Macronutrient Guide

Macro Nutrients Guide 

For our bodies to survive we naturally need specific nutrients on a daily basis, these nutrients can be split into two categories, Macro & Micro Nutrients. The consumption of nutrients and the compatibility of them with our bodies can often determine the level of efficiency we naturally function.

Macro Nutrients are the main nutrients we need in large amounts to survive & micro nutrients are typically the ones we need in smaller amounts to function well. I could go in depth about both of these but I am going to try & keep everything as simple/understandable as possible. This is why I’m only going to discuss the main importance of each Macro Nutrient & how to tailor your consumption of them to your daily diet/nutrition plan.

MACRO NUTRIENTS

As I mentioned above, macro nutrient tend to be the main nutrients you need to consume on a day to day basis to survive. These nutrients are called “Macro” because they are the bigger of the two categories & must be consumed on a larger scale, whereas Micro are the smaller of the two and do not need to be consumed in as large amounts.

What are the Macro Nutrients?

The main Macro Nutrients are as followed, Fats, Protein, Carbohydrates (Fibre is technically a type of carbohydrate) and finally water. To go into a slight more detail ill now give you a quick brief on what each of these macro nutrients are/do:

• Carbohydrates – provides 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate. Supply the body with mostly energy, all carbohydrates are broken down into something called glucose of which out body uses as its primary energy source the majority of the time. If you aren’t sure what type of foods contain the majority of carbohydrates in them then please search online “carbohydrate foods” or ask me or a dietician. There are simply too many to list.
• Fibre – is a substance in certain foods, especially carbohydrates that travels through the body and helps maintain a healthy functioning digestive system.
• Proteins – provides 4 calories per gram of protein. A protein is something that’s made up of a long chain of amino acids, when protein is broken down into its simplest form during digestion (amino acids) it is then utilized for bodily growth, repair and energy at certain points. 
• Fats – provide 9 calories per gram of fat. There are many different types of fats but think of fats of another energy source found in food. Fats are hugely important due to them making cells within the body permeable (meaning able to access or enter) and help the absorption of essential vitamins. The types of fats are monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, omegas, saturated fats and Tran’s fats.
• Water – is simply a fluid that makes up the majority of our body and where every chemical reaction in the body takes place. Without water the body can simply not function.

Now you know what each Macro Nutrient is & what it is made up off, I can now answer the question of “How do I cater each of these to fit my diet/nutrition plan?”. Surprisingly this is quite a simple method to calculating Macros although Macro planning and manipulation can be easy or as complicated as you want to make it. 

Braking Calories down into Macro Nutrient Percentages 

Before you carry on reading, you may want to check out my previous blog on calculating calories, once you have come to a conclusion on how many calories you aim to consume on a day to day basis, you can then manipulate macronutrients to suit these calories. This is where things get quite interesting! 

Macro Nutrients are measured in Grams, each gram will have a set amount of calories, these are as followed:

• Carbohydrates = 4 Calories Per 1g
• Protein = 4 Calories Per 1g
• Fat = 9 Calories Per 1g

So for example let’s say you need to consume 3000 calories a day to maintain your body weight and you want them calories to be made up of 30% Carbs 30% Protein 40% Fat. First you must figure out what 30% of 3000 actually is, this can be done by the following equation 3000 ÷ 100 = 30… 30 x 30 (percentage) = 900 Calories. After you have your calories set for the Macro Nutrient you wish to use, you then will divide the number of calories by the amount of calories in the Macro Nutrient Per Gram by the target calories for the consumption percentage. This will then equal the amount of GRAMS you need to consume of the specific Macro to achieve your Macro Calorie Goal e.g. 900 Calories ÷ 4 = 225g. 

Equation Brake Down

• Total Target Cal ÷ 100 = Answer 
• Answer ÷ Target Macro Percentage = Target Macro Percentage Cal 
• Target Macro Percentage Cal ÷ Number of Cal per 1g of Macro = Target Macro Grams

Seeing as Carbohydrate of 30% equal 900 Calories, Protein of 30% will equal the exact same as there are equal calories per gram of carbs and proteins. Now all you have to figure out is how many Grams of fat you need to consume to hit you target fat percentage. If you follow the same equation which should look like this “3000 Cal ÷ 100 = 30 x 40 (percent) = 1200 Cal ÷ 9 = 133.3g”. You should now know how many Grams of Carbs Proteins & Fats you need to consume to achieve your targeted percentages and calories.

225g Carbs = 30% 3000 Calories

225g Protein = 30% 3000 Calories

133.3g Fat = 40% 3000 Calories

What do I now do with all these equations and calculations?

Well now you manipulate them to suit your goals. Just so you are not lost, I will give you a very short guide on the baseline requirements of each Macro Nutrient to maintain a healthy body whilst performing 3-4 moderate-intense weight sessions per week.

Protein

• If you are an athlete or highly active person currently attempting to lose body fat while preserving lean muscle mass, a daily intake of 1.5-2.2g/kg bodyweight (0.68-1g/lb bodyweight) would be a good target.
• If you are an athlete or highly active person, or you are attempting to lose body fat while preserving lean mass, then a daily intake of 1.0-1.5g/kg bodyweight (0.45-0.68g/lb bodyweight) would be a good target.
• If you are sedentary and not looking to change body composition much, a daily target of 0.8g/kg bodyweight (0.36g/lb bodyweight) and upwards would be a good target.

Carbohydrates

Once you have set your minimum protein requirements you can the decide whether you want your daily macro intake to be low, moderate or high. 

• Low Carb will generally be around 1-2g per 1kg of body weight.
• Moderate Carb will generally be around 3-4g per 1kg of body weight
• High Carb will generally be around 5g+ per 1kg of body weight.

As a general rule, the leaner you are, the more carbohydrates you can consume without gaining excess fat (the science behind this is another article in its self so I won’t go into the topic on this).

Fat

Finally we come to setting you daily fat intake goal, I wouldn’t over complicate this personally by setting a specific amount. Simply just set the remainder of your Macros (after setting your protein & carbohydrates) to fit your overall daily Macro Nutrient target.

Summary

• Macronutrients are nutrients we need in large quantities to survive and function
• There are 3 main macrnutrients PROTEIN, FATS AND CARBOHYDRATES.
• Protein & Carbohydrates contain 4kcal per 1g
• Fats contain 9kcal per 1g
• You can break down you BMR into Macronutrient percentages
• Tailor your macronutrient to your needs

As usual i have tried to keep this post very simple and on one topic, there is much more information on macronutrients that could be discussed in extreme detail, however for now this should be enough for you to take in, especially if you are new to tailoring nutrition to your personal needs. 

If you would like to further your knowledge on this topic please contact me by the following methods:

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