People around me know that my current health goal is to complete the Spartan Trifecta 2016. Being a Spartan Trifecta athlete means finishing a Sprint, a Beast, and a Super race within a calendar year.
Having now been what i consider fully recovered from my initial battle with celiac disease, completing the Spartan Trifecta is a personal achievement that symbolizes much more to me than physical strength and endurance. At the beginning of this year, I finally hit 100 lbs, and had all these grand dreams of how fit I was going to get and how perfect my nutrition-exercise was going to be. I was also convinced that with my nutrition-exercise plan, I would weigh 120lbs by now.
Well, I've been dicking around since January, and it's now September. I am much stronger than I was nine months ago, but I am in no way. shape, or form ready for the Trifecta. I've been staying steady at 105-107lbs, which is great, but I'm not where I had dreamed I would be this close to the end of the year.
Earlier this month I officially moved in with my roommate Cor and his mom and I finally have a stable home life. In addition to that, I have begun working full time again as a receptionist, so I can work on rebuilding my financial health, and I am in school full time too. What with all of this transition and how busy I am now, you'd think re-vamping my fitness plan would be the farthest thing from my mind. Wrong! I can finally afford protein powder and a gym membership- it's go time.
This week I decided to revisit my macronutrient breakdowns in order to better understand what my body needs to run most efficiently. I have never done a post about how to calculate macronutrients, so this is both a post about that and why it's important to revisit these numbers as your physiology changes.
Having now been what i consider fully recovered from my initial battle with celiac disease, completing the Spartan Trifecta is a personal achievement that symbolizes much more to me than physical strength and endurance. At the beginning of this year, I finally hit 100 lbs, and had all these grand dreams of how fit I was going to get and how perfect my nutrition-exercise was going to be. I was also convinced that with my nutrition-exercise plan, I would weigh 120lbs by now.
Well, I've been dicking around since January, and it's now September. I am much stronger than I was nine months ago, but I am in no way. shape, or form ready for the Trifecta. I've been staying steady at 105-107lbs, which is great, but I'm not where I had dreamed I would be this close to the end of the year.
Earlier this month I officially moved in with my roommate Cor and his mom and I finally have a stable home life. In addition to that, I have begun working full time again as a receptionist, so I can work on rebuilding my financial health, and I am in school full time too. What with all of this transition and how busy I am now, you'd think re-vamping my fitness plan would be the farthest thing from my mind. Wrong! I can finally afford protein powder and a gym membership- it's go time.
This week I decided to revisit my macronutrient breakdowns in order to better understand what my body needs to run most efficiently. I have never done a post about how to calculate macronutrients, so this is both a post about that and why it's important to revisit these numbers as your physiology changes.
What is a Macronutrient?
WTF is a macronutrient? When did everyone start talking about their "macros"? Seriously what in the hell is IIFYM and how do I even calculate these nutrients?
Good news! I didn't know the answer to more than half of those before I started paying attention to my fitness, and I still don't know when "macros" became such common fitness-speak.
Good news! I didn't know the answer to more than half of those before I started paying attention to my fitness, and I still don't know when "macros" became such common fitness-speak.
According to McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois
"Macronutrients are nutrients that provide calories or energy. Nutrients are substances needed for growth, metabolism, and for other body functions. Since “macro” means large, macronutrients are nutrients needed in large amounts. There are three macronutrients:
- Carbohydrate
- Protein
- Fat"
The entire University of Illinois article has a lot of really valuable information to help you better understand macronutrients, which will be valuable later as your lifestyle and needs change. But for now to keep it simple you can follow the guides provided by the people at IIFYM.com
"IIFYM" stands for "If It Fits Your Macros". The reason why the macronutrient focused IIFYM diet is so popular and really so effective is that it is all about YOU. If it fits your macros- EAT IT. The calculator available on IIFYM.com is extremely user friendly and pretty much idiot-proof: type in your numbers, answer honestly about your activity level and goals, and you're done! There are some more custom aspects of the calculator, but if you just go with the IIFYM recommendations you'll have a great baseline to figure out what works best for you.
"IIFYM" stands for "If It Fits Your Macros". The reason why the macronutrient focused IIFYM diet is so popular and really so effective is that it is all about YOU. If it fits your macros- EAT IT. The calculator available on IIFYM.com is extremely user friendly and pretty much idiot-proof: type in your numbers, answer honestly about your activity level and goals, and you're done! There are some more custom aspects of the calculator, but if you just go with the IIFYM recommendations you'll have a great baseline to figure out what works best for you.
Calculating your Macronutrients
I am going to walk you guys through the IIFYM calculator that I used this time around. Because I kind of know what I am doing, I have made modifications to the calculator options, so I will note those modifications as needed.
When selecting a value for how active you are on a daily basis, be EXTREMELY honest with yourself. I am a receptionist in an office, and while I do spend the majority of my day at my desk, I also average a minimum of 10,000 steps per day excluding my running in the gym. I make choices during the day that keep me active in what should be a largely sedentary position- walk to the bank, park farther when running errands, take a walk to digest after lunch.
