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Tracking calories and macros CAN be an invaluable tool to control your diet and establish awareness surrounding your food choices.
It's used by many who have weight loss goals AND those who want to ensure they are eating enough.
IF you have decided that tracking is for you (IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE) here is a resource to give you an idea of “where to start”.
Breaking It Down
Let's Start With Calories:
Multiply your bodyweight (in lbs) by 10. We'll assume this is your BMR (basal metabolic rate) - the amount of energy your body needs to sustain itself at rest.
Then multiply that number by either:
- 1.2
- 1.4
- 1.6
- 1.8
- 2.0
These are “activity multipliers” that take into consideration “how much you are not at rest” every day.
Here’s how you know which one to use:
- 1.2 - office job with less than 3 days of weekly exercise
- 1.4 - office job & 3+ days of weekly exercise OR job requiring physical activity (landscaping, nurse, maintenance) with less than 3 days of weekly exercise
- 1.6 - job requiring physical activity (landscaping, nurse, maintenance) with 3+ days of weekly exercise
- 1.8 - heavy manual labor (construction, warehouse work) with less than 3 days of weekly exercise
- 2.0 - heavy manual labor with 3+ days of weekly exercise
Example:
160 lb nurse who strength trains 4x per week
160 × 10 = 1600
1600 × 1.6 = 2560 calories
Now Let's Set Your Macros:
BW = bodyweight (lbs)
g = grams
Protein (g): multiply BW by 0.6-1.2 (the leaner you are the more you'll want to stick to the high end)
Fat (g): multiply BW by 0.23-0.46
Carbs (g): take your daily calorie goal and subtract (protein g’s × 4) and (fat g’s × 9) then divide by 4
Example continued:
160 lbs nurse who strength trains 4x per week:
- 2560 calories
- Protein: 160 × 0.8 = 128 grams
- Fat: 160 × 0.45 = 72 grams
- Carbs: 2560 - (128×4) - (72×9) = 1400
- 1400 ÷ 4 = 350 grams
This is your ESTIMATED maintenance intake.
Next Steps
Now, consistently hit these target numbers for ~2 weeks.
Based on the change in your AVERAGE weight over those 2 weeks you know if you're above or below your ACTUAL maintenance range.
From here, based on your goals, adjust accordingly.
A reduction somewhere between ~100-500 calories could be a good place to start to create a deficit if you are in a good place to do so.
If you want to maximize your training performance to build muscle and strength; stay around your maintenance intake or add ~100-250 calories per day on top of it.
A Note on Macro Numbers
After seeing the example calculations you may be thinking "WOW that's A LOT of calories and carbs!"
And it may be for some.
But we've just been conditioned to "live and breathe" low calorie & low carb so "adequately fueling our activity levels" SEEMS crazy (It's not).
Also you don't have to hit your macro targets to the gram! In fact, I recommend you avoid stressing over trying to do so. Instead, aim to consistently be within +/-10 grams of each.
Final Thoughts
Now, is this going to give EVERY single person their “perfect” calorie target and macro split? No, there’s PLENTY of nuance involved here, but it’s a solid place to start.
Most of you are active, frequently weight train, and have goals related to building muscle and improving your body composition - these recommendations take that into consideration.
Remember to factor in YOUR individual preferences. There are no “real rules” for how you need to eat.
Yes, you should be getting “enough protein” if you want to build/maintain muscle tissue.
Yes, you want to make sure your fats aren’t so low that your hormone production starts getting suppressed (a good rule of thumb is not going lower than 0.4g / lb of lean body mass).
Outside of that, these are simply “recommended ranges” - don’t take them as requirements.
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