What are Macronutrients and Why are they Important?
The macronutrients fat, protein and carbs all have specific roles in your body. Proteins are essential, meaning you need to eat them to live. Among many things, proteins are important for muscle recovery and muscle growth.
Carbohydrates are mainly used for energy for the entire body. Your body converts carbs into fast burning, useful forms of energy, that give you stamina, strength and power. Although they are not essential for survival, studies have consistently shown that they are beneficial for maximal performance.
Dietary fats are essential to give your body energy and to support cell growth. They also help protect your organs and help keep your body warm. Fats help your body absorb some nutrients and produce important hormones, too.
Now that I have convinced you of the importance of understanding what the right amount of proteins, fats and carbs is for your body, you are probably wondering what YOUR specific macro targets should be. We have made this part very simple for you.
Just enter the information needed, and our macro calculator will give you your targets.
Although these targets are among the most accurate you will find anywhere, they may still not be perfect. Since every person’s body is unique, you may want to slightly modify these goals throughout your tracking journey. But, before you change anything, we recommend you take the following steps first.
Steps to Success:
1. Hit the targets CONSISTENTLY for at least 3 weeks. It can take time for the body to change. It is almost impossible to determine if your macro targets are working for you if you don’t give the process some time.
2. Check your workout. An ineffective workout can make any goal almost impossible to attain. Regardless of your goals, your workout should include some form of effective and well-planned resistance training. A quality resistance training program will prevent muscle loss if you are eating for weight loss, which makes fat loss occur faster. For weight gain goals, a good resistance training program is even more important. You need to send an adaptation signal to the body that says, “we need to build muscle!” There are a lot of good resistance training programs out there, but the best we have seen are the MAPS programs.
If you have been consistent for at least 3 weeks with hitting your macro targets and your workouts are effective and appropriate for your body, but are still not seeing progress, you can try employing the following steps.
If your goal is fat loss, try cutting your overall calorie intake down by another 150-250 calories. Stick to this new calorie regimen for another 3 weeks. You can cut calories by reducing any of your macro targets, but we recommend keeping protein high and instead cutting either fats, carbs or both. To figure this out for yourself read more here.
How to "Undulate" your calories for fast weight loss
If your goal is muscle and weight gain, try increasing your overall calories by 150-250 calories, and stick to this new calorie goal for 3 weeks. You can bump calories by increasing any of your macro targets.
Read: How to Achieve a Flat Tummy
Once you have mastered hitting your macro targets and accomplished your fitness goals, you may wonder if you should track your macros for the rest of your life.
The short answer is NO.
In fact, counting and consciously hitting macro targets forever is a stressful, obsessive way to live. When you have hit your goals, it is imperative that you transition to a more relaxed, long-term way of eating. At this stage, you can maintain your fitness and accomplish new goals without having to count macros. I call this next phase of your diet, “intuitive eating.” Intuitive eating is a more natural way to diet.
It allows you to listen to your body and recognize the signals that tell you to eat more, eat less or to manipulate your macros. In this article I explain how intuitive eating works, and how to transition from macro counting to intuitive eating.
Some people find that tracking and counting macros is too large a first step. For this to be successful, it must be something you can do consistently.
If following the macro targets you were given with our calculator is daunting don’t worry, there are easier, effective steps you can take which should still give you results. Once you have mastered these smaller “pre macro counting” steps, you can advance to macro target hitting to see your progress really take off.
Don't panic, start here:
- Don't take away food, add healthy food.
- Avoid heavily processed foods.
- Create space between you and eating impulses
Now your ready to start your new journey!
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The MAPS philosophy was first born with the creation of our foundational program - MAPS Anabolic. Designed to help ANYONE use resistance training as their main form of exercise to reach their fitness goals.
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