Macro tracking has recently gained mainstream popularity. But is this nutritional strategy right for you?
From baby food to juice cleanses, diet trends rise and fall with time and scientific advancement.
But while many nutrition fads have been discredited or forgotten, others have withstood the test of time and nutrition science scrutiny. Counting macros (short for “macronutrients”) is a nutritional strategy long favored by bodybuilders that has recently gained mainstream popularity.
Sometimes referred to as “IIFYM” (an acronym for If It Fits Your Macros), macro counting involves tracking your daily intake of the three primary categories of nutrients—proteins, carbohydrates, and fat. The concept behind macro tracking is that not all calories are created equal or that the kind of calories we eat is more important than the number of calories when it comes to weight loss, building strength, or maintaining a healthy body composition.
Counting calories, while also necessary for weight optimization, doesn’t tell you much about how balanced your diet is. For example, to hit 2,000 calories (the recommended daily caloric intake for a moderately active woman between 19 and 50 years old weighing around 120 pounds), you could eat half a chocolate cake or 65 large carrots—neither of which would be healthy.
That’s why many health and nutrition experts recommend tracking another type of measurement in addition to calories: macronutrients.
What are macronutrients?
Macros, or macronutrients, are the three primary food groups that you need not only to survive but to perform any activity. Each of the three macros plays a different role in nutrition and affects our body differently depending on how it delivers fuel and is digested. Understanding how your body reacts to each macronutrient will help you design a diet plan that gives your body enough energy while supporting goals like weight loss, muscle growth, or healthy weight maintenance.
Here is a quick rundown of each of the three macronutrients:
Carbohydrates
Calorie content: 4 calories per gram
Best sources: Complex carbs made from whole grains, including whole-wheat bread, brown rice, oatmeal, barley, quinoa, and beans.
As the most easily digested macronutrients, carbohydrates, or “carbs,” are your body’s primary source of energy. Although often vilified in fad diets, carbs are vital to keeping your body functioning, providing the glucose your body converts into energy to fuel the central nervous system and muscles.
Depending on the length of the carbohydrate molecule, carbs are classified as either simple or complex. In addition to differing chemical structures, simple and complex carbs are digested and absorbed by the body differently.
Simple carbs. Often thought of as “unhealthy carbs,” simple carbs are made up of shorter molecule chains that your body breaks down faster than complex carbs. By producing a spike in glucose, simple carbs deliver a brief spike in energy—sometimes called a “sugar rush.”
While some simple carbs naturally occur in fruits and milk, most are added to foods in the form of white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, and fruit juice concentrate. The most common sources of “unhealthy” simple carbs include soda, baked goods, and sugary breakfast cereals. On nutrition labels, simple carbs can be disguised by different names like glucose, fructose, and sucrose or even coconut sugar, honey, agave nectar, and molasses.
Complex carbs. Made up of longer molecule chains, complex carbs are considered “good” because they take more energy and time to break down. Compared to simple carbs, complex carbs are released as glucose at a more consistent rate, delivering a lasting source of energy. In addition, foods with complex carbs typically contain important nutrients like fiber and B vitamins.
Complex carbs typically include foods made from whole grains, including whole-wheat bread, brown rice, oatmeal, barley, quinoa, and beans.
Proteins
Calorie breakdown: 4 calories per gram
Best sources: Lean ground beef, sockeye salmon, greek yogurt, eggs, lentils, and peanut butter.
Made of long-chain amino acids, protein is the most important macronutrient when it comes to building, recovering, and maintaining lean muscle. By building and repairing muscle mass, protein helps increase your metabolism and boost your immune system. Protein is also responsible for creating essential hormones and enzymes and acts as a source of reserve energy when your body runs out of carbs.
Protein is valuable because it takes more energy to digest than carbs or fat, helping you feel fuller for longer. On the other hand, too little protein can lead to feelings of weakness and fatigue, as well as poor immunity.
Protein is commonly found in meat, in addition to dairy products, nuts, legumes, and beans. Examples of exceptionally high-protein foods include lean ground beef, sockeye salmon, greek yogurt, eggs, lentils, and peanut butter.
Fats
Calorie breakdown: 9 calories per gram
Fats: Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which can be found in avocados, olive oil, fatty fish, walnuts, and chia seeds.
Another long vilified macronutrient, fat is essential to our bodies because it’s the most concentrated form of energy. Among other functions, fat is vital for the intake of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), hormone regulation, and body insulation.
