What are macros and why are they important to lose weight?

Setting up proper macros ratio in your diet plays an essential role if you are looking to lose weight in a healthy way.

This is the second most important step after knowing how many calories you need per day in order to lose weight.

Hey guys! it's me Gympanzie and in this article, I am going to share everything about macros and how you can use this guide to adjust your protein, carbohydrates and fat ratios to effectively burn fat and build muscles.

I have also laid down a sample meal plan which you can use to get started.

If you are still in doubt use my FREE Calorie Calculator to know your daily calorie intake.

Read this article till the end and I'm sure you will learn literally everything about macros 🙂

This is something which people get confused most often, calorie counting is just one part of the puzzle but finding your protein, carbohydrate and fat ratio is equally essential.

By looking at the nutritional facts mentioned behind all packed items you will better be able to understand the calories and macros of each food item that you purchase from the supermarket.

Let's have a look at the three main macros that form our food.

Protein

Protein is the building block of muscles.

Without adequate protein consumption, you will keep running in circles when it comes to fat loss.

However, if your main goal is to lose body fat, this could result in eating too many calories, making fat loss very difficult.

You should, instead, consume about 2 gram of protein per kg of lean body weight. There are a couple of ways to figure this out and both of them are easy so don’t worry.

First, if you have skinfold calipers, you can figure out your body fat percentage.

Then just do some simple calculations.

Here’s an example;

If you weigh 95 kgs and your body fat percentage is 22%.

95 x .22 equals 20.9.

We’ll round up to 21 and then subtract that from 95, giving us 74.

Now multiply 74 with 2 which is equal to 148.

You should eat 148 grams of protein per day.

If you don’t have skinfold calipers you can still easily get a good estimate of your daily protein intake.

Or if you would like to buy one you can visit amazon to learn more.

Determine how many kgs you would like to lose, then subtract that number from what you weigh and multiply it by 2.

For example, let’s say you weigh 95 kgs.

You remember that you liked how you looked in your college days when you weighed 65 kgs.

In fact, if you have a previous weight that you want to get back to, you don’t even have to do the subtraction.

Let’s say, you know you want to get back to 65 kgs then multiply it by 2, so this is how many grams of protein you should be eating each day.

Carbohydrates

There are two basic forms of carbohydrates: simple and complex.

Simple carbohydrates are one to three units of sugar linked together in a single molecule.

In contrast to this, complex carbohydrates are hundreds or thousands of sugar units linked together in a single molecule.

Going further, fiber is a complex carbohydrate that is so complex it cannot be broken down.

Simple carbohydrates are broken down into:

Carbohydrates are converted into glucose (blood sugar) for energy during the digestive process.

Ingesting carbs signals your body to release insulin, which shuttles the glucose into the various cells throughout your body.

Carbohydrates provide energy for your muscles, body, brain and central nervous system.

Insulin also transports the amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and the carbohydrates into your muscle cells.

This absorption by your muscles is a very important part of the muscle growth and repair factor.

They supply energy as well as play a crucial role in recuperation and muscle growth.

However, the excess carbohydrates that aren't used for energy, recuperation and muscle growth are stored as fats.

Image Credit - Dr. Berg

In addition to that carbohydrates are “protein sparing” that means more of your protein will be used for building muscles (this helps in preventing the muscle you have) instead of being burned as energy.

The key element in your nutrition program is “protein sparring” which you will see below.

Now, excess carbohydrates after ingestion will quickly and efficiently be converted into stored body fat by your body, which is the beer belly, love handles, jiggling thighs, you are so desperately trying to get rid of.

Where people who are overweight don't oxidize carbohydrates the way naturally leaner people do.

They tend to store carbs more easily as body fat due to their excess-insulin problem (Marquez-Lopez, I., et al. [2001].

Controlling, or stabilizing insulin levels and the release of insulin is the basis of low carbohydrate diet plans.

And drastically lowering carb intake is probably the best approach for those people that are very overweight and have become insulin resistant.

The first thing you need to do is get your insulin secretion under control by leveling out its release.

In order to do that is to restrict your carb intake so that you avoid massive releases of insulin in your body.

