When we talk about nutrition we talk about food calories. To understand a little bit better what the Macros are and why could be important to calculate it, let's start from the beginning.
To be able to function properly our body needs energy and the food we are eating is a way to give our body the fuel that it needs. Like a car would need a gazoline to run.
Every activity we are doing make our body burn calories :
- The vital function (breathing, heart beating, etc ...) that will be called the "Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), practically the calories our body is burning just to be alive.
- The sport, when you practice a physical activity you gonna increase the amount of calories that your body will burn.
- Non Exercice Activity Termogenesis (NEAT) is relate to every movement you are doing that is not a sport, like walking, cleaning your house, doing shopping, talking etc .....
- Thermic Effect of Eating, your body will use this energy to digest after a meal.
All those elements combined determine the Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). It is calculated in Kcal.
How to calculate your own TDEE ?
You can find some calculator on line : https://tdeecalculator.net or you can calculate it yourself by using the equation of Haris and Benedict :
For Men (Basal Metabolism)
66,5+(13,75 x weight (kg))+(5 x high (cm))-(6,77 x age)
For Women (Basal Metabolism)
655,1+(9,56 x weight (kg))+(1,85 x high (cm))-(4,67 x age)
Once the calcul finished, you need to add activity multiplier :
1 = No activity, day spend lying down
1,2 = Sedentary job (desk job) , and little or no exercise,
1,4 = Sedentary job and 30 minutes walking
1,6 = Sedentary job and 1 hour to 1 hour 15 min of physical activity
1,7 = Sedentary job and 1 hour 30 min to 2 hours of physical activity
1,8 = Very Active - Job with a lot of movement (waiter etc ...) with 1 hour 30 min to 2 hours of physical activity
2 = Extra Active - Job very physical and 3 hours to 4 hours of physical Activity
So here is an exemple, Harry is a very nice guy of 28 years old. He is tall 1m83 and weight 78 kg.
Let's calculate his Basal Metabolism :
66,5+(13,75 x 78)+(5 x 183)-(6,77 x 28)= 1864,44 Kcal per day
Now let's calculate the TDEE. For that we add an activity multiplier, let's say Harry have an office job and he is doing 1 hour of sport a day.
His Total Daily Energy Expenditure will be as follow :
Day with sport : 1864,44 x 1,6 = 2983,10 Kcal per day
Day with out sport : 1864,44 x 1,4 =2610,21 Kcal per day
WHY ARE WE CALCULATING OUR MACROS FOR ?
Calculating your own Macros is not mandatory.
Everything depends of your Fitness Goals !! So i will say it is more about a personal choice.
You can choose different strategies in your Fitness journey, you can choose to maintain your weight, you can choose to bulk, you can choose to loose body fat and shred etc ... possibility are endless !!!!
All depends on YOUR GOALS !!!
But the fact to calculate your Macros will give you the opportunity to maximise your results and to have a full control of your calories intakes, to give your body what it exactly needs for YOUR goals.
WHAT ARE THE MACROS ?
Once you obtained your TDEE, you gonna split this amont of daily calories in 3 different groups, This action is called the Macronutrients breakdown, you gonna divide your daily calories into :
- Protein
- Carbohydrates
- Fat
Here again the split into those 3 categories will depends on your goals, but let's say that in general the breakdown can start as follow 30% Protein - 40% Carbohydrates - 30% Fat from your daily calories.
But there is no unique formula, something that is working for one person might not work on another one. You have to find what is working for you, and personalize regarding your body, your metabolism, your goals and your health requirement.
WE HOPE THIS ARTICLE HELPED YOU TO UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT MORE WHAT THE MACROS ARE.
HAVE A LOVELY DAY !!
INK AND FIT
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