Like carbs, people tend to classify fats as “good” and “healthy” or “bad” and “unhealthy.” But in reality, there are dozens of different types of dietary fat, each with its own role and impact on your health. The most common classifications of dietary fat are:
Saturated fats. Often classified as “bad fats,” saturated fats raise the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in your blood. High levels of LDL cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Saturated fat is typically solid at room temperature and occurs naturally in red meat, cheese, palm and coconut oil, and butter.
Trans fats. A type of saturated fat, trans fat (or trans fatty acids) increases your risk for strokes, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. As a rule of thumb, trans fats should be avoided.
There are two kinds of trans fats typically found in food: natural and artificial. Small amounts of natural trans fats can be found in certain meat and dairy products. However, the majority of trans fats are formed through an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. Artificial trans fats—also known as partially hydrogenated oil—can be found in baked goods, shortening, frozen pizza, microwave popcorn, and fried foods.
Unsaturated fats. Considered “heart-healthy,” unsaturated fats can improve your LDL cholesterol levels, reduce inflammation, and stabilize your heartbeat. Liquid at room temperature, unsaturated fats come in two forms: monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.
Monounsaturated fats are plant-based fats that may reduce your risk of heart disease and improve your longevity. Foods that are high in monosaturated fats include olive oil, avocados, and nuts.
Polyunsaturated fats aid with muscle movement and blood clotting. Polyunsaturated fats can further be divided into two groups: omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids include fatty fish, walnuts, and chia seeds. Foods high in omega-6 fatty acids include canola oil, sunflower oil, and corn oil.
Both omega-3 and omega-6 fats are considered good for the heart, though an overly high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is associated with an increased risk of inflammation. FYI: a healthy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3s is between 1:1 and 4:1.
Should you track your macronutrients?
Counting your macros—also referred to as the If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) diet—involves ensuring that you eat a certain quantity of each macronutrient every day to meet your fitness goals. The amount and ratio of carbs, protein, and fat you should each day vary based on your personal caloric needs and unique fitness goals.
Macro tracking can be beneficial but is not for everyone. Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of tracking your macros:
Benefit: You gain a better understanding of what you’re eating.
Tracking your macros over a few weeks can give you an eye-opening picture of your food intake. Armed with this information, you can catch any unwanted changes in your weight or performance and make changes to reach your fitness goals.
Benefit: You can prevent nutrient deficiencies.
Focusing on calories alone makes it easy to overlook the nutritional content of the foods you eat. Making sure you get the proper amount of macronutrients is essential to preventing health issues like infection, weakness, and depression.
Benefit: You can influence your metabolic rate.
Your metabolism (the speed at which your body converts food into energy) plays an important role in weight management. Each macronutrient has a different impact on your metabolism. As the most complex macro, protein has the highest impact on your metabolism, typically raising your metabolic rate by 15 to 30%. Up next are carbs, which raise your metabolic rate around 5 to 10%, then fats, which raise it around 0 to 3%.
Benefit: You can build muscle efficiently.
Different macronutrients influence your muscle building and preservation differently. If your primary focus is building lean muscle while maintaining a healthy weight, it’s essential to eat enough protein—the key to building lean muscle, repairing muscle damage, and supporting existing muscles.
Benefit: Flexibility.
Sometimes called “flexible dieting,” tracking your macros doesn’t cut out certain foods. With macro tracking, you can eat any foods you want as long as everything aligns with your macronutrient profile.
Drawback: Macro counting is challenging.
Unfortunately, macro counting can be both tricky and time-consuming. In addition to weighing and measuring all of your food, you’ll need to keep track of your daily macros in a diary or online fitness log like MyFitnessPal.
Drawback: You can increase your eating disorder risk.
Being hyper-focused on weighing, measuring, and recording macronutrients can create or worsen obsessive habits in people who have a history of disordered eating. If you are prone to disordered eating or overly self-critical, macro counting is probably not for you.
Drawback: It’s not a long-term solution.
Because macro counting requires so much effort, it’s best used as a short-term solution to hit a specific fitness goal like weight loss or more lean muscles. When you do hit your fitness target and stop counting, take care to stick to healthy eating habits to avoid rebounding in terms of weight loss or muscle gain.
How to track your macronutrients
Like we said, counting macros can be tricky and time-consuming. But if you’re ready to give it a try, here’s how to track your macros, step by step:
Step 1: Calculate your calorie needs.