And I am not just talking about restricting carbohydrates or eliminating them from your diet, it's also about eating the right amount of the right KIND of carbohydrates.

What is the Glycemic Index?

The Glycemic Index is a way to measure the power of the carbohydrate in food with regard to its ability to raise blood glucose levels after ingestion.

It was developed in 1981 as a way to classify varying carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and raise blood sugar levels have the highest GI ratings.

Carbohydrates with lower GI ratings break down more slowly over time.

The way GI ratings were determined is to ingest 50 grams of a particular carbohydrate while in a fasted state and recording blood sugar levels.

The GI classification is broken down as follows:

• Foods with a GI score between 70 and 160 are considered high GI foods
• Foods with a GI score between 56 and 69 are considered medium GI foods
• Foods with a GI score 55 and below are considered low GI foods

The glycemic index is important because various types of carbohydrates have a different impact on insulin levels.

Insulin which is a hormone that is released by the pancreas.

The blood sugar levels greatly influence the amount of insulin released in our system.

The higher your blood sugar levels, the more insulin that is released into the bloodstream.

You want to avoid high insulin levels because high insulin levels can inhibit fat utilization (fat burning), and promote fat storage.

Carbohydrates with a high Glycemic Index rating also elevate free fatty acids in the blood, which promotes increased body fat.

Your body favors low GI carbohydrates.

As high glycemic carbohydrates, low glycemic carbohydrates do not trigger as great of an insulin release.

This prevents fat storage and protects against diabetes.

Low glycemic carbohydrates release sugar slowly into your bloodstream, this provides you with sustained energy and avoid sugar rushes and crashes.

Whereas, high glycemic carbohydrates are broken down more easily into glucose, enter the bloodstream more quickly, and cause insulin spikes.

This promotes the storage of more fat and makes you feel lethargic (the sugar rush and crash cycle mentioned above).

 Interestingly enough, the glycemic index also caused us to rethink how we looked at certain foods.

For example, fructose which is a simple sugar (simple carb) actually acted more like a complex carbohydrate in the body.

As mentioned above, starch contains long chains of glucose molecules.

This is a prime characteristic of complex carbohydrates.

However, it is not that easy, how starchy foods affected the body and insulin levels it is much more complex.

Amylose, a type of starch, does not absorb as much water, and its tightly packed molecule formations make enzyme function more difficult, causing slower digestion.

This would cause a lower GI number in foods containing amylose, such as kidney beans.

However, amylopectin, another starch, on the other hand, absorbs more water than amylose, causing a molecular structure that enables a higher Glycemic Index in foods traditionally thought to be complex in nature.

White rice is a great example, with its Glycemic Index of 98, similar to that of plain old table sugar.

It's also a double setback because, besides the insulin spike, the calories of starchy carbohydrates add up very quickly.

It is extremely easy to take in too many calories when consuming starchy carbs.

One serving of white rice (3/4 of a cup - cooked) is about 150 calories and 35 grams of carbohydrate!

How often, have you ever had just one serving, when eating rice?

If you're like most people, I'd say very rarely, if ever.

Processed Carbohydrates

Another problem has been the processing of carbohydrates.

Stay away from all processed carbs.

Eat whole-grain bread or whole wheat as opposed to white bread.

This is also true of pasta and rice.

Our bodies were not designed to live off of all the processed foods that are available today.

Other food products that you should avoid are foods whose labels scream "no fat", "low fat" or "reduced fat".

These products are one of the major reasons people all over the world have been getting fatter and fatter over the years.

When they've removed or reduced the fat content, how is that possible, you ask?

Well, you must know by now, it's not necessarily the fat content of your diet that is responsible for the excess body fat you may be carrying around.

First, “eliminating fat from your diet will keep you from putting fat on your body”, this simply isn't true, people have been led to believe (falsely, I might add).

But due to this, many people took it as a license to eat as much as they wanted of no and low-fat foods.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the excess fat on your body the amount of fat in your diet is not usually the problem.

As we've previously discussed, the total number of calories and carbohydrate intake have a lot to do with it.

And to replace the fat what do you think they used in those products?

That's right, carbs, more specifically, sugar. Lots of sugar.

Sugar that sends your insulin levels surging and plummeting.

