How To Count Macronutrients

Your health starts with what you eat. Your diet should consist of multiple types of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins. One way to make tracking your diet simpler is to learn how to count macronutrients. By tracking your diet then you’re also tracking your results for weight maintenance, weight loss, and weight gain.

What Are Macronutrients?

Macronutrients are comprised of protein, fat, and carbohydrate nutrients. Each of these elements can be found in almost every type of food. Learning how to count macronutrients is important to choose a diet. Remember, the body needs to have protein and fat macronutrients to survive. Without these two nutrients then the body may be negatively affected.

Macronutrients can be determined by using the Harris-Benedict formula and the Mifflin-St Jeor formula. These formulas determine your basal metabolic rate and your total daily energy expenditure. These two products are absolutely important for determining your macronutrients. You can also use online macronutrient tools to help calculate your macronutrients and caloric intake.

Determining Your Nutrient Intake

Determining your macronutrients is based on your total caloric intake. The body needs about 14 to 16 calories per pound of body weight to maintain itself. It takes 3,500 calories to burn one pound of body fat. To gain one pound, the body needs to gain 3,500 calories. You’re in total control if you want to maintain, lose or gain weight.

It is recommended that 45% – 65% of your calories should come from carbs. 10% to 35% of your calories should come from protein. 20% – 35% of your calories should come from fat. You can adjust the total amount of protein, fats, or carbs to tailor your diet. If your body responds better to more carbs than fats then consider consuming a bit more carbs.

Important Tips For Diet

When learning how to count macronutrients it’s important to remember one thing. Your body needs protein and fat nutrients to survive. Without these two nutrients then your body may be negatively impacted.

There are certain diets to help with your fitness goals. It’s important to educate yourself on each diet to eat healthy foods from home. The body doesn’t need carbs to survive, but restricting them might not be the best diet for you. It all depends on the number of carbs that your body needs to function correctly. Everyone is unique so it’s best to adjust the total of macronutrients to fit your needs.

Helpful Tools To Count Macronutrients

Determining your macronutrients is finding out your basal metabolic rate and your total daily energy expenditure. The Harris-Benedict formula calculates your basal metabolic rate. The Mifflin-St Jeor formula determines your total daily energy expenditure. These two formulas ultimately determine your macronutrients.

On the other hand, there are tons of online macronutrient calculators that can help. These online calculators are viable options for many that don’t want to manually calculate them. Figuring out your macronutrients takes time so be patient when going on your fitness journey. Online macronutrient calculators may speed up that process by eliminating the math behind it.

Macronutrients For Fitness Goals

Calculating macronutrients can be more accurate compared to counting overall calorie intake. Tracking calories generally just counts the total number of calories your body needs. However, calculating macronutrients counts the three vital nutrients the body consumes plus overall caloric intake.

To maintain your body weight then your body needs about 14 – 16 calories per pound. To lose weight, then the body needs to burn 3,500 calories. Gaining weight means that the body needs an extra 3,500 calories. Restrict about 300 – 500 calories daily to lose weight. Consume an extra 300 – 500 calories daily to gain weight. Determining if you want to maintain, lose or gain weight is entirely up to you. Living a healthy lifestyle also helps to live a pain-free lifestyle.