizing carbs and fats.
This is a quick and dirty IG highlights I did on this topic if you don't want to read so much.
Disclaimer: This isn't one of those posts where I get all science-y. I wrote it as if I was addressing yung bucks and bros at the local crusty 24 hour fitness. If you want something more technical then I recommend checking out Jeff Nippard or Eric Helms on Youtube.
Greetings reader. You know the whole recommended daily calories and macronutrients set by the FDA is useless to those trying to chase strength and aesthetics. Everyone's bodies are too unique to fit in some mold the government insists us to follow. It's better to just try to figure out your own custom macronutrients which I'll assist with. Also I'm here to explain to you the best I can about Macronutrients or what the losers in fitness who sees food as numbers(me) refer to as Macros. The 3 macronutrients I'm referring to are carbohydrates, fats, and protein. I'll talk about them in detail while keeping it understandable. You may be asking yourself, "why should I care about these arbitrary numbers and a weigh everything on a stupid food scale?" Well what if I told you these Macros meant whether or not you can optimize muscle gain and fat loss? What if I told you that not understanding and tracking macros is the reason why you've plateaued? Keep on reading to learn more.
So let's start off with carbohydrates:
A carbohydrate is a sugar. All sugars have the chemical compound CH2O. Glucose, which is a sugar, is C6H12O6; that same compound you learned in Biology for something something photosynthesis. It's important for you to know because glucose fuels our muscles which helps with how you perform at the gym. For the purpose of the gainz, humans prefer using carbs first then fats because of evolution. Knowing this, it is imperative that a person who is training needs this to perform well. So if you do the whole low/no carb diet, you'll most likely lose a bit of weight in exchange for gym performance. For a weight lifter, if you can't complete the prescribed sets/reps with enough intensity due to you not eating enough then there goes the the gains. This is especially really important when you're trying to lean out as the goal is preserving as much muscle mass while losing fat. Your body likes to adapt to situations, for better or worse. In this case, if you don't give your body a reason to keep the muscle on your frame then it'll shrink.
Carbs are generally very easy to eat. Seriously, who doesn't like rice, potatoes and/or sweets? Therefore, this macro is usually the first one to be tapered up/down. Obviously if you were to do something really drastic like going from eating 300 grams of carbs to 100 grams, your performance will immediately tank. However, if you were to do a steady decline of say 25 grams of carbs a week then performance probably wouldn't tank until maybe week 6-8. Remember, you want to preserve your training quality as much as possible to keep the adaptationz while cutting. Unless you just want to lose weight and don't care about your gains then sure slash all your carbs so you can feel like a mood-swinging, hangry zombie.
A general starting point for figuring out how much carbs to eat is to multiply your current weight x 2. So say you weight 150 pounds, just multiply it by 2 and you get 300 grams of carbs to eat daily. Sometimes it can be really hard to eat that much carbs prescribed to you. This is where I recommend drinking your carbs via drinking smoothies and/or juice.
Each gram of Carbohydrates has 4 calories per gram.
Next up on the list we have Fats:
High key low key think I'd have a heart attack from finishing this.
I remember sometime in the late 2000 early 2010s when guys at the gym were saying fat makes you fat and how we should pick low-fat/no fat options. I think the only fats a person should avoid is trans-fat. Other than that, I think so long as you train regularly, eat your fruits/veggies, have awesome regular bowel movements and sleep well I'm sure you'll be fine. I think it's a super common misconception many people make who aren't well versed in macros, just like how people say to not eat too much carbs or it'll turn to fat. The argument I like to tell people is that if you eat too much of anything you'll end up getting fat. Then if they actually want to listen to me, I talk to them briefly about the whole calories in vs calories out. If you eat more than your maintenance, you gain weight. If you eat less than your maintenance, you lose weight.
I won't be going over the different types of fats. Just focus on the total fats and try getting the healthy fats (omega 3s, 6s, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) if you can for health reasons. Fats are important because the body uses them as an energy reserve once we run out of carbs. They are important to a person who lifts because they regulate your hormones. Therefore, I strongly believe to be cautious about tapering your fats first vs carbs. There's a ton of other awesome things fats help with like help absorb micronutrients(Vitamin A, D, E, K, etc..) but for the lifter, managing your hormones well means a faster, stronger and more aesthetically pleasing you.
A starting point for figuring out how much fat to eat would be your current weight x 0.4 - 0.5. For example, let's say you weigh 150 pounds. 150 x 0.4 - 0.5 = 60 - 75 g of fats. More fats mean you can choose a fattier cut of meat and/or slab on peanut butter. You could also start putting in avocados!
Each gram of fat has 9 calories. The molecular compound of fat is much longer chain than a protein and carb. That means it's a bigger compound to breakdown hence 9 calories per gram. That is also why you feel more satiated when eating fats.
Lastly, we have protein:
Pro tip: Protein shake + milk = 32-35g of protein in that shake. It'll also make it taste exponentially better.
I think all the bros and people in fitness understand why protein is so important. Here's an oversimplified refresher:
Your body uses protein for many reasons such as repairing and building cells. What you care about most is the fact that it makes your muscles bigger and stronger. Out of all the macros, making sure you hit your daily protein is priority.
A starting point would be multiplying 0.8 - 1.0 grams x your current weight. You're pretty much capped out on the benefits and there really isn't any point going over the range unless you want to feel more satiated as eating enough protein tends to stave off hunger. I generally like starting at 0.8 x current weight for my clients because from anecdotal experience, it's really hard to eat a lot of it.
Each gram of protein has 4 calories.
Kind of a trip how this is what it looks like when muscles are contracting. It looks like a pair of feet walking through snow.
So now how does one figure out their calories and macros?
Go to https://tdeecalculator.net/ and fill in the info. It's essentially a ballpark estimate but nonetheless a good starting point.
Figure out your protein using the formula 0.8 - 1.0 x your current weight. If you're trying to lose weight, I recommend using your "goal" weight. A gram of protein = 4 calories
Figure out your fats using 0.4 x 0.5 x your current weight. Again, use your "goal" weight if trying to lose weight. A gram of fat = 9 calories
The remaining calories you have, divide it by 4 and you'll get your carbs. You divide by 4 because a gram of carbs is 4 calories remember?
Sample scenario:
I'm a 27 year old male who's 5'7, weighing at 160 pounds and I chose the moderate exercise option at https://tdeecalculator.net/. It says that I should be eating at 2572 calories a day to maintain. Let's round it up to 2600 to make it more simple.
I'm going to figure out my protein. 0.8 - 1.0 x 160 pounds = 128 - 160 g of protein. We'll round up a bit and use 130 grams of protein. 130 x 4 = 520 calories.
Next is fats. 0.4 - 0.5 x 160 = 64 - 80 grams of fat. I'll choose 70 grams of fat for easier calculations. 70 x 9 = 630
520(protein) + 630(fats) = 1150 calories.
2600(your daily calories) - 1150 calories = 1450 calories remaining.
1450 divided by 4(because a gram of carbs is 4 calories) = 362.5 grams of carbs. I choose to just round up to 363 grams.
Technically you're not supposed to be able to see him.
It was a bit math heavy I know. I hope everything I've talked about so far made sense. Thank you so much for reading this blog and until next time, I'll see you all!
Cheers,
Joseph L.
Be sure to check out my other blogs with regards to either seeing life a bit more profound or understanding the nuances of fitness deeper. If you loved this article, please support me by sharing it with your friends, liking it and/or dropping a comment!
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