The Macronutrient Mess- Part I- Overview!

“Did you count your macros?” “Does this omelet fit your macros?” “Count your macros bro!”

We have all heard the term “macros”, but it often surprises us how little most people know about what macronutrients are, how much you need of each, or even what they do for us in the first place.

In the series, we are going to go through each of the three macronutrients, step-by-step, and talk about what each one does, and what each one does not do. Hopefully, when the series is over, you will have a better understanding of how to construct your diet to get the results that you want. Having proper balance with all three macronutrients is important for general health, but as your goals get more specific, your diet will need to get more specific as well.

What we are not going to do is talk much about calories. Although calories are important, and count for something, we have never had much use for counting them, and neither have our clients. Your body has sensors for nutrients; it does not have sensors for calories. We believe that the calories in/calories out model that we have been jamming down people’s throats for decades is fundamentally flawed.

One reason we believe this model is flawed is that humans are much more complex than a simpler machine, like, say, a toaster. Bread in, toast out. The toast does not change the toaster. It just goes on making toast. Humans, on the other hand, are more complex; macronutrients, which are inputs, change the way the body responds to them, which are outputs. It is as if the toast could actually change the toaster!

If this were just a simple math equation, then losing weight would be easy. There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat. If you could burn 250 calories more per day and eat 250 calories less per day, you would have a daily deficit of 500 calories. Do that for a week, and you will lose exactly one pound. Now, keep doing that for as many weeks as you have pounds to lose, and you will be at your target weight. Simple, right?

When we explain this to people, most of them roll their eyes and chuckle, because they know they have tried it, and failed. Yet, the recommendations remain, and we keep trying and failing. If you read my last blog post, you know that we call this “blaming the victim”.

We will no longer be blaming the victim. We are going to learn how to get to your goals, easily and efficiently, without counting a single calorie for the rest of your life. Sound too good to be true? You can always go back to counting calories later if you wish. But let us try to show you a different way.

Let us get started next week with the most important macronutrient to focus on in anybody’s diet (in our humble opinion)- protein!