You’ve probably heard the word macronutrients thrown around a lot lately. And you might feel like if you’re not counting your macros then you’re not part of the cool club.
While the latest trend to hit the fitness industry might sound like a bit of a fad, whether you know it or not, everyone needs macros.
Macros Explained
We can pretty much break down everything we eat each day into three main (macro) categories:
- Protein
- Fat
- Carbohydrates
These are your macros. Why is everyone so obsessed with them all of a sudden? Because it’s generally accepted in fitness circles that counting calories isn’t sustainable or effective.
After all, the last thing you want to do after a long day at work is find yourself asking how many calories a carrot has.
And worse than that. Losing weight and being healthy isn’t so much about the number of calories you eat as the quality of the food you eat. Kudos to you if you can keep yourself on a 1200-calorie a day diet. But if you’re constantly hungry, your willpower is eventually going to break. And that’s what usually leads people to lose weight and then put it straight back on again afterwards.
Which gets us onto macros. It’s far more beneficial to your body making sure that you’re getting enough of the three main food groups. But again, unless you’re a fitness student, personal trainer or bodybuilder, getting all obsessed over how many grams of protein you ingest is pretty hard to sustain.
If people are telling you that counting your macros is the way to go, they’re not necessarily wrong. It’s just that we discourage that kind of practice for our clients at the DVCC because counting anything is just so restrictive.
We’re about living healthy for life and instilling habits that you can live with for good.
Not training for a decathlon, losing weight to fit into a bikini or slashing carbs or calories.
Protein
Protein is the most important of the macro nutrients based purely on the fact that you can’t survive without it. We need protein to repair our bodies, keep our vital organs functioning, free ourselves of toxins, and also to build muscles.
Protein is pretty good at building muscles, which is why it’s become so hot in the bodybuilding world. Get your protein, through chicken, meat, fish, legumes, quinoa, eggs and dairy.
Carbs
Slated by the fitness world. Cut out of diets completely. And built up to be our enemy, carbohydrates are actually essential for optimal living. As long as you eat the right ones. Eating the wrong carbohydrates will leave you feeling bloated, sluggish and generally hamper your weight loss campaign.
As a rule of thumb, from the macro group, this is the one you should be eating less of. But if you do like a good dose of carbs, try to stay away from the refined white carbs from things like doughnuts and white bread.
Fat
You might think that cutting fat to lose weight is necessary. It sounds logical, based on the fact that you’re trying to lose fat, so why would you eat more of it? While it’s true that fat is high in calories, it’s essential for your nerves, hormones, skin, hair, and overall heath. In the right quantitates.
Let’s be clear. Deep fried Mars Bars are off the menu. But healthy fats from avocado and food that contains omega-3 fat, like fish, nuts and vegetable oil should definitely be part of your eating plan.
So, are macros just for bodybuilders? Absolutely not. But counting macros? Well, you know what we think about that.