These products didn't have any satiety.

That is to say, you were quickly ready to eat more…

So now, not only are your insulin levels out of whack, you are probably eating more calories each day than you were before gorging yourself on low fat and no fat foods.

Fats

Fats. A macronutrient that is more misunderstood than carbohydrates, if that's possible.

In addition to that, taking EFA's (essential fatty acids) is of vital importance when trying to put on (or keep, which is crucial when dieting) lean muscle.

The diets low in fat suppress the body's ability to produce testosterone (male hormone), which is a definite no-no when trying to build or preserve muscle.

Remember, if you are trying to losing fat and keeping it off, is to add muscle.

Yes, this is true for women as well.

And you don’t have worry ladies, as you don’t have the same capacity as men for adding muscle.

By adding some muscle, you will build a lean and sexy body (think Kareena Kapoor from movie Heroine not her zero-size figure in movie Tashan!).

Fats protects our vital organs and carry the fat-soluble vitamins to where they are needed, as well as supply chemical substrates that are necessary for proper hormonal production.

Fats are an important part of your nutrition program to develop muscle, burn fat (yes, burn fat) and get fit and healthy.

Essential fatty acids were considered to be the most anabolic legally available supplement in the world by the late Dan Duchaine.

Some sources of good fats available in India are Rice Bran Oil (I get mine from a local shop), peanut oil, soya bean oil, mustard oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, and coconut oil.

Now, I know you’ve heard the saying that a calorie is a calorie - if you eat more calories than you burn up, you’ll gain weight and if you eat fewer calories then you burn up, you’ll lose weight.

It just does not make any difference in what you eat.

Because a calorie is a calorie, right?

Not necessarily. First of all, as I mentioned, consuming protein has a much higher thermic effect on the body than consuming carbohydrates does.

That right there tells you that if you replace a percentage of your carbohydrates with protein, you will burn more calories, even if you are taking in the same total number of calories!

The general public (i.e., the media) doesn’t seem to understand, but this is something that the bodybuilding world seems to have had a handle on for some time.

When you reduce your calorie intake to burn fat, you need to drop your carbohydrate intake and increase your protein intake.

The subjects not only had positive changes in other health markers they have also seen changes in their body composition.

Serum triglycerides levels decreased.

Postprandial lipemia (amount of fat in the blood after eating) got reduced.

Serum insulin levels dropped.

An increase in good cholesterol or HDL cholesterol.

There was an increase in T4 (thyroxin, a thyroid hormone).

Regardless of its many successes and a strong scientific backing, nothing seems to draw the wrath of the mainstream medical profession like that of the low- carbohydrate, high-protein diet.

No one can deny the fact that reducing calories will lead to weight loss.

However, there are other factors that come into play, especially if your goal is to take the fat off and keep it off.

No one can drastically decrease the amount of food they eat indefinitely.

This is one of the major reasons than 95% of the people who go on a weight loss diet end up putting all the weight back on.

This is not about eliminating carbohydrates. Neither this is about the Atkins diet. This is about eating the right quantity of the right type of carbohydrates as part of a long-term eating plan.

SIMPLE NUTRITION RULES FOR LONG TERM FAT LOSS

In this section, we will take a look at some of the simple rules of successful dieting for long term fat loss

1. Avoid crash diets

The worst thing which you can ever do to your body is following a crash diet.

I still remember one of my female friends have asked me to recommend a crash diet plan.

I have straight forward told her not to follow neither I have explained her anything.

And it was easy for me to by just giving her the instructions on what to do… but I didn’t.

Crash diets are not a solution if your goal is weight loss.

It looks like as if you have lost a few pounds but the moment you stop following the crash diet everything will bounce back with a vengeance.

Take a look at it in this way.

Do you think that it is possible for you to survive on a crash diet for the rest of your life?

I am sure you’re not!

So, you will realize at some time or the other, you have to give up the crash diet and then you will see for yourself that it does more harm than good in the long run.

For a while crash diets may vow you by its results, but very rarely do these promises come true.

Coming back to my friends’ example she wanted to do that in order to wear a dress at her sister’s wedding.

That’s the only purpose that they serve as far as I can see that you want to do it for a particular moment but think… What after that?

