How To Track Macros
Quick Test to See If You're Qualified to Count Macros:
Can you do math? Yes? Then you're qualified.
Everyone's qualified. Counting macros is as easy as playing a game of Tetris with a little math thrown in. At each meal, you'll have an "allowance" of fat, carbs & protein, and it's up to you to figure out how to spend that allowance to fill your needs. |
You already learned that you'll be spending this allowance on whole, unprocessed foods, and starting the building process of each meal with a protein source & a vegetable. There are two ways to find out how much a food "costs" in the fat, carb & protein department (fiber too, but fiber also doesn't contribute any calories, so there isn't a cap on this value. Reference the macro guidelines from earlier for your daily fiber goals):
1. Nutrition Fact Panels: Most foods have one of these (example of a fact panel for eggs to the right), which makes counting & tracking all the simpler. From top to bottom, the fact panel lists the amount of servings in a container, and also lists how many grams of fat, carbs, fiber & protein can be found in each food (more stuff is on there, but that's all we care about right now).
We can derive our calorie total from the macro total, which makes calorie counting in addition to macro counting a useless practice. Each gram of fat contains 9 calories; each gram of carbs & protein contains 4 calories. Simple multiplication gives you your calorie total for the day (pro tip: the abbreviation "kcal" stands for "calories").
Fiber doesn't contain any, which is why it is listed separately on the fact panel. Unfortunately, if you're in the United States (and hello to all of my international friends if you're not!), food labels don't do the math for you and just lump fiber in with total carbs. So if a food has 8 grams of total carbs & 2 grams of fiber per servings, we subtract the fiber from the total to come up with 6 grams of "Net Carbs," a.k.a. the amount of carbs that deliver energy in the diet. We're tracking Net Carbs, as listed in the template.
In order to know precisely how many servings of a certain food you're using, and therefore the accurate amount of each macronutrient you're about to eat, you're going to need to invest in some measuring equipment. A few measuring spoons/cups & a digital scale should do the trick, as you're going to want to weigh most foods in order to get the most accurate results.
Another added bonus for foods with nutrition panels: these foods often also have barcodes on them; one of the greatest features of My Fitness Pal is the ability to scan barcodes to automatically add macros to meals in seconds. Just make sure the data that pops up on the screen matches what's on your fact panel. You'd be surprised how often they don't match! Also make sure that you're selecting the right number of servings that reflect what you're using at a given meal.
2. Nutrition Databases: These are what you use when a food doesn't have a fact panel. You can use Google or My Fitness Pal itself, but I prefer the USDA Food Database for the highest amount of accuracy. You can do a food search on that site for nearly everything in existence, so it makes finding the nutrition facts for things like fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds & meats very convenient.
Below is an example of what you'd find if you searched "bananas." Note how it lists the values for the edible portion of the food, so you'd be weighing this food after it's already peeled. Also note that you can input custom values to calculate the macros automatically; if you wanted to know the macros in 300 grams of bananas instead of just 100 grams, you'd type the number "3" in the box above "Value Per 100 g" and it would give you everything you need to know.
1. Nutrition Fact Panels: Most foods have one of these (example of a fact panel for eggs to the right), which makes counting & tracking all the simpler. From top to bottom, the fact panel lists the amount of servings in a container, and also lists how many grams of fat, carbs, fiber & protein can be found in each food (more stuff is on there, but that's all we care about right now).
We can derive our calorie total from the macro total, which makes calorie counting in addition to macro counting a useless practice. Each gram of fat contains 9 calories; each gram of carbs & protein contains 4 calories. Simple multiplication gives you your calorie total for the day (pro tip: the abbreviation "kcal" stands for "calories").
Fiber doesn't contain any, which is why it is listed separately on the fact panel. Unfortunately, if you're in the United States (and hello to all of my international friends if you're not!), food labels don't do the math for you and just lump fiber in with total carbs. So if a food has 8 grams of total carbs & 2 grams of fiber per servings, we subtract the fiber from the total to come up with 6 grams of "Net Carbs," a.k.a. the amount of carbs that deliver energy in the diet. We're tracking Net Carbs, as listed in the template.
In order to know precisely how many servings of a certain food you're using, and therefore the accurate amount of each macronutrient you're about to eat, you're going to need to invest in some measuring equipment. A few measuring spoons/cups & a digital scale should do the trick, as you're going to want to weigh most foods in order to get the most accurate results.
Another added bonus for foods with nutrition panels: these foods often also have barcodes on them; one of the greatest features of My Fitness Pal is the ability to scan barcodes to automatically add macros to meals in seconds. Just make sure the data that pops up on the screen matches what's on your fact panel. You'd be surprised how often they don't match! Also make sure that you're selecting the right number of servings that reflect what you're using at a given meal.
2. Nutrition Databases: These are what you use when a food doesn't have a fact panel. You can use Google or My Fitness Pal itself, but I prefer the USDA Food Database for the highest amount of accuracy. You can do a food search on that site for nearly everything in existence, so it makes finding the nutrition facts for things like fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds & meats very convenient.
Below is an example of what you'd find if you searched "bananas." Note how it lists the values for the edible portion of the food, so you'd be weighing this food after it's already peeled. Also note that you can input custom values to calculate the macros automatically; if you wanted to know the macros in 300 grams of bananas instead of just 100 grams, you'd type the number "3" in the box above "Value Per 100 g" and it would give you everything you need to know.
Once you know where to look, you know where to find the puzzle pieces. The macro totals for each meal will dictate how many of those pieces you can use to fit together & create the full puzzle.
My Fitness Pal will try to set macro goals for you; don't listen to it. This is why you've printed out & filled in your template with the calories & macros we found earlier. These are the guidelines you'll be sticking to, not what some app tells you to do. It serves a purpose in making tracking easier, but it's not your nutrition coach.
How does this look in practice?
Say my three training day meals all have 25 grams of fat, 35 grams of carbs & 40 grams of protein (you values will be different, this is just an illustration). Since the nutrition panel for eggs is already on this page, I can decide to use four eggs as my protein source. That equates to 16 g fat & 24 g protein with no carbs or fiber. This is assuming you hard boil your eggs (which takes 10 minutes and they last for up to 5 days).
The next step would be to find a vegetable to make sure I'm working toward my fiber goal. My go-to option here is the steamable vegetable bags that cost roughly a dollar and take 5-8 minutes to cook. By now, I know the nutrition fact panel of my steamable broccoli by heart: 4 servings per bag, with 0 g fat, 4 g total carbs, 2 g fiber & 2 g protein per serving.
First, since I eat the whole bag (and recommend you do the same, it's honestly not that much food in those small bags), you multiply all of the "per serving" values by 4: 4 g total carbs x 4 = 16 g total carbs. 2 g fiber x 4 = 8 g fiber. 2 g protein x 4 = 8 g protein. One last step: subtract the fiber from total carbs to get net carbs (the number I prescribe you is net carbs, not total). 16 g total - 8 g fiber = 8 g net carbs.
Now we add those totals to our meal: so far, 4