General advice is to increase your calorie intake by approximately 500 kcal per day. Building muscle is a very energy-consuming process and your body will not do it effectively if you’re not eating enough. On the other hand, if you want to gain weight or build muscle, you will have to add more calories on top of your maintenance level. General advice is to lower your maintenance calorie level by around 500 kcal per day, which should result in a fairly sustainable weight loss of up to a pound a week. Although it may be tempting to drastically slash your calories to speed up weight loss, this strategy may be counterproductive or even dangerous for your health in the long term. If you want to lose weight, you will have to consistently stay below that value, in the so-called ‘calorie deficit’ state. The number you will have calculated is your maintenance level – the number of calories you need to sustain your current body weight. However, it’s much easier and faster to use one of the online calorie calculators or calorie counting apps that does it for you. You can use equations that have been developed to manually calculate your energy requirements, such as the Harris-Benedict formula. The exact amount of calories a day you need to sustain your bodyweight and maintain healthy living functions will depend on several factors, such as sex, age, weight, height and physical activity levels. In reality, everyone has unique energy requirements. The USDA regularly publishes estimated energy requirements for different individuals, but these are rough assessments intended for general use. Figure out your calorie needsįiguring out your calorie needs is the first step to calculating and tracking your macros. Trying to count your macros? Here's the best way to do it: 1.
BEST APP FOR COUNTING MACROS HOW TO
(Image credit: Getty Images) How to count your macros Saturated and unsaturated fats are commonly referred to as ‘bad’ and ‘good’ fats based on their alleged effect on our cardiovascular system, but recent years have seen a rise in research studies challenging this point of view. They are mostly found in fish and plant-based sources, such as avocados, nuts and seeds. Unsaturated fats tend to come in liquid form (cooking oils, for example). They predominantly come from animal-based sources. Saturated fats are solid at room temperatures (lard, for example). That’s why one gram of dietary fats equates to nine calories.įats are largely divided into two groups – saturated and unsaturated. Since fat molecules are densely packed and tend to be relatively bigger than other macronutrients, it takes a lot of energy to break them down and digest them. It also help to create a host of important hormones and bioactive compounds that impact our metabolism and reproductive health. Related: The best vegan sources of proteinĭietary fat plays many different roles in our bodies: it stores energy, insulates us from cold temperatures and cushions our vital organs.One gram of protein equates to four calories. Eating adequate amounts of this macronutrient also helps with energy levels, appetite control and weight management. Protein is used in the body to grow new tissues, heal wounds and produce a host of important compounds, such as enzymes, hormones or neurotransmitters. Related: Low carb diet: history, benefits and risks.Since they’re not absorbed in the intestines, they do not provide much, if any, calorific value to your body and as such they tend to be excluded from macronutrient tracking. On the other hand, dietary fiber moves through the digestive system largely intact and its main role is to stimulate your bowel movements, ease digestion and feed the good bacteria in your gut.
One gram of these carbohydrates equates to four calories. Sugars and starches are predominantly used as fuel to power up your movement and for the functioning of your internal organs. Carbohydrates can also be divided into simple and complex (sometimes referred to as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbohydrates) based on the different effects they may have on our blood sugar levels. There are, broadly speaking, three types of carbohydrates – sugars, starches and dietary fiber. CarbohydratesĬarbohydrates is an umbrella term used to describe all the molecules consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms that our bodies use as the main source of fuel.
“So when you’re counting your macros, you’re counting the grams of proteins, carbs or fat that you’re consuming”, explains Daniel Herman, founder of BioSynergy.
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