I work Monday-Friday 8-5, and go to school Tuesday and Thursday 5:45-10. When you're as busy as I am. its actually a little easier to schedule how often and how vigorously you'll be exercising. I hit the gym 4 times per week for 75 minutes each. This breaks down into the following:
BMR: basal metabolic rate- how many calories your body burns at rest. This is the total number of calories that your body would burn if you woke up, opened your eyes, and then laid there awake letting your body do what it do with no extra physical activity other than heartbeat and breathing.
TDEE: total daily energy expenditure- how many calories you burn at rest + your exercise deficit. The TDEE given by the first step of the IIFYM calculator is how many calories you need to eat per day to maintain your weight, if all of the other factors (exercise/activity) are true.
I work Monday-Friday 8-5, and go to school Tuesday and Thursday 5:45-10. When you're as busy as I am. its actually a little easier to schedule how often and how vigorously you'll be exercising. I hit the gym 4 times per week for 75 minutes each. This breaks down into the following:
- 15 Minutes running
- 45 Minutes weight training (chest, legs, arms, back, abs etc)
- 15 Minutes cool down/stretching/yoga
BMR: basal metabolic rate- how many calories your body burns at rest. This is the total number of calories that your body would burn if you woke up, opened your eyes, and then laid there awake letting your body do what it do with no extra physical activity other than heartbeat and breathing.
TDEE: total daily energy expenditure- how many calories you burn at rest + your exercise deficit. The TDEE given by the first step of the IIFYM calculator is how many calories you need to eat per day to maintain your weight, if all of the other factors (exercise/activity) are true.
The second step of the IIFYM calculator is where you go to pick your goals. The bottom line of my fitness goals is to gain weight- if I want to get stronger and I want to look more fit, I have to gain weight.
The hardest part about this step is deciding how aggressive you want to be in achieving your goals. I selected the "cautious bulking" plan for a few reasons
Understand that it is better to be conservative when calculating your macros at first; if you notice you're too hungry during the day, or aren't seeing the results you want, you can scale up or scale back your goals to match. Its always better to start more conservatively, especially if you've never tried nutrient-based diet planning before. You'll learn a lot more if you start off slow than if you thrust yourself into a aggressive plan and can't keep up.
The hardest part about this step is deciding how aggressive you want to be in achieving your goals. I selected the "cautious bulking" plan for a few reasons
- Its hard enough for me to remember to eat 1000 calories a day, let alone my 1291 BMR.
- I am so full I am literally sick to my stomach after about 1500 calories in a day
- I am smart enough to understand that if its really frickin hard for me to eat 1500 calories a day, there is no way on god's green earth that I am going to possibly eat more than 2167 calories in a day.
Understand that it is better to be conservative when calculating your macros at first; if you notice you're too hungry during the day, or aren't seeing the results you want, you can scale up or scale back your goals to match. Its always better to start more conservatively, especially if you've never tried nutrient-based diet planning before. You'll learn a lot more if you start off slow than if you thrust yourself into a aggressive plan and can't keep up.
Obviously, the IIFYM calculator wants you to use the IIFYM macronutrient breakdown. The IIFYM system is extremely simple and easy to manipulate as your needs change.
In this step, I increased my number of grams of protein and fat per pound of body weight. I know that my body runs more efficiently when my diet is made up of mostly protein, green plant matter, and fat. My metabolism burns through carbs too quickly to keep me satiated, and so I increase my protein and fat accordingly.
The IIFYM system calculates your required protein and fat, and then relegates all remaining calories to carbs. Because I know my body requires more protein and fat, I increased those values knowing that the carbs would make up the remainder.
In this step, I increased my number of grams of protein and fat per pound of body weight. I know that my body runs more efficiently when my diet is made up of mostly protein, green plant matter, and fat. My metabolism burns through carbs too quickly to keep me satiated, and so I increase my protein and fat accordingly.
The IIFYM system calculates your required protein and fat, and then relegates all remaining calories to carbs. Because I know my body requires more protein and fat, I increased those values knowing that the carbs would make up the remainder.
We're done! As you can see here, the TDEE calorie value that I selected in step 2 has been pulled and broken down as follows
(105 g of protein) X (4 cal) (52 g of fat) X (9 cal) (318.6 g of carbs) X (4 cal) | 420 cal of protein + 468 cal of fat + 1274.4 cal of carbs + 4.65 cal of fiber |
2167 calories TDEE |
Evaluating your Macros
When I first calculated my macros in January of this year, I was 97lbs and only lightly active- my TDEE was 2200cal/day- and that was cautious bulking.
I tell you this not to say "look how skinny I was", and yeah it's important to show that I actually did make gains while following my original plan. I really want you to see how my macronutrient needs changed as my lifestyle and health needs changed.
I tell you this not to say "look how skinny I was", and yeah it's important to show that I actually did make gains while following my original plan. I really want you to see how my macronutrient needs changed as my lifestyle and health needs changed.
In January, I needed a lot more carbs to help me reach 2200cal/day. Here you can also see how my fat and fiber needs changed as my protein needs changed as well.
When something in your exercise routine or health needs change, it is a good idea to revisit your macros. It is also a good place to start if you realize you're getting too lean (not enough carbs or fat), or if your muscles seem like they are getting more fatigued more quickly (not enough protein).
When something in your exercise routine or health needs change, it is a good idea to revisit your macros. It is also a good place to start if you realize you're getting too lean (not enough carbs or fat), or if your muscles seem like they are getting more fatigued more quickly (not enough protein).