In order to calculate your calorie needs, you need to determine your resting metabolic rate (RMR). Your RMR is the minimum number of calories you need to consume each day to perform basic, life-sustaining functions like breathing and blood circulation. Everyone’s RMR is different and is influenced by factors like your weight, body composition, and gender. The best way to determine your precise RMR is by getting a resting metabolic rate test—but you can also use the following equation based on your age, height, and weight to get a rough estimate:
Women: 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age – 161 = RMR
Men: 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age + 5 = RMR
Once you have your RMR, take this number and multiply it by your physical activity level (PAL). Your physical activity level is calculated as your total energy use over a 24-hour period, divided by your RMR.
Typical PAL range from 1.2 (sedentary) to 1.9 (extremely active). Here is how you would calculate your caloric needs depending on your physical activity level:
Sedentary (little to no exercise) = RMR x 1.2
Lightly active (light exercise one to three days per week) = RMR x 1.375
Moderately active (moderate exercise six to seven days a week) = RMR x 1.55 (moderate exercise/ sports 6-7 days/week)
Very active (hard exercise every day or exercising twice per day) = RMR x 1.725
Extra active (hard exercise two or more times per day, or training for a marathon or triathlon) = RMR x 1.9
Let’s say you determine your RMR to be 1,500 calories per day. If you are moderately active, you should multiply this by 1.55.
1,500 x 1.55 = 2,325
This would place your daily caloric expenditure at 2,325.
If your goal is to maintain your current weight, 2,325 is the total number of calories you should shoot for every day. If your goal is to lose one pound of fat per week, you'd need to eat around 500 fewer calories per day, or 1,825 calories. On the other hand, if your goal is to build muscle, you generally have to eat around 5-10% more calories (116 to 233 calories) per day depending on your current body composition and training level. This would put your daily caloric needs somewhere between 2,441 and 2,558.
Step 2: Determine your ideal macro ratios.
Once you’ve established your calorie needs, it’s time to determine how to split your calories among the three macronutrients. The way you split your daily calories can help you lose fat, build muscle, or maintain your current body composition. Here are basic guidelines for three common fitness goals:
Goal: Build muscle
If your goal is to stay lean while building muscle, we recommend splitting your macros as follows:
40 to 60% carbohydrates
25 to 35% protein
20% fats
This will provide sufficient carbs to fuel your workouts, protein to build and repair muscles, and fats to keep your hormone levels healthy.
Goal: Lose weight
If your goal is to lose weight, we recommend splitting your macros as follows:
10 to 30% carbs
40 to 50% protein
30 to 40% fat
In addition to focusing on these macro ratios, you’ll want to make sure you’re counting calories in a way that also puts you in a calorie deficit. To lose weight, you generally need to consume 10 to 15% fewer calories than what you burn every day.
Goal: Maintenance
If your goal is to maintain your current weight, we recommend splitting your macros as follows:
30 to 50% carbs
25 to 35% protein
25 to 35% fat
In addition to focusing on these macro ratios, you’ll want to make sure you’re counting calories in a way that provides you with enough calories to stick to your healthy weight.
Rather than trying to figure out your ideal macro split with a pencil and paper, we suggest using one of the internet’s many macro calculators. You can plug in details like your age, height, weight, and goal to determine your ideal spit. We recommend checking out this IIFYM calculator or this flexible dieting calculator.
Step 3: Calculate how many grams of each macronutrient you need to eat each day
Finally, you can calculate how many grams of each nutrient you need by multiplying your total daily calories by your protein, carb, and fat proportions. You then divide the protein and carb figures by 4 and the fat figure by 9.
For example, here’s a 2,000-calorie diet with a 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein, and 30% fat ratio:
Carbs = 2,000 x 0.3 = 600/4 = 150 grams
Protein = 2,000 x 0.4 = 800/4 = 200 grams
Fats = 2,000 x 0.3 = 600/9 = 67 grams
Keep in mind that everybody is unique and will respond differently to different macro splits. You’ll need to track your progress closely to determine what split works for you and your goals.
Ready to see if macronutrient tracking is right for your unique lifestyle and fitness goals? Get started the right way by scheduling a resting metabolic rate test so you can determine your exact daily calorie needs. Using this number, you can devise a more precise data-driven macronutrient tracking plan that helps you meet your fitness goals more efficiently.
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