What Is the Macro Diet - How to Count Macros for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain? July 02, 2021

What Is the Macro Diet - How to Count Macros for Fat Loss and Muscle Gain?

Your Diet has a massive effect on your weight. Whether you want to lose fat or gain muscle, you can do all that by managing your diet.

You don’t have to go through intense workout sessions for losing weight or eat a lot for gaining muscle.

Both these ways for weight maintenance are not sustainable and also, not quite effective in the long run.

Your diet on the other hand is something that is an absolutely essential part of your daily routine. If you can just manage that properly, you can get your desired weight in a short amount of time.

But to do that, you need to shift to the macro diet plan.

In this article, we are going to walk you through the Macro Diet and the benefits that it has to offer. We’ll also share with you how you can count your macros to keep weight on track.

What is the Macro Diet?

The macro diet requires you to set a health goal and meet the macros (macronutrient) requirements for achieving those health goals.

A macro diet consists of proteins, fat, and carbohydrates.

If you count macros instead of your overall calorie intake, you can achieve your weight goals in a much shorter amount of time.

Macros are 3 essential nutrients that are responsible for creating the most amount of energy for the human body. Almost all the foods that we consume contain a huge number of macros.

By calculating your macros intake, you can effectively lose, gain, or maintain your weight. Plus, it can also get you to develop a healthy diet routine which can have a lasting impact on your lifestyle.

What is the Ideal Macro Ratio?

Health Specialists around the world recommend the following ratios of macros for a healthy diet:

  • Proteins – 10% to 35% of overall calories
  • Fats – 20% to 35% of overall calories
  • Carbs – 45% to 65% of overall calories

Although, it is highly unlikely that these macros requirements will fit your specific needs. This is what counting macros are essential. When you count the macros you need, you can change these ratios to the values that work the best for you. 

Benefits of Following a Macro Diet

· Weight Loss & Muscle Gain

Macro Calculation helps individuals gain muscle or lose fat in a safer and reliable way. Weight loss through diet seems like a dream. But it is true if you are careful in the diet that you take. This is where counting macros can prove to be helpful for you.

· IIFYM Diet

Counting macros will allow you to eat your favorite foods as long as they help you meet your macros intake. Macro Diet works on the IIFMY principle which stands for If It Fits Your Macros.

What this means is, you can eat any kind of food that you want. You don’t have to sacrifice your favorite meals and you can indulge in them every once in a while. The only thing that you need to keep in mind is that the food should fit your macro requirement.

· Healthy Food Choices

                                 

Counting macros helps develop healthy eating habits. You can choose foods that contain a great number of nutrients that you need to gain muscle or lose weight.

How to Count Macros for Fat Loss & Muscle Gain?

Calculating macros might come off as a hassle, but it is essential if you want to achieve your health goals in terms of weight.

The process may come off as a bit overwhelming, it becomes easier with time. You just need to stick to it and you will get better at it in no time.

There are 2 basic ways you can calculate macros. You can either do it manually, or you can use a macros calculator. 

· The Manual Way

The manual way of calculating macros requires you to do a little bit of math. You need to perform some basic calculations.

Here is how you can do it 

1.    Determine your calories intake

You can determine it with the following formulas

Women – Calories/Day = 10 x Weight (kg) + 6.25 x Height (Cm) – 5 x age (y) - 161

Men – Calories/Day = 10 x Weight (kg) + 6.25 x Height (Cm) – 5 x age (y) + 5

2.    Now, you need to multiply the result you get from these with the activity factor. You can find these values on various online sources. This will give you the number of calories you need to consume daily.

 

3.    After that, you need to find your ideal macros ratios. You need to take into account factors like your health goals and dietary preferences while determining that.

· Using The Macro Calculator

If you don’t want to do the manual calculation, you can use the Online Macro Calculator for calculating the macros. This tool makes it relatively simpler for you to count your macros.

You just need to enter the details that this tool asks you to enter. Once you do that, it will automatically calculate the ideal macros intake as per the information that you have entered into the tool.

Here is how you can use the macro calculator

  • Select your Gender
  • Enter your Age
  • Choose Your Goal
  • Body Fat % (This is Optional)
  • Enter your Height
  • Enter your Weight
  • Select Meals Per Day
  • Select Activity Level
  • Adjust Protein
  • Click on Calculate

This is all that you have to do when using the Macro Calculator.

End Notes

Macro Diet can help you lose or gain weight in a simple and more effective way. You can speed up the process by setting up a light workout routine for yourself, along with the macro diet.

This is all that you need to do to achieve the weight that you want.

So, set your calorie and macros goal and consume a diet that fits your macros.

If you keep following the macro-based diet plan, counting macros will become your second nature with time. And this can prove to be quite valuable for you in the future.