2. Reduce your calorie intake gradually

Don't make huge calorie cuts, if you are looking to lose fat.

This will put your body into starvation mode, which will slowly reduce your metabolism and make it more difficult to burn off the fat.

Instead, you should reduce your calories slowly, making reductions every week or two in order to prevent this metabolic slowdown and allow your body to burn fat at an optimal rate.

3. Vary your caloric intake

 This is another way to trick your body and continue to lose body fat without slowing your metabolism.

To keep the starvation mechanism in check and continue to burn fat vary your caloric intake every few days instead of eating the exact same number of calories every day. 

4. Eat More (Healthy) Fat

Getting enough of the good “healthy” fats will help you to build muscle, lose fat, and recover faster from your workouts.

In addition, it has multiple other health benefits, out of which one is being good for your heart.

Good fats consist of polyunsaturated (especially Omega- 3's), such as those from nuts and fish (especially almonds), as well as monosaturated fats, such as those from egg yolks, peanut butter, fish oil, egg yolks, and olive oil.

Consider taking fish oil capsules EVERY DAY!

You can read more about “How fish oil can help you build lean muscle and lose fat” by clicking here

5. Eat More Fruits, More Veggies, More Fiber

By adding a steady stream of fruits and vegetables to your fat loss nutrition program can help your weight under control and losing fat can be made much easier.

Fruits and (most) vegetables are high fiber content and water also, low in calories.

They fill up your stomach, keeping your appetite under control at a lower level of calories.

To achieve better fat loss results, try to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet or just have yourself an apple before your meals.

6. The Importance of Fiber in Fat Loss and Overall Health

 Increase your fiber intake. Be sure to include in your diet as many fruits and vegetables as you can. As mentioned above, fruits and (most) vegetables are high in water and fiber content and low in calories.

Fiber has numerous health benefits, both directly and indirectly (due to weight loss with a high fiber nutrition program).

Fiber plays a very important role in bowel movement, ie, keeping you ‘regular’. It helps flush toxins from your body.

A diet plan high in fiber is a vital key to any weight loss plan.

Fiber makes it easier to eat fewer calories as it helps you to feel full.

In addition, more calories are burned from digesting high fiber foods.

In fact, by increasing your fiber intake to 35 grams a day you can automatically burn up to an additional 250 calories.

While it's recommended you get 25 – 35 grams of fiber per day, most Americans get 14 grams of fiber per day or less.

Go crazy on vegetables!!!

Vegetables should be your first choice when it comes to losing kilos.

Nature has a terrific spread when it comes to vegetable selection. where the leafy green vegetables are your best bet.

Always include a bowl of salad in your diet.

Try to eat your vegetables fresh and raw. Fresh vegetables are better than cooked or canned vegetables as they don’t lose their nutrition.

You are in fact taking away nearly half the vitamins when you cook them. And canned vegetables are processed before packing and are not nearly half as good as fresh vegetables.

It’s better to but vegetables that are pesticide-free, always look for labels if possible.

Interestingly enough, frozen veggies can have as many or more nutrients as fresh ones, because of how long it can take for vegetables to go from the farm to you, once they are picked.

Be sure to steam cook your vegetables, for as little time as necessary, to retain most of those nutrients.

Besides plenty of fruits and vegetables, be sure to take a fiber supplement, such as Orange Flavored Colon Cleanse. Yes, it will make a big difference.

7. Limit Your Intake of Carbs

All the media attention of low carb diets has successfully put most people into pro-low-carb or anti-low-carb camps without a lot of thinking involved.

Whichever side you’re on, the bottom line is that reducing your carbohydrate intake when trying to lose fat will help. This is especially true of carbs sources like sugar and starches.

You should focus on non-processed carbs like natural oatmeal and vegetables.

8. Stack Your Carbs

Eat most of your good carbs in your morning meals and in your post-workout shake (and pre-workout shake if you have one).

This helps to stabilize your insulin levels and help you burn body fat as a source of energy later in the day.

Take lean protein source such as chicken or fish, along with a side dish of veggies. Or enjoy your favorite protein shake recipe throughout the day.

