Ultimate Guide To Counting Macros

Chances are you’ve heard of the macro diet or “counting macros”. It’s become a pretty popular strategy in achieving a variety of health goals.

This way of eating is pretty simple, but it can be difficult to figure out when you’re just starting. This article breaks down the benefits of the macro diet and details the first steps you need to succeed!

Discloser: I am not a trained professional. You should consult your doctor before making major lifestyle changes.

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What Are Macros?

Macro is short for Macronutrients, which are the three major nutrients in food. They are made up of Carbohydrates, Fats, and Protein. Let’s break each of them down:

Carbohydrates:

Carbs get broken down into glucose, or blood sugar. Your body uses this for energy either right away or stores it in your liver and muscles.

Carbs provide 4 grams per gram and typically take up most of someone’s calorie intake.

Foods high in Carbs

Grains
Starchy Vegetables
Beans
Dairy Products
Fruits

Fats:

Your body uses fat for it’s most critical functions, such as hormone production, nutrient absorption and body temperature maintenance.

Fats have the most calories of all macronutrients with 9 calories per gram.

Foods high in Fat

Oils
Butter
Avacado
Nuts
Meat
Fatty Fish

Protein:

Proteins are vital for immune function, and the building of tissues, hormones and enzymes.

Just like carbs, proteins provide 4 calories per gram.

Foods high in Protein:

Eggs
Poultry
Fish
Tofu
Lentils

What Is The Macro Diet?

The macro diet is all about BALANCE.

Most people eating a western diet are unbalanced when it comes to macros. They lack in important areas and indulge in others leaving their body out of whack.

Counting Macros is focused on balancing each of these necessary nutrients to give your body all it needs to function properly.

When your body is able to function properly it can help you shed extra fat and build muscle more quickly.

Unlike most diets that focus simply on lower-calorie foods, counting macros forces you to choose nutrient-dense foods that fulfill those three main macronutrients.

For example, an apple and a bag of chips may have the same amount of calories, but they don’t provide the same level of nutrients.

The macro diet prioritizes nutrient-dense foods over simply calorie counting.

What Foods Do You Eat On The Macro Diet?

When you’re counting macros there isn’t any category of food that is strictly off-limits. You just want to work in foods that “fit in your macros” (a term we’ll continue to discuss).

While all types of foods are allowed, it’s much easier to reach your macro goals if you eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and high-quality proteins.

As always it’s smart to avoid processed or sugary food (for a variety of reasons!) but what you’ll find is those types of food tend to be high in carbs and fat, making it hard for them to fit into your macros anyways.

In addition to eating clean foods, you should also be sure to drink plenty of water on the macro diet. The minimum amount you should drink each day is half your body weight in ounces.

Why Does Counting Macros Work for Weight Loss?

Counting macros can benefit your weight loss goals because it supplies your body with the nutrients it needs without going overboard.

Most western dieters don’t eat enough protein and overeat carbs. This causes your body to store that extra energy from carbs as fat, and because it does not have enough protein it has a harder time building muscle.

When you balance those macros you give your body enough energy to use it quickly and store the right amount without converting too much of it to fat and build muscle much faster.

What you’ll notice on the macro diet is a change in body composition. You’ll lose fat and put on muscle. When this happens you may not see a huge change on the scale, but your clothes will start to fit better and you’ll start to feel better overall.

Eventually, when your body is balanced it will work towards the weight your body is intended to be at. Of course, you’ll want to pair this with exercise. It’s recommended to get at least 30 mins of exercise 5 days a week.

Strength training is also key to the macro diet. Now I’m not saying you need to be a bodybuilder. Even with lifting light weights, you’ll help your body develop muscle faster which will help you shed that unneeded fat.

Can I Gain Weight By Counting Macros?

If you’re looking to add healthy weight (especially in terms of muscle) counting macros is a great way to go. If done properly in combination to exercise you should not gain unhealthy weight by eating this way.

Does Counting Macros Really Work?

When done properly, yes.

In fact, it’s what most personal trainers recommend to their clients. The macro diet does need to be modified to your specific body and overall health goals. But when you find a balance that works for you you’ll see results.

Is it a quick fix? Of course not. It may take months of eating this way to get your body back into balance. And after you’ve hit your health goals it’s recommended you continue to be mindful of your macros to not cause unbalance in the future.

