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- For fat loss, being in a calorie deficit is the most important factor.
- Protein is also essential because it keeps you full and helps you maintain your muscles.
- I don’t care about my carbs and fats. Instead, I eat a healthy balance of the two.
Whether your goal is to lose fat, gain muscle, or just keep an eye on how you fuel your body, tracking your macros can be a great educational tool.
All foods are made up of three macronutrients (or macros): protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Protein and carbohydrate both have four calories per gram, and fat have nine.
When I have a particular fitness goal, I loosely monitor my protein and calorie intake, but let the carbs and fat settle in without meticulously calculating them.
This technique has helped me lose fat and build muscle over the years, reducing my body fat percentage from 31% to 17%.
Proteins are the key to body rebuilding
In my main fat loss phase of 2019, I lost 35 pounds. However, it was really important for me not to lose the muscle I had built from weightlifting.
To maintain my muscles, I made sure not to lose too many calories, to build regular strength, and to follow a high protein diet, aiming for 0.8 to 1g of protein per pound of body weight each day.
“Out of the three [macros], the ones we are most interested in are protein, as higher protein intake can help
weightloss
by helping regulate your appetite and ward off hunger pangs, ”sports nutritionist Scott Baptie told Insider.
Protein keeps you full and helps your muscles repair themselves after a workout. It also uses more energy to digest than carbohydrates and fats, which is known as the thermal effect of food.
Nothing bad happens when I eat a low protein meal – the occasional low protein day won’t impact my progress – but I notice I’m more hungry.
I don’t worry about fats and carbs
To lose weight, Baptie said fat and carbohydrate tracking “isn’t really necessary” if you’re in control of your protein and calories, and that has always been my experience.
If you’re someone who feels better eating more carbs, you should do it, personal trainer Ben Carpenter wrote on Instagram. And if you prefer to eat more fat, you should.
“Rather than looking for a specific ratio, keep in mind that long-term results are always limited by personal buy-in, so it makes sense to go for personal preferences,” he said.
I prefer to keep a moderate balance of my carbohydrate and fat intake. Some days will be higher in one or the other, but I don’t notice any huge difference in my mood or physical performance anyway.
Eating more carbs makes me more bloated because carbs cause water retention, but I know it’s not fat gain.
Calories are the most important overall
While counting calories isn’t for everyone, calories do matter when I’m trying to lose fat.
Food tracking works for me and it’s a tool I come back to when I want to lose fat, but I don’t do it religiously. I use the free MyFitnessPal app.
If you want to lose weight the most important factor is your calorie intake – if you haven’t hit your protein goal at the end of the day but eaten all of your calories, all the fitness experts out there. I spoke agree. it is better not to eat more.
“The calorie goal first, the protein intake second, let everything else fall into place based on your personal preferences,” Carpenter said.
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