9. Eliminate Processed Foods

Stick to natural foods. Forget anything processed that is just a bunch of chemicals.

You're putting poison in your body! I can’t stress this enough.

Processed foods play a huge role in obesity as well as many other health problems such as diabetes, not to mention fat gain.

10. Increase Your Protein

Increasing your protein intake will increase your metabolism and help to maintain your muscle mass, both key ingredients in losing fat and keeping it off.

Eating your food in specific combinations can help you burn calories by ramping up your metabolism.

Eat carbohydrates that are rich in fiber as they take time to digest and you will keep you “fuller” for longer periods of time.

Along with a source of carbs rich in fiber, take in more protein.

Your body burns more calories when you eat protein than it burns to digest either fats or carbohydrates.

As I have already shared this earlier that eating more protein to burn fat was confirmed in a study published in the American Journal of Physiology.

Don’t hesitate in considering protein more than 2 grams per kg of body weight in your diet.

11. Drink More Water

I know, I know, we've all heard this one over and over again.

Do you really drink enough water?

I'm talking at least 10-12 glasses of water every day, minimum.

You should really try to take in 4 liters of water each day.

As we all know that our bodies are about 70% water. That should tell you something right there. We also know that we can go much longer without food than we can without water.

If your body isn't getting enough water, it does everything it can to hold on to the water it does have.

The problem with this is the way it holds onto the water. You see, about 70% of your muscle is made up of water. It helps to give your muscles that full, pumped look (along with glycogen).

However, if you are not consuming enough water, that water is used for other things, leaving you bloated.

And the way to get rid of that excess water, believe it or not, is to take in enough water.

This will rid you of that excess water weight that bloats you, and begin to help your body run more efficiently and priming it to begin dropping body fat.

Once you start taking in enough water, your body starts dropping weight, possibly 2 to 3 kilos in the first week. This is mostly due to a drop in water weight.

Drinking enough water throughout the day optimizes your bodily functions, allowing it to function more efficiently and start burning stored body fat for energy.

12. Have a Reward Day

I know, it's usually called a cheat day or cheat meal but to me, that sounds like you're doing something wrong.

It's too negative. Let's call it a reward day for everything you are doing right.

First, giving yourself a reward day does not mean going so crazy that you sabotage everything you're worked hard to achieve.

As to whether it's a meal, day, or even half a day, only you can decide.

Only you know how far to go with this to keep you on track. Only you know if you're okay with just a meal because an entire day will send you off the progress tracks, turning your reward day or cheat day into a reward week or cheat week.

You can eat what you want but eat normally. Don't stuff yourself or binge. Eat what you want until you are full and satisfied but don’t overeat.

Even More Fiber on Treat Day: Be sure to take a fiber supplement on treat day and get a lot of fiber that you might not be getting through reward day foods.

Sugar + Fat = NO!

While you should avoid sugar as much as possible anyway, you do not want to combine fat and sugar in the same meal. Most junk foods and fast foods combine these together.

13. Read Food Labels 

You may be surprised what's in certain foods or how many calories are in a serving (a serving is NOT the entire bottle or bag).

14. Get More Sleep

In order for your body to perform optimally, getting enough sleep on a regular basis is crucial.

Try to get at least 7 to 8 hours of restful sleep each night. Your body repairs itself and recovers from your workouts while you sleep.

Without enough sleep you're on your way to overtraining, feeling burnt out and sore, and getting sick often. SLEEP!

14. Don't Go Shopping Without A List

This is huge. I can tell you two reasons why you should know beforehand what you need to get from the grocery store.

First, if you don’t know what you really want to buy, you’ll end up buying unnecessary things that will stuff your house by impulse buying things that you don’t need.

This will help you to stick to your nutrition plan and will not divert you from showing off your sexy abs.

By having a list, you can avoid all the junk food areas that the store tries to make you walk through since these are high-profit items and go directly to the food items you need.

15. Another Tip: Eat Before You Go!

Never go for grocery shopping on an empty stomach. You'll end up buying a lot of things you wouldn't get otherwise.

Having nothing in your stomach while food shopping is a great way to sabotage your health and fitness program.

WHAT TO EAT?

