4
Micros and Macros?
You might of heard of the term Macros and Micros, let me give you the simple breakdown.
First you get the essential nutrients for life:
Fats, Protein, Minerals, Water, Roughage, Vitamins, Carbohydrates.
# What’s Macros?
Protein that helps growth and repair of tissues and cells but it also helps fights illnesses and help balance PH.
Protein comes in form of Amino Acids and it’s recommended that a person eats at least 0.75g per Kg of body weight per day. Keep in mind this amount can also differ in times of pregnancy and illness .
You can get protein from Meat, chicken, Fish, Eggs, Milk, Cheese, Yogurt.
The next one will be Fats that provide a protective layer for the organs and help form brain tissue and nerve cell membranes.
It also provides us with essential fatty acids and helps carry fat soluble vitamins(A,D,E,K) and antioxidants.
It should be about 20-35% of your daily dietary intake.
But keep in mind you get good fats and bad fats.
Saturated fats are known to be bad as it is known to cause a rise in Cholesterol so eat this sparingly. Mainly gets found in some meats, Lard, Milk and butter.
Monounsaturated fat is good for Cholesterol and mainly found in Olives,Nuts and seeds.
Polyunsaturated Fat is also good and great source of Omega 6 and Omega 3 such as Flaxseed oil, oily fish,Ground nut.
The next one we will look at at is Carbohydrates which is your main source of energy, this is needed for growth and repair and needed for Gastro-Intestinal function and maintaining blood glucose levels.
Keep in mind that just like good and bad fats you get good ad bad carbohydrates. They call the different carbs Simple carbs and Complex carbs the real difference between the two is how fast they digest and what effect they have on your body.
Simple carbs are called simple sugars because they are found in foods like cookies , baked goods, white bread and some natural fruits and vegetables where the sugar content is high. Generally they absorb to fast for your body to use them so in the end your body stores this as fat. Don’t worry you don’t have to cut it out, we all human all you have to do is start cutting back slowly and getting your tastebuds to adjust. The benefits of cutting out sugar is that you will find that you will start tasting food a lot better. I aim for no more than 24g of sugar a day which is about 3 teaspoons.
Make sure to keep a lookout for those hidden sugars in those “low fat” yogurts. Remember where they take out the fat most likely they replace it with sugar for taste, don’t be fooled.
Complex carbs is what you want to try and consume, the are your Green leafy veg, Brown rices and wholewheat bread and Oats. When you consume complex carbs you find that it keeps you fuller for longer and gives you the fibre intake you need which is about 25g for women and 38 g for men.
Fibre helps to keep the digestive system healthy, I even
throw some Flaxseed oil into my smoothie now and then, A lot of the modern day diseases is because of poor gut health which is because of poor diet.
So what is Micronutrients then?
This refers to your vitamins and minerals you need and isn’t needed in big quantities. We need it for a few reasons and the most import reason is that if you have a deficiency in any of them it could possibly cause disease. I try and stick to drinking and eating my vitamins in the fresh food I eat but this is not always possible. I would suggest going as natural as possible and invest in a good multi vitamin especially women who are working out.
The most important thing I always tell people is to remember to drink water !!! many people don’t even realize they are thirsty. Check in with your body now and then, here are the signs:
1. Headaches
2.Dark Urine
3. Constipation
4.Fatigue
5. Sometime thirst is mistaken for hunger.
5
Calculate what you need
Okay so this part you going to need some pen and paper and a calculator: or you can click on the link in this section.
https://fitnesssquad.co.za/pages/bmi-calculator
Or work out your BMI yourself:
Your weight (in kilograms) ÷ [your height (in meters) x your height (in meters)] = BMI. For example, 60 kilograms ÷ (1.65 meters x 1.65 meters) = 22.03.
Now you you need to calculate the amount of calories you need to take in. If you hate all this math just use our online calculator http://macronutrientcalculator.com/ For Males:
10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (y) + 5 = REE
( calories at resting) For Females:
10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (y) – 161 =
REE( calories at resting) now you workout according to your activity level.
for example lets say you a 29 year old active male, 183 cm
and 88kg. here is what your equation will look like
(10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (y) + 5 =
REE) x 1.725 (see below) = TDEE
Sedentary : REE x 1.2
Light Activity : REE x 1.375
Moderate activity : REE x 1.55
Very Active: REE x 1.725 Then you will Get your caloric amount:
If you want to lose weight try drop your calorie intake by no more than 20% at first and same if you trying to gain weight. Next you will need to calculate your Macros intake:
This tells you how much Protein, Fat and Carbohydrates you need.
Please use the link to workout your macros below:
http://macronutrientcalculator.com/ Now what I would suggest is getting an app like my fitness pal and putting in all your details this will make it easier to track what you eat , or you can subscribe to our app where a personal trainer will do all this for you and send you a personalized eating plan
https://fitnesssquad.co.za/collections/frontpage/products/monthlymembership
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Healthier habits
Lets start with a few simple changes and recap. These are the changes I want you to start with first:
#
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How does this eating program work
I have put together an eating plan with guidelines , There are a few according to gender and goal . Keep in mind The calculation you just did with the amount of calories you require so be sure to choose the right plan. You will see I have added swop out items that you can choose from.
All the female plans are based on a 60KG women and men on a 80KG man so you can add or subtract according to the calculation you just did.