Counting “macronutrients are”  goldmine, a practice that is becoming increasingly known by fitness figures, but what is it about? I will try to explain it to you more easily if that is possible.

Macronutrients are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates; but there is an approximate but different quantity for each body that you must eat from each one. Calculating that number according to your body type and lifestyle, you would be nourishing yourself exactly with the nutrient you need, according to the objective you are looking for.

Calculating macronutrients

• For example: depending on your goal,
• You have a mixed number of each macronutrient,
• What you should consume daily
• If you want to lose weight,
• If you want to maintain yourself it is different and to gain weight it is another.
• It is pure and wonderful science!

Here’s the whole explanation of why the diet your friend found in a magazine doesn’t work for her or you. Look at most diets, while crazier and more extreme, they want you to consume fewer calories than your body needs. Since the ultra-processed food industry knows that you are dieting and you’re only going to be aware of calories, it focuses on giving you low-calorie products so that you can continue buying them. But not all calories nourish your body and less those of ultra-processed products that are more chemical than food. So, you may go on a diet based on eating fewer calories than you need, but you will not be providing your body with the necessary nutrients to be healthy.

That is why I always tell you “DO NOT DIET” Choose a healthy lifestyle forever

So what is recommended? Instead of paying attention to calories, we better ask ourselves before we put something in our mouths, “Is this feeding me?” Science gives you the tools and then you take what is convenient for you. I tell you what this is about and then you decide if you want to apply it in your life or not.

What is the percentage of each macronutrient you need?

I started to find out before writing this article and it turns out that there are many formulas to calculate Macronutrients, if you are willing to do it, it is about testing and adjusting. Before starting I want to recommend the following: Counting calories or macronutrients is a scientific methodology, it is a fact that if you eat fewer calories than your body needs, you lose weight, and if you eat more, you increase. 

But if you only count calories you will have nutrient deficiencies, that’s why the nutrients must be counted, I already told you that but I repeat it just in case. I recommend counting the macros in an initial phase to train your eye, your body to what is suitable for it; But it is not a habit that you must add to your life forever because you become paranoid about food and in the long run it is not something that is sustainable over time, for your peace of mind.

The data that I give you in this article are merely informative, if you want to count macros for a specific objective, I recommend that it be done by a professional, who can adapt it to your body and your demands, especially if you have any hormonal problem or if you suffer from diabetes or another condition, Now that I have told you all this we are ready to start this math class, so look for a pencil, paper, and a calculator, let’s start with a little theory and then we will calculate:

They are the ones that supply most of the metabolic energy to our body, the main ones are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, but surely you have also heard about micronutrients.

They are those substances that the body needs in smaller amounts or small doses for its main metabolic processes such as vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.

This is only for informational purposes because micronutrients are important but do not contain calories, so today we are going to focus on Macronutrients.

Where are the macronutrients?

In the food, we eat.

• Proteins:

They help us create and maintain muscles and tissues in our bodies, but they also help us control appetite. When we eat protein, the body needs more time and energy to digest it and while this process occurs, we feel satiated, which translates into less hunger, less anxiety, more control than we eat. This is why it is important to add protein to every meal.

Between 2 – 2.3 per kilo of weight. Keep reading that I will give you two ways to calculate it so you can find the one closest to your body and lifestyle.

Healthy sources for finding protein are:

Lean meats, fish, eggs, and dairy; however you also find vegetable protein in legumes and beans, nuts and seeds, etc.

• Carbohydrates

They provide gasoline for our bodies, they give us energy for all the activities we have to do during the day. If you have tried a carbohydrate-free diet, you may have experienced the tiredness and lack of energy it feels to suppress this macronutrient. It is not something that can be maintained for the rest of life.

Healthy sources of carbohydrates are vegetables, greens, fruits, cereals.

How much should I consume daily? You’ll need to find the amount that fits your daily energy expenditure, but you can start with about 1.25 per pound of lean mass daily.

• The fats

Yes, we definitely need to eat fat, fat is not fattening, fattening the number of calories we consume based on all macronutrients, not just fat. Fats regulate our hormones, brain functions and help us absorb vitamins.

Healthy sources of fat are Meat, nuts, avocado, fish, oils (olive, coconut, avocado), butter, ghee, seeds, eggs, cheeses.

Between 15 and 45% of your total calories, obvious for all bodies is not the same, so read on.

It is important to know that alcohol is another macronutrient, but it only provides empty calories, no benefit for the body, except for feeling very cool and uninhibited in a social gathering!

