How to calculate your macros for weightloss?

March 7, 2021

How to calculate your macros for weightloss?

If you have never heard of Macro or tracking macros, let me explain. Marcos comes from the word Macronutrients, and macronutrients are Fat, Protein, Carbs. When I discovered tracking macros, it was the best thing ever. I had always been a jo-jo dieter and restricted myself from pretty much everything.

But tracking macros changed my life. For the first time in my life, I was enjoying carbs without guilt. The moment I went from eating only protein and vegetables to eating rice, potatoes, bread, etc. I saw more results than I had and without restricting myself. Even being in a caloric deficit, but I never felt like I was on a diet because I was enjoying the food I loved. I believed that the only way to lose weight was to remove all the food I loved and carbs, but was I wrong.

Tracking Marcos can be overwhelming and very tedious, but I have to say it opened up my eyes to understand that food wasn’t the enemy. It was about learning how to enjoy the food you love in moderation.

When calculating your macros, you want to be realistic when determining your goal weight. 1-2 lbs. a week is a realistic and healthy weight loss goal.

Benefits of tracking macros:

Let’s start by determining your calories:

We all have a goal weight in mind and as long as it is realistic and healthy let’s start there.

Multiply your goal weight by 10 to get the base calories needed just to survive.

Example: goal weight is 125 x 10 = 1250 (base calories just to survive)

Now, depending on how active you are it’s the number of calories you will add. If you are inactive and completely sedentary you will add 300 to 400 calories.

Here is an example: 1250 + 300, 1250 + 400= 1550 – 1650 calories

If you are very active and working out 5 to 6 days a week, you will add 500 to 600 calories.

Example 1250 + 500, 1250 + 600= 1750 – 1850 calories

Do not make the mistake that lower is better. Your body needs the calories to get you through your workouts and keep your metabolism on fire. By eating the necessary calories you need and working out you will decrease your body fat.

Figuring out your macros:

Protein:

Take your body weight goal x 1 to determine grams of protein. Multiply that number by 4 since there are 4 calories in a single gram of protein to determine how many daily calories you need from protein.

Example:

Bodyweight goal (125) x 1 = 125 grams protein
125 grams protein x 4 calories = 500 daily calories from protein

Carbohydrates:

Take your goal bodyweight x 1.5 to determine your grams of carbohydrates to build muscle. Multiply that number by 4 since there are 4 calories in a single gram of carbohydrates to determine how many daily calories you need from carbohydrates.

Example:

Bodyweight goal (125) x 1.5 = 187.5 grams carbohydrates
187.5 grams carbohydrates x 4 calories = 750 daily calories from carbohydrates

Fat:

To determine fat calories, add your total protein calories to your total carbohydrate calories and subtract that number from your total calorie intake. Divide that number by 9 since there are 9 calories in a single gram of fat to determine how many grams of fat you will need each day.

Example:

Total daily protein calories (500) + total daily carbohydrate calories (750) = 1250
Total calories needed (1750 – 1850, choose the lower number, 1750) – (1250) = 500 calories from fat
Divide the total calories from fat (500) by 9 = 55.5 or 56 grams daily fat

Here are the total numbers for your macros:

125 lb. goal weight

1750 – 1850 calories, eat on the lower end on days you don’t work out.

125 grams protein (500 cals)
187.5 grams carbs (750 cals)
56 grams fat (500 cals)

Divide those numbers by how many times you plan to eat in a day to get the amount you need in each meal.

Example: 5 times a day

125/5 = 25 g protein for each meal
187/5 = 37.4 g carbs for each meal
56/5 = 11 g fat for each meal

You can also use online Macro Calculator to help you calculate your macros if you are just starting out and do not want to deal with doing all the math yourself. Doing the math yourself; you can get more accurate numbers for your body, but I used IIFYM calculator when I first started.