Do you have to stick to your strict meal plan forever? Of course not. But what you’ll find is you’ll develop new habits and tastes that will stay with you forever.

How To Calculate Your Macros

This is where it gets fun. Counting macros is a bit of a puzzle and takes a little bit of math. But don’t worry there are calculators for that!

I’m going to break down how to calculate your macros by hand and then link to an online calculator if that’s more your style.

Basically, in this step, we need to get an idea of how much of each macro you need to be consuming each day to reach your own goals. These differ based on your gender, height, current weight, age, and activity level.

Step 1: Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

This is basically the number of calories you’d burn if you never got out of bed (i.e. the number of calories you need to survive). *NEVER eat below your BMR as part of a “diet” this will put your body into STARVATION MODE!

Follow these equations to find your BMR: Note the measurement differences

Males

BMR = 66 + (13.75 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in yrs)

Females

BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in Yrs)

Step 2: Determine Your Daily Calorie Need

Multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

If you are…

Sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.1
Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.275
Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.35
Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.525

* Exercise = 15-30 mins elevated heart rate Hard Exercise = 45+ mins elevated heart rate

Step 3: Adjustment For Goals

Once you have determined your daily calorie need, in order to lose weight you should reduce that by about 15-20%. Now, this can be higher or lower for different people, depending on your body and your goals.

Listen to your body and use this as a starting point! If you’re still hungry (actually hungry not just munchy) then maybe do closer to 10-15%, but if you feel full try reducing it closer to 20%. REMEMBER!! NEVER eat below your BMR expecting to lose weight!

If your goal is to gain weight, increase your calorie need by 5-15%.

Once you’ve hit this number give it a window, for example, 1500 – 1600 so you don’t stress about having the perfect number.

Step 4: Macro Balance

Now that you have your daily calorie need we’ll break down what percentage of calories you want to get from each nutrient. These percentages vary and can change over time, but let’s cover some of the most popular percentages to get started with.

For most people a good starting break down is

Protein: 30%, Carbs: 40%, Fat: 30%

Remember to give yourself some leeway in each category. It’s unlikely to get a perfect 30%, 40%, 30% each week – so give yourself a 5% grace area.

Macro Calculator

Now that you understand the ins and outs of how to calculate your macros feel free to input your information on this calculator (click here for female, click here for male)

When you fill it out be sure to change your age. They also mention their own workouts as part of the activity level – you can ignore that and just choose between the other options. For fitness goals you can essentially choose between losing, maintaining, or gaining.

I like this calculator because it breaks down your percentages and shows you the number of grams you need to eat, and will even break that down further into how many grams at each meal. This can be helpful to you if you decide to manually track your macros.

How To Track Your Macros

There are a few ways to keep track while counting macros. Mainly as you go or ahead of time.

As You Go – Entering your meals each day as you eat them and making sure to fill all your macros by the end of the day.

Ahead of Time – Establishing a meal plan that aligns with your macros so you can prep your food ahead of time and be positive that you’ll fall within your macros.

Personally I think planning your macros ahead of time is 10x easier. If you’re entering them as you go it can be hard to make sure they all balance at the end of the day.

How To Create A Macro Diet Plan

There’s a few ways to create your diet plan depending on your style.

Follow an established plan

There are plenty of plans out there that allow you to customize your plan based on the calorie range you’re shooting for. Each may have different macro percentages but many of them follow the basic 30/40/30 range.

This macro meal plan for beginners is easy to follow and allows you to mix and match your meals so you never get bored. Plus it also includes family-friendly meals so you don’t have to make multiple meals just so you can stick to your macros.

Use an app

There are lots of macro/calorie trackers that you can use to plan out your meals like myfitnesspal. It’s meant to be a tracker, but you can use the tool to plan your whole day ahead of time as well.

On your own

If you like the puzzle aspect of macros and want complete control over your macros I recommend using an excel spreadsheet to plan your meal and calculate your macros. Click here to access my google sheets macro meal planner template.