NUTRITION GUIDELINES

In this part, we will look at what to eat for the different macros and give you the best choices to suit your dietary requirements

Protein Foods List for Weight Loss

These are real meats, not sandwich meats filled with unhealthy additives like nitrates. And forget the glaze for the ham!

Carbohydrates/Vegetables/Fruits for Weight Loss

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Heart-Healthy Oils and Fats

This is a partial list. As far as fruits, get fresh fruits, or frozen fruits without added sugar. Look for canned fruit, that should be in water or its own natural juice.

Go for raw, canned or frozen vegetables with no added salt, lightly cooked or raw.

Keep in mind, that these are not complete lists and your selections will vary based on total caloric needs, total protein needs, etc. Not to mention your taste buds. If you don't eat meat, that's okay.

You can get ample amount of protein from vegetable sources, especially a variety of legumes and beans, such as black beans, pinto beans, lima beans, etc

Stay away from all processed foods which I can’t stress this enough.

Processed foods play a major role in obesity as well as many other health issues such as diabetes.

Try to stay away from all white carbohydrates, as well. At the very least minimize them by only allowing yourselves these treats once in a while such as on a reward day.

White carbohydrates include pasta, bread, potatoes, rice, cereals, fried food with breading, tortillas and anything else white falls under this category.

Try Eating the Same or Similar Meals (Most of the time)

While you can get quite a variety of tasty meals and still eat healthily, it's easier to eat the same meals most of the time. While most people cite 'lack of variety' to why they can't stick to a nutrition plan, this really is just an excuse. Why?

Because most people already are very limited in what they eat and eat the same meals most of the time.

While dinner may change, it's still a limited number of choices and breakfast and lunch, for most people, are the same meals every day, at least during the workweek.

So, limiting meals is something most of us already do.

Low Carb High Protein Indian Non-Vegetarian Diet Plan

Sometimes we think a lot on how to get started and just don’t know what to eat.

We may have all the choices but actually making a healthy meal plan is a different thing altogether.

In the following meal plan for the day, you will see a properly structured eating plan without being too restrictive.

Always remember to get in at least 10-12 glasses of water throughout the day.

You can use this meal plan as is or supplement one choice for something else. The key is persistence and consistency.

Meal 1

1/2 cup Natural Oatmeal (add cinnamon and a few berries [strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, watermelon)

Omelet

• 3 Egg Whole Eggs
• Chopped Onion Chopped Pepper Black Beans

Green Tea

Meal 2

 1 Scoop Whey Protein Isolate

Soaked/Raw Almonds or Cashews

Meal 3

Chicken Breast (Garlic & Pepper Seasoning & chopped onions)

Mixed Vegetables Red Kidney Beans

Meal 4

Mackerel, Basa or Tuna (chopped in a salad if you prefer)

Large Chopped Salad (onion, peppers, broccoli, tomato, cucumber, olive oil, and vinegar)

Meal 5

Raw Almonds or Cashews Green Tea

Now we have seen a healthy meal plan in action, it’s time to start getting active and adding a workout program into the mix to supercharge your weight loss journey and improve your health. Let’s get active!

You can find a link to a sample workout plan at the end of this article.

THE PERFECT GAME PLAN TO BEGIN THE WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY TODAY

Well, we’ve reached the pinnacle of our guide now is the time to make a decision to begin getting healthy.

While some of the things may seem overwhelming in this guide, don’t let all of this keep you from taking action or making progress.

You don't need to make all the positive changes at once. If you feel that would be too much for you and drive you back to your current unhealthy lifestyle, don't do it!

Take your time and implement a handful of changes at a time.

Every week or two you can make more positive changes. Let's say you’re a big chip and soda person, amongst other bad habits.

You can start by substituting diet soda for regular soda and whole-grain pretzels for chips. Start by just changing breakfast. You get the idea.

Sure, it may take longer to get the results you want but if it allows you to stick with your new program for life, that's what matters!

While it may seem like a lot to take in, if you go over it again there are really simple rules to follow that will allow you to be healthy and energetic while losing weight, too!

Well, that brings us to an end of our beginner’s guide to losing weight and gaining health.

I'm glad we've been able to take this journey towards a healthy life, all the best with it and start today!

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