You should also have a rough idea of how long you’d like to diet for, based on how much fat you have to lose. Once you have an idea of how many calories you are eating most days/your calorie goal to maintain your current weight, you can add a deficit to promote fat loss (typically a 10 to 25% decrease).įor example: If you need 2,500 calories a day to maintain, a 20% deficit would mean you need to eat 2,000 calories a day to lose weight (2,500 x 80%). Take a week or two to get familiar with tracking calories/current macros using a food tracking phone app to get yourself a baseline to start with. A lot of times people go into a diet without any clue of how many calories they are eating before they start cutting. You can also skip the math and use an online calculator that considers individual factors like age, gender, and fitness level, to give you a fairly precise estimate in a few minutes.Īnother way to estimate your daily calorie needs is by tracking your current food intake. Calculate your calorie needsĭetermining how many calories you need a day to maintain your current weight is always step one.
Here's a step-by-step guide to determining your macros for fat loss and how to tweak your nutrition throughout the process to ensure results. We know that 1 ounce of chicken breast contains around 9 grams of protein, so measure out 4.5 ounces of chicken breast for your meal, and BAM, you've hit 1/3 of your protein goals for the day! How to calculate your macros for cutting:Įveryone is going to have a different macro ratio because we all have different nutrition needs, but the process to determine those numbers is going to look the same. When we break down how many grams of each macronutrient we need per day to meet our unique calorie goals, we can easily portion our food to match those needs!įor example, if your goal is 125 grams of protein a day, you may aim for at least 40 grams of protein for breakfast lunch, and dinner. Learning how to count your macros is an easy way to manage your calorie intake and learn how to portion your food to fit your health goals as each macronutrient corresponds to a specific calorie amount per gram: Macros also play a part in supporting better energy control, mood balance, appetite, and overall fitness performance. In other words, your macros may play a key role in determining your body composition.
Macronutrients are essentially your calories from food broken up into three major nutrient groups:Įach macro provides important nutrients for daily function and survival, and getting the right balance of all three is crucial for maintaining lean muscle, burning fat, and staying healthy. But when it comes to changing your body composition-losing fat and maintaining muscle mass-the quality of your food choices is key. When people count calories, they often use an app to help them track their intake to help them start to identify what types of foods, and in what amounts, will best support their health goals.Ĭutting calories is the most widely recognized approach to weight loss. Your only known source of calories is food and beverages. They fuel your muscle contractions, lung expansion to take in air and breathe, your thoughts, your digestion, and blood flow throughout your body, as well as every other bodily function you can think of! We’ll also send you a follow-up email for your records.Ĭalories are the unit of measurement used to describe the energy your body needs to survive and function each day. Enter your email address to see your results.