How To Adjust Your Macros

As you follow the macro diet you will need to customize it to fit your unique body and health goals. Here are some tips from Cooking Light on how to adjust them:

If you’re hungry, add more protein as it is the most satiating nutrient. More fiber is also filling.
If you’re tired, add more fibrous veggies to ensure sufficient energy from carbs.
If you’re not losing weight, lower your carbohydrate intake, especially with dinner.
If you have sugar cravings, balance your blood sugar better with more protein and fiber and remove all sugar.
If you are losing weight too fast, add 5 to 6 bites of starch, such as sweet potato, oatmeal, or squash, with one meal per day.
If you are losing muscle mass, add more protein—ideally, an extra 5 to 6 bites of protein per day—and add strength training to your workouts.

How to count macros with a family

When I was in college and just starting this way of eating life was easy. I was only prepping meals for myself. But once I got married things got complicated. Here are a few things I’ve done to make it work with my family.

Plan meals that your family will also enjoy

Finding meals that will fit in your macros and that you can also feed your family is a huge plus. This way you don’t have to make two meals. My macro meal plan for beginners includes a bunch of family-friendly dinners.

Make dinner and take leftovers for lunch

If all your macro meals are balanced the same you’re able to make dinner and take the same quantity for lunch and have it match your macros. This can cut down on your prep time and allow you to stick to eating with your family

Have your kids help cook

Teaching kids to cook and having them help in the kitchen can be a great bonding activity and teach them important life skills. Getting them more involved can help them enjoy the food more and spend quality time with you.

Healthy macro diet food choices:

Thinking of healthy food choices to fit in your macros can be tricky. Here’s a quick breakdown to get your mind thinking:

Proteins:

Chicken
Fish
Eggs
Turkey
Jerky
Protein Powders
Nuts
Seeds

Carbs:

Whole grains
Beans
Potatoes
Oats
Quinoa
Fruits
Some dairy products

Fats:

Avocado
Nut butters
Milk
Yogurt
Cheese
Oils
Nuts
Fatty meats

Tips for counting macros

Plan ahead

Planning your meals ahead of time is the biggest advice I can give. Trying to cram in extra macros at the end of the day while trying to stay balanced will hardly ever be simple.

I like to plan my whole week’s meals out at once. I typically do eat the same thing every day, but with this macro meal plan, it’s really easy to mix and match if you need variety.

Prep ahead

I recommend prepping all your food beforehand to make sure it’s easy to grab and go when you’re in a hurry.

Not having food ready makes it easy to go through a drive-through or grab something faster. I recommend prepping your meals on the weekends or whenever you have a day off.

If that doesn’t work for you try the method of making dinner and saving the leftovers for lunch. That will cut down your weekend commitment and still make it easy.

Balance each meal individually

This is probably my biggest piece of advice. When I figured this out it was a GAME CHANGER.

I used to plan my meals for a whole day. Each meal had different macros but by the end of the day it added up to what I needed.

The problem I ran into was if I wasn’t in the mood for a specific meal or if I didn’t quite make enough food I wouldn’t complete that day’s macros.

So I started making every meal with similar macros so I could mix and match. Want leftovers from last night? Good to go! Breakfast for dinner? Sure! This really simplified my life and cut down on my planning time.

Weigh your food

I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again – WEIGH EVERYTHING. If you’re only eating 3 oz instead of 6 oz it’ll make a big difference. Don’t trust your gut, weigh your food.

Don’t weigh yourself too often

Speaking of weighing, weigh your food every day – not yourself.

Your body composition will be transferred during this time, so it’s not in your best interest to weigh yourself every day. Try to weigh in every 2 weeks in the beginning to get a sense of how your plan is doing and adjust if needed. I typically only weigh in once a month.

Don’t Forget Your Gut Health

Maintaining a healthy gut is so important when trying to reach your fitness goals! I personally struggled to lose weight on the macro diet until I started adding probiotics and other gut health supplements.

Protein Sources for macros

It can be really hard to get enough protein in your diet, especially if you don’t like eating a ton of meat or follow a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle.

When needed feel free to add protein powders to smoothies, oatmeal, or just as a protein drink.

Macro friendly recipes

If you’re interested in some macro-friendly recipes, be sure to check out my macro meal plan here. I’ve already laid out a bunch of mix and match meals you can use and adjust to your specific macros.

Check out my Meal Prep Template!

I’ve created a customizable google sheets page that makes it really easy for you to create your own meal plan! It’s more of a puzzle to create yourself but it gives you complete control. Get access to it here!