1 gram of Protein = 4 Calories

1 gram of Fat = 9 Cal

1 gram of Carbohydrates = 4 Cal

1 gram of alcohol = 7 Cal

Most of the packaged products have a nutritional label, we are going to read it to know how many macronutrients they provide us per “serving”, focusing on the main 3:

The first thing is to read the portion of the packaging:

1. 1/2 cup of quinoa is the serving.
2. Macros:
3. Fat 2g x 9 = 18 Cal
4. Protein 5g x 4 = 20 Cal
5. Carbohydrates 24g x 4 = 96 Total Cal 134 Cal

It approximates what the nutrition label says after rounding. You will notice that in the macros, everything is approximate. Practice with various labels of products you have in the pantry and buy yourself a kitchen scale so you can weigh your food. Here I share my 3 favorite applications to know the macronutrients of food.

Now that you know what the types of macronutrients are and how to read them in foods, it’s time to understand how many foods should be on your plate, how much of each macronutrient, and how much that represents in calories. You must first calculate the calories your body needs daily. You have this formula in a previous publication, you find it here on the blog, also calculate your ideal weight so that you have a base.

I have found 2 ways to calculate it and I share them with you so that you can find the one that best suits your objective. Be patient because it is long.

William Sheldon in 1940 established a division into three categories of human body types or Biotypes. 

Yes, you have definitely realized that everyone has a different body: when we get fat, some of us get more belly, and others get more fat in the hips and others are blessed with those bodies that eat everything and as if nothing. Considering the ability to accumulate fat and create muscle mass, this man divided them into 3 categories: Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph.

• IF YOUR BIOTYPE IS ECTOMORPHIC: 55% Carbohydrates | 25% Protein | 20% Fat
• IF YOUR BIOTYPE IS MESOMORPHIC: 40% Carbohydrates | 30% Protein | 30% Fat
• IF YOUR BIOTYPE IS ENDOMORPHIC: 25% Carbohydrates | 40% Protein | 35% Fat

Step 1: Calculate your daily calories

Step 2: Locate your body type

Step 3: Record the breakdown of calories from each macronutrient that you must eat during the day and calculate using this formula.

• Formula to know the Calculation of daily Proteins that you should eat:

(Total daily calories x% protein according to your biotype = Total Cal in Proteins)

In Grams: (Total Cal in Protein / 4 = Total g of daily protein)

The calories that Maria must consume per day are: 1800

Its biotype is Endomorphic

1800 Cal X 25% = 450 Calories from protein per day

How many grams is that?

450 Cal / 4 = 112.5 g of Protein a day should consume Maria

If Maria eats 3 times a day, she should eat 37.5 g of protein at each meal.

What does 37.5g of protein look like?

100g Whitefish: 24g protein

1/2 cup cottage cheese: 28.1g protein

Total protein = 38 g

Now you must do the same calculations with carbohydrates and fats to know the rest of the macronutrients that your plate should contain.

In Calories:

(Total daily calories x% according to your biotype = Total Cal in Carbohydrates)

In grams:

(Total Cal in Carbo / 4 = Total g of p day)

3) Fat Calculation:

In Calories:

(Total daily calories x% fat according to your biotype = Total Cal in Fat)

In grams:

(Total Cal in Fat / 4 = Total g of daily Fat)

Now I will give you another way to calculate them according to the energy consumption of your body, that is, being sedentary or very active will determine the breakdown of your macronutrients:

Calculation according to your type of physical activity

If you are training with weight more than 4 times per week = (2g x kg of your weight)

If you train smoother or just cardio like yoga, pilates, spinning = (1.5gx kg of your weight)

If you don’t do any type of exercises = between (1 and 1.3gx kg of your weight)

Take the indicator according to your activity and the result will be (Total grams of protein daily)

(Grams of daily prot) x 4 Cal = (Total calories in protein daily)

Maria trains soft and weighs 62 kg

1.5gx 62kg = 93g protein is what Maria should consume daily

There are 372 calories from protein daily

Now let’s calculate how many calories are left to consume

It is calculated with this formula:

Your total Calories per day – (gr of protein x 4) = Calories remaining to consume

Maria had to consume 1800 Cal daily, remember?

1800 – 372 Cal protein = 1428 Cal left to consume in carbohydrates and fats

(The result of the remaining calories) / 2 = The calories from daily carbohydrates)

In grams

(Calories from daily carbohydrates / 4 Cal = Total Grams of Carbohydrates)

1428 Calories / 2 = 714 Cal from carbohydrates

divided by 4 = grams are 178.5 g

About 59.5g of carbohydrates at each meal

(The result of the calories that remain) / 2 = 50% of the calories from Daily fats)

Maria must eat fat:

All the information I give you is so that you are informed and you can make the best decision regarding your diet when planning your daily meals or evaluating a diet. For any eating plan you want to start, always turn to a specialist. I do not want you to become “the crazy of macros and calories” and go counting everything you eat because it is not sustainable over time, we leave that to those who go to a competition, athletes, and bodybuilding physicists. It is very useful to know how to count your macros because you can get an idea of ​​what you are doing correctly and what is not. Knowing this information may answer the following questions: why are you stagnant or why is your diet not working? Why are you not losing weight? And it can help you plan, organize and balance your menu while making adjustments.

Are carbohydrates the devil?