Weight Loss Series: Entry II; Nutrition and Macros
Understanding proper nutrition and dieting will be the cornerstone to the success of your entire efforts in losing weight. There is plenty of hear-say about good diets and a plethora of different diet fads that come and go faster than you can pick which one you'd like to start. Let's take the guessing out of dieting and break this thing down. Often times we make the newest diet or eating plan seem like magic, but lets pull the curtain back and see the true secrets behind finding a diet that's best fit for you!
The Basics
The basics to finding a diet plan that is best fit for you, is to first evaluate your over arching goals. What I mean by this, is to decide what your long term goals are along with short term attainable goals. Lay the numbers out if you want to just lose weight, have a goal body fat % if your goal is to build lean muscle mass and tone up, etc. It is very important to first evaluate where you currently are and then where you'd like to be. Write these goals down because you will need these for the next part.
Part two is programming your eating to fit these goals. In order to do so, you will need to find you BMR, Basal Metabolic Rate. Your BMR is basically the number of calories you would burn if you laid in bed all day. You may have noticed that as you years go by, it is much harder to stay slim while eating whatever food you'd like. This is because you BMR goes down as you age. There are multiple factors that determine you BMR. Once you get this number, you can then calculate your calorie deficit. The best way to figure your personal Basal Metabolic Rate out is to use a free service that with calculate it for you.
I recommend my clients and friends to use the application "MyFitnessPal". When you sign up for a free profile, you will fill out a basic questionnaire with body stats and goals. This will help the application calculate you BMR and the amount of calories you will need to eat on a daily basis to attain you goal. This is a super efficient and effective way to get a rough idea of where you need to keep you eating. The app also has a food log with a massive data base. This helps you make better choices on all the food you consume regardless if your eating at home or out at a restaurant.
It's no secret, in order to lose weight, you will need to burn more calories than you consume. For example, a healthy weight loss program should achieve (1) pound of weight loss a week. One pound is 3500 calories. If you want to lose 3500 calories in a week, you will need a 500 calorie average deficit per day. A calorie is a calorie regardless of what macro nutrient it comes from (protein, carbohydrate, or fat). Think in term of just calories here.
Setting Macro Nutrient Limits
Now that you have your calorie limit, this part can be very tricky as everyone responds differently to different ratios of macro nutrients. Your overall goal comes in to play here again. What I mean by this is your age, gender, height, activity level, lean body mass, and other factors play a role in where you need to focus your calories from macro-nutrients. For example, a 32 year Ex-Football player who needs to lose 25 pounds will respond differently to carbohydrates and protein than a 32 year old male who has worked a sedentary job for 10 years and needs to lose the same 25 pounds. Unfortunately, there is no "one size fits all" here. With all the being said, here is what you should do.
Look at your total calorie range. A pretty common approach to setting macro-nutrient limits is the 40/40/20 ratio. This ratio means that 40% of your calories should come from protein, 40% of your calories should come from carbohydrates, and 20% of your calories should come from fat. For example, based on a 2000 calorie diet, 800 calories should be from protein, 800 calories should be from carbs, and 400 calories should be from fat. Not to give you an information overload, here is a table:
- 1 gram of Protein = 4 calories
- 1 gram of Carbohydrate = 4 calories
- 1 gram of fat = 9 calories
If your goal is to lose weight while incorporating resistance training, it is recommended that you eat a moderate amount of carbohydrates, while keeping fat low and protein high. A good ratio for this would be 45% Protein, 35% Carbohydrate, 20% Fat. You will need the carbs for energy so don't leave those out in your dieting and also note that a food scale will be your best friend here!
If this sounds way to complicated and not possible for you, "MyFitnessPal" makes it easy. You can go into your "Goals" section in the app and adjust your macro-nutrient percentages and it will tell you EXACTLY the amount of each macro-nutrient you need in grams. Setting the best macros that fit your lifestyle will take some playing around with. See how your body responds to the high protein and moderate carbs. Track your progress for 2-4 weeks and make changes accordingly. MAIN thing here is to have your calories set and an idea of where you need to be protein, carb, and fat wise on a daily basis. If this is too much to keep track of at first, AT LEAST count your calories and stay under you target. However with that said, if you can commit yourself to the task of keeping your "macros" in check, you will reap amazing benefits and a better understanding of what foods your body responds to the best.
Healthy Eating Habits
Now you have an idea of how macro-nutrients work, developing healthy eating patterns is incredibly important. Establishing these habits are equally as important as setting your calories and macro-nutrients. Here are a few tips:
- Eat Smaller Meal... more often
- By eating smaller meals more often, you will keep your metabolism going throughout the day. This will help you burn more calories during your normal task and also create an optimal environment for lean muscle building. DON'T SKIP MEALS.
- Plan out your meals in advance
- You may have seen many fitness enthusiasts "Meal Prepping". This is very useful because you will have your exact food ready ahead of time. There is no guessing. You will be within your calorie range if you eat all your meals for that day.
- Don't wait until you're hungry to eat
- If you do this, you have lost the battle. You will snack and eat food that is easily accessible. Often times, these are "good" foods.
- Front Load Your Carbs
- Try to eat most of your carbs earlier in the day. By doing this, you will use these carbs as energy. By the time your last meal come around, you should be consuming your smallest amount of carbs for the day
- Make it work for you
- This is ultimately your diet plan. Make it work with your schedule and lifestyle. Don't make drastic changes and do things you know you cannot stick with. Find ways to incorporate this into your life and make changes accordingly that will help you be the most consistent.
*If you did not before.. after reading this article, write down some bad eating and lifestyle habits you currently believe you have. This can be any where from NOT eating, late night snacking, lack of exercise, soft drinks, sugar consumption, etc. Write it down as I will address these things in tomorrows article. Comment below on any particular questions or concerns you may have and I will answer them before!
Let me coach and train you to reach your goals!
Enjoy your own real life NEWave Training personal trainer and health coach to help you reach for your goals!
We are fitness made affordable. Join today and save 20% using code "NEW20OFF"
Ready to take your results to the next level? Receive a FREE 30 Day Weight Loss Transformation program now! No obligations, just results!
@NEWAVETRAINING INSTAGRAM FEED:
