Hellooooooo everyone.
On a daily basis through some form of social media I am asked what are my macros, do I track, do I eat clean and how to survive on poverty macros as well as a bunch of random crap!
So I'm going to take some time to answer a bunch of these questions and give my opinion on it all and how to incorporate it into your day to day life if you feel it is necessary .
Firstly what my macros are don't mean anything, because it is a totally personal thing depending on age, weight, gender, activity level and personal goals! So with that said I am not hugely strict at the moment with tracking as I am not currently prepping for a show/comp or meet.
For those who are just learning about tracking macros and understanding it all the best way to figure it out is honestly to use an online calculator to figure it out! (IIFYM.com is great) If you are old school and want to figure it out yourself then these are the number you need to crunch.
First thing you need is to know your BMR (base metabolic rate)
The old school way of calculating it is using the Harris Benedict Equation. Looks a bit full on but if you have a calculator then you'll be right!
Now that you have figured out your BMR/Maintenance calories next is whats your goal.If your goal is weight loss a rule of thumb is 3500cal reduction per week is the equivalent to weight loss of 1 pound per week, again this will depend on the individual and I ain't going to start preaching any special method or secrets because then I will just sound like a typical Bro!
There is no magical macros to start on, you need to pick the number you believe is right for you and from there CONSISTENCY is going to give you the results, I can not use this word enough, CONSISTENCY is going to be the driving factor whether you succeed or not. Also the macro break down percentage to start on (Protein/Carbs/Fats) will be something again a good online calculator or app will breakdown for you! (Myfitnesspal is the go to app for most people)
So now comes the first day. Get up, go to the toilet and weight yourself. This is what you should be doing every morning for the first 2 weeks, again being consistent with the time of day you weight yourself will give you a consistent reading day to day. The reason to do it for 2 weeks is so your body can adjust to it and along with training you can then monitor if you have overshot or undershot your macros and if you have lost weight/gained weight or maintained weight you will then from here adjust your macros according to your goals. From personal experience as I reverse dieted and was aiming to put on lean mass I would add 20C every time I maintained weight for about 4 days straight, and then 5F after each week of maintaining weight. So as you can imagine after 4 - 6 weeks of this I was able to add an additional 500cal to my daily diet with very minimal weight gain!
That sums up finding your macros and how to monitor and adjust them once your maintenance macros are achieved.
Actually tracking them is not hard, will take a week or so getting the hang of weighing your food and inputting it on your app. Again be consistent with what you enter, don't go crazy if things are a few grams over. Just make sure when scanning stuff the same stuff on label is reflected on the app correctly. If you are a basic eater during the week like myself, then it's easy because you can fill out your diary and make your meals in bulk and then when it comes to weekend just track as you eat and get creative and enjoy yourself :)
Tracking macros is one thing, but also monitor your micro nutrients. Pretty easy really, just make sure you eat enough veg and hit a healthy range of fiber each day too, this can also be aided by using things like psyllium husk or other forms of supplementation. As great as IIFYM and flexible dieting is, it's not your ticket to being a fat slob just for the sake of it. Like most things use an 80/20 rule! 80% good wholesome nutrient dense foods, 20% YOLO enjoy yourself foods.
Lastly I'll quickly touch on poverty macros/comp prep macros! This can be killer but at certain times for shorter periods of time it may be necessary to reach goals. After dieting and maintaining under 5% body fat for about 7 months to compete in multiple physique shows, I learnt very quickly that it had fatigued me physically but also mentally and with my physiology. So now I feel very strongly if you don't need to put yourself through it for no reason other then you 'want to cut' then just don't do it. But when it comes to comp, if you are relatively lean going into prep then you should really only need around 8 -12 weeks max on a cut, other wise there is metabolic and hormonal damage as potential side effects (and I know this personally unfortunately) Some people have no trouble eating normal bro foods for prep, and if this is the case for you, then great. If your like me and love food and lots of it then learn how to make protein fluff and become friends with sugarfree jelly and things like that which will fill you up for very little calories.
Anyway, that's enough out of me. Please feel free to contact me for any further questions as I'm more then happy to help and have trained many people who have loved using flexible dieting with great results. All the best and I'll be back!! :) justin.d.donnelly@gmail.com
Justin.
On a daily basis through some form of social media I am asked what are my macros, do I track, do I eat clean and how to survive on poverty macros as well as a bunch of random crap!
So I'm going to take some time to answer a bunch of these questions and give my opinion on it all and how to incorporate it into your day to day life if you feel it is necessary .
Firstly what my macros are don't mean anything, because it is a totally personal thing depending on age, weight, gender, activity level and personal goals! So with that said I am not hugely strict at the moment with tracking as I am not currently prepping for a show/comp or meet.
For those who are just learning about tracking macros and understanding it all the best way to figure it out is honestly to use an online calculator to figure it out! (IIFYM.com is great) If you are old school and want to figure it out yourself then these are the number you need to crunch.
First thing you need is to know your BMR (base metabolic rate)
The old school way of calculating it is using the Harris Benedict Equation. Looks a bit full on but if you have a calculator then you'll be right!
- BMR Calculation for Women: 655 + (4.35 × weight in pounds) + (4.7 × height in inches) – (4.7 × age in years)
- BMR Calculation for Men: 66 + (6.23 × weight in pounds) + (12.7 × height in inches) – (6.76 × age in years)
After this activity level is then incorporated into the mix and use the multiplier below to figure it out!
| Amount of Exercise | Daily Calories Needed |
|---|---|
| Little to no exercise | BMR x 1.2 |
| Light exercise (1 to 3 days per week) | BMR x1.375 |
| Moderate exercise (3 to 5 days per week) | BMR x 1.55 |
| Heavy exercise (6 to 7 days per week) | BMR x 1.725 |
| Very heavy exercise (intense workouts twice per day) | BMR x 1.9 |
Now that you have figured out your BMR/Maintenance calories next is whats your goal.If your goal is weight loss a rule of thumb is 3500cal reduction per week is the equivalent to weight loss of 1 pound per week, again this will depend on the individual and I ain't going to start preaching any special method or secrets because then I will just sound like a typical Bro!
There is no magical macros to start on, you need to pick the number you believe is right for you and from there CONSISTENCY is going to give you the results, I can not use this word enough, CONSISTENCY is going to be the driving factor whether you succeed or not. Also the macro break down percentage to start on (Protein/Carbs/Fats) will be something again a good online calculator or app will breakdown for you! (Myfitnesspal is the go to app for most people)
So now comes the first day. Get up, go to the toilet and weight yourself. This is what you should be doing every morning for the first 2 weeks, again being consistent with the time of day you weight yourself will give you a consistent reading day to day. The reason to do it for 2 weeks is so your body can adjust to it and along with training you can then monitor if you have overshot or undershot your macros and if you have lost weight/gained weight or maintained weight you will then from here adjust your macros according to your goals. From personal experience as I reverse dieted and was aiming to put on lean mass I would add 20C every time I maintained weight for about 4 days straight, and then 5F after each week of maintaining weight. So as you can imagine after 4 - 6 weeks of this I was able to add an additional 500cal to my daily diet with very minimal weight gain!
That sums up finding your macros and how to monitor and adjust them once your maintenance macros are achieved.
Actually tracking them is not hard, will take a week or so getting the hang of weighing your food and inputting it on your app. Again be consistent with what you enter, don't go crazy if things are a few grams over. Just make sure when scanning stuff the same stuff on label is reflected on the app correctly. If you are a basic eater during the week like myself, then it's easy because you can fill out your diary and make your meals in bulk and then when it comes to weekend just track as you eat and get creative and enjoy yourself :)
Tracking macros is one thing, but also monitor your micro nutrients. Pretty easy really, just make sure you eat enough veg and hit a healthy range of fiber each day too, this can also be aided by using things like psyllium husk or other forms of supplementation. As great as IIFYM and flexible dieting is, it's not your ticket to being a fat slob just for the sake of it. Like most things use an 80/20 rule! 80% good wholesome nutrient dense foods, 20% YOLO enjoy yourself foods.
Lastly I'll quickly touch on poverty macros/comp prep macros! This can be killer but at certain times for shorter periods of time it may be necessary to reach goals. After dieting and maintaining under 5% body fat for about 7 months to compete in multiple physique shows, I learnt very quickly that it had fatigued me physically but also mentally and with my physiology. So now I feel very strongly if you don't need to put yourself through it for no reason other then you 'want to cut' then just don't do it. But when it comes to comp, if you are relatively lean going into prep then you should really only need around 8 -12 weeks max on a cut, other wise there is metabolic and hormonal damage as potential side effects (and I know this personally unfortunately) Some people have no trouble eating normal bro foods for prep, and if this is the case for you, then great. If your like me and love food and lots of it then learn how to make protein fluff and become friends with sugarfree jelly and things like that which will fill you up for very little calories.
Anyway, that's enough out of me. Please feel free to contact me for any further questions as I'm more then happy to help and have trained many people who have loved using flexible dieting with great results. All the best and I'll be back!! :) justin.d.donnelly@gmail.com
Justin.
No comments:
Post a Comment