Want to lose body fat but you’re not sure how to count macros? Or even what that means? This is for you.
Counting macros can seem a little tedious, let’s be honest. But it’s a really effective way to get the results you want efficiently and sustainably. You’ll be able to adjust your nutrition targets as your needs and goals change over time.
It’s pretty simple to change your habits, but that doesn’t mean it’s super easy. We’ll get into a few common mistakes that people make and how you can avoid them. But first, let’s talk about what macros are.
Macros (short for macronutrients) are the nutrients in food that your body needs in large quantities. You’ll recognize them as carbohydrates (carbs), protein, and fats. Alcohol is the fourth macro but it’s different because your body doesn’t require it.
How you arrange the proportions of each of the nutrients will affect your results. As your goals, needs, and lifestyle may change over the years, so might these proportions. If you’re looking to shed body fat, you’ll use one ratio. If you’re looking to build muscle, you’ll use a different one. If your primary goal is fueling your training, you’d use another one. Your macro distribution might even change for a reason like dealing with menopause.
Once you understand macros, you can ensure that you’re eating and fueling yourself properly for your needs and goals, even as the evolve over time.
Is tracking macros obsessive? The truth is what you measure gets managed. If you don’t have a precise idea of what you’re eating, then how will you know what to change?
Have you ever felt like your eating and workouts were on point, yet you didn’t see the physical changes or performance results you want?
Tracking macros gives you a plan. If you decided to run a marathon for the first time, you wouldn’t just run random distances and expect to become a good marathoner, would you? No, you’d follow a plan, a step-by-step program. You’d track every run so you’d be sure you were progressing the way you want. Tracking macros is just a plan for you to keep track of your fueling, and adjust it as needed.
If you’ve tracked calories you might think that tracking has to be restrictive. That it has to have lots of rules and an extensive list of foods you can’t have.
Tracking isn’t inherently restrictive. It’s not judging you. It’s just data. A picture of what you’re eating.
One small yet important caveat: if you currently or have previously experienced disordered eating, tracking may not be the best option for you. Please seek professional guidance.
Here are three common mistakes that undermine your progress:
Mistake number one: Making no adjustments to what you’re currently doing.
If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you will continue to get what you’ve always gotten. When you first start tracking macros, just track every single thing that you eat or drink. Do this for several consecutive days so you get a clear picture of your current situation. Don’t make any changes yet, just see where you are.
When you have a clear idea of your current situation, then you make minor adjustments. There’s a temptation to make huge changes. You’re highly motivated and that’s awesome. But motivation doesn’t last very long. The idea isn’t to grit your teeth and suffer through it until you just can’t take it any more. You want to make only enough adjustments to start moving in the right direction. Small changes, over time lead to big results which are sustainable. Gritting your teeth isn’t sustainable.
Radically changing your macro ratios from what you’ve been eating is really hard. It’s also unnecessary. Just make minor adjustments. This way you’re dialing in without feeling upside down or really restricted.
Tracking is eye opening. You won’t be able to delude yourself. The numbers won’t lie and you’ll be better equipped to hold yourself accountable. You’ll begin to see results. Note: holding yourself accountable doesn’t mean beating yourself up.
Mistake number two: Not prioritizing protein.
You don’t have to change your entire diet at once. That’s a huge shift. When you can’t hit the target ratios for protein, fats, and carbs you get frustrated. You may even feel like giving up. Instead, focus on making one change at a time.
Make getting enough protein each day a priority. Whether you’re an omnivore or your diet is plant-based, protein tends to be the macro that gets shorted. Carbs and fats are incredibly tasty for almost everyone. Protein is key whether your goal is to retain muscle while shedding body fat, gain muscle, or even recover better from your training.
As you get older, your body becomes less efficient at utilizing protein. So if you’re over 40, it’s even more important to make sure you’re getting enough.
Hit your daily protein target first.
Your body breaks down protein to build and repair muscle (and other tissue). If you’re looking to get lean, this is why protein is so important. It’s also very filling, so you won’t feel as hungry.
Let your carbs and fats fall where they fall, at least at the start. Once you’re in the habit of hitting your protein, you can tweak the other two in order to keep progressing towards your goals.
Mistake number three: Not tracking everything.
I won’t lie to you, when you first start tracking, it’s not the most fun you'll ever have. You’re learning a new habit. Meticulously jotting down all the things you eat and drink may seem daunting. Just like any other skill, you start off clumsy and slow. As you do it more, you’ll get smoother and faster at it. I believe in you, after all, you went through the same clumsy to smooth process when you learned how to tie your shoes.
Tracking everything you eat and drink is the best way to understand portion sizes and the nutrient breakdowns of everything you’re taking in. Just because you don’t count it doesn’t it mean your body doesn’t count it. Your body counts everything. If you want results, then you should, too. If you ate it without logging it, you still ate it, and yes, it will have an impact on your results.
Again, this isn’t about judgment, it’s about accounting. Little bites, nibbles, and tastes can add up. So track everything. It’ll help you avoid eating mindlessly or out of boredom.
What you measure gets managed.
You can’t make the correct adjustments if you don’t have an accurate picture of what you’re eating either. So not tracking everything is hindering your progress.
Tracking macros isn’t as exciting as following the new fad diet, but only one of those things is going to get you long-term results (it’s not the fad diet). You can work hard to change and keep spinning your wheels. Or you can work hard to change and start seeing results. It’s up to you.
Now that you know a few of the most common mistakes, let’s talk about what you should do.

[In the photo above, you can see the macros for the container of yogurt are 11g protein, 16g carbs, and 0g fat. The total calories are 110.]
Yes, you’re going to have to learn how to read a food label. Don’t worry, if you haven’t done it before, it’s not as complex as it looks. There are only a few things you really have to understand.
The first is how much protein, carbs, and fats a given food has. Then you have to know the amount of servings you’re having.
You can shortcut this process by downloading a free app to track such as Mike’s Macros or myfitnesspal. You can either scan the barcode or enter information into the app to track.
There are 4 calories in a gram of protein.
There are also 4 calories in a gram of carbs.
There are 9 calories in a gram of dietary fat.
Eating dietary fat isn't unhealthy, just understand that it’s more calorie dense than either protein or carbs. In other words, for just a small volume of food you get more than twice the calories.
Your body breaks down protein into amino acids to utilize them to build and repair body tissues, including muscle.
Your body uses carbs as a primary fuel source. Your brain uses most of the carbs you eat just to keep running. Carbs also fuel your training. They’re important.
Your body uses dietary fats to help produce and balance important hormones, including sex hormones. They’re also important.
Completely cutting out any of these macros is not optimal for health or fitness.
If you look at the photo again you'll notice that the macros and calories don't line up perfectly. The container reads 110 total calories. But 4c/g x 11g protein = 44 calories plus 4c/g x 16g carbs = 64 calories yield 108 total calories. That's okay, go by the macros.
So how much should you have?
You now know to hit your protein target first, but what should it be?
Take your goal body weight in pounds. Since we’re talking about fat loss, let’s say you’re a woman who’s currently 180 lbs. and your goal is to get down to 150 lbs. You want to take that 150 number and set that as a protein target.
Whatever your target body weight in lbs. Is, you want to eat about that many grams of protein per day. You don’t have to hit an exact number, a range is more flexible. Grab your calculator right now (I bet your phone has one). Take your goal body weight and multiply it by 1. That’s the high end of your protein target per day in grams. Now take your goal body weight and multiply it by 0.8 to get the low end of your protein target per day in grams.
For the woman in this example, that means 1 x 150 = 150g of protein on the high end. It’s 0.8 x 150 = 120g of protein on the low end.
Eating between 120g and 150g of protein per day would be ideal. Now, that may be a lot more protein than you’re currently eating. This is another reason tracking what you’re currently doing is important. If you eat far less than 120g of protein daily, now you’ll know. If this is the case, aim for at least 100g of protein per day and very gradually build up towards 120g per day.
Aim for 120-150g of protein per day. Build up to it gradually if you’re not there yet.
How much carbs and fats should you eat?
This is a little complicated but I’ll break it down for you, step by step.
Take your goal body weight and multiply it by 12 to get your daily calorie target.
For the woman in the example that would be 12 x 150 = 1800 calories per day.
One thousand eight hundred calories may sound like a lot when so much of the fitness advice out there is actually just recommending undereating. If you want sustainable progress and long-lasting results, you do not want to undereat.
12 x goal body weight in lbs. = daily calorie target.
Recall that there are 4 calories per gram of protein. Her target is between 120g and 150g of protein.
4c/g x 120g = 480 calories
4c/g x 150g = 600 calories
Her calorie target range for protein is 480-600 calories per day.
1800c total per day - 480g of protein = 1320 calories per day (to split between carbs and fats).
1800c - 600g protein = 1200 calories.
She has between 1200-1320 calories per day to split between carbs and fats.
For simplicity, let’s say she wants to split her carbs and fats equally, what would that look like?
She has between 600-660 calories per day of each.
Remember carbs have 4c/g and fats have 9c/g.
For carbs, 600c / 4c/g = 150g.
660c / 4c/g = 165g.
Her macros for carbs per day would be 150-165g.
For fats, 600c / 9c/g = 66.7g.
660c / 9c/g = 73.3g.
Her macros for fats per day (rounding) would be 67-73g.
All together her macro targets would be 120-150g protein, 150-165g carbs, and 67-73g fats per day. Having ranges instead of one target number gives you a little bit of flexibility so you don’t have to panic if the numbers in real life aren’t exact.
Understand that the actual ratio of fats to carbs doesn’t have to be 1:1. That may work well for you. You may prefer to eat a higher ratio of carbs. Or you could feel and perform better eating a higher ration of fats.
Try it for a bit, while still tracking of course, and adjust as necessary. You would just take that 1200-1320 calories and divvy them up to your preference.
It ends up being simpler in practice than in theory. Once you have your daily target ranges for protein, carbs, and fats, most of the thinking is done. Now you just have to execute.
You'll notice that I haven't listed any food as being forbidden. That is intentional.
"Should I have that?"
"If it fits your macros," is the response. What you eat is entirely up to you. You understand that macros (i.e., the amount of protein, carbs, and fats you eat) matter most for how you look. You also know that eating mostly whole foods that aren't highly processed matters most for how you feel and perform (i.e., your health). Just take that under consideration.
The apps can calculate the macros for each food you enter provided you enter the serving size.
If you end up a little bit over or under your targets one day, do not sweat it. If you’ve hit your daily protein target for the day and are under your daily allotment of carbs and/or fats and you feel satiated, there’s no need to force yourself to eat further. If you are consistently missing your targets, then it’s not logical to expect the results you want.
Start by tracking the macros for without changing anything for a few days to get a baseline.
Multiply your goal bodyweight by 12 to get your daily calorie target.
Multiply your goal bodyweight by 1 to get the high end of your daily protein target in grams.
Multiply your goal bodyweight by 0.8 to get the low end of your daily protein target in grams.
Split the macros remaining (once you’ve subtracted those from protein) between carbs and fats in a way that is most sustainable for you.
Track everything you eat or drink.
It takes a little practice. You may take a couple minutes to log each meal in the beginning. Very quickly you’ll be able to do it in a few seconds. Keep at it.
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