At any rate, we left off talking about macronutrients and their relative importance in terms of body composition. In essence, tracking your macros and tracking your calories are the same thing, because there is a direct correlations between the two: 1g of each macronutrient contacts a fixed number of calories. Tracking your macros allows you to better achieve your goals than simply counting calories because - at the sound of being very, very tedious - most people who try to "lose weight" pick a "diet" (low-carb or low-fat) and then don't reallocate the calories appropriately. This is why a "food plan" is always superior to a "diet". A food plan based on macronutrients will ensure that if you are in a caloric deficit that the deficit is being created by protein calories. You need protein to maintain lean muscle mass, which is the key to any body modification strategy.
In my last post I presented a copy of the following chart. As a refresher, take your GOAL WEIGHT and multiply it by 11 and then allocate the macronutrients accordingly. My target weight is 200, so I used my own situation as the example. You all know that I'm 55, so I'm using the far right-had column all the way down. Remember to e-mail me at 3Sigmawellness@gmail.com for a copy of the spreadsheet
ENTER
|
Goal Weight (lbs)
|
200
| ||
Daily Calories
|
2,200
| |||
Allocation
| ||||
Macronutrient
|
Age <40
|
Age 40-50
|
Age >50
| |
Fat (FFA)
|
20%
|
20%
|
20%
| |
Carb (CHO)
|
65%
|
60%
|
55%
| |
Protein (PRO)
|
15%
|
20%
|
25%
| |
100%
|
100%
|
100%
| ||
Daily Intake (calories)
| ||||
Fat (FFA)
|
440
|
440
|
440
| |
Carb (CHO)
|
1430
|
1320
|
1210
| |
Protein (PRO)
|
330
|
440
|
550
| |
Daily Intake (grams)
| ||||
Fat (FFA)
|
49
|
49
|
49
| |
Carb (CHO)
|
358
|
330
|
303
| |
Protein (PRO)
|
83
|
110
|
138
|
|
Now all of you Alpha-types are like "Dude, how in the heck am I going to keep track of all this, I can't even REMEMBER what I ate this morning, so I sure as heck didn't track it". Well, I thought about that and all I can say is "There's an app for that"! There are actually many apps for that, but my personal research has led me to My Macros+ https://getmymacros.com/. This $2.99 app will allow you to set your macronutrient goals, track each, meal and snack, and show you a running total for the day. You can look up specific foods by type, and even brand name. If you can't find it you can create the entry yourself. There's even a barcode reader built into the app. The set-up is fairly straight forward, but it does take a bit of OJT to get the hang of it. The best part is that the app lets you set up a "circle" of people who can see your data and you can see theirs. I am "3Sigma1" for all of you who want to give it a try.My Macros+ also tracks two critical elements of your wellness investment that create daily habits that lead to other good habits: your weight and your water consumption. We will talk about those things in the future, but, for now, it's great to be able to get all of that information rounded up in one place.
That's all for now. To recap, you now have the basic theory of nutrition, a mechanism for creating your food plan, and a tracking tool for collecting and analyzing your macronutrient consumption. In the next episode we'll move on to functional health, which includes mobility, flexibility, and recovery.
Please follow me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/stevesmithmba-cscs on Twitter @3Sigmawellness, and Instagram at 3Sigmawellness. You can also e-mail me directly at 3Sigmawellness@gmail. com
Stay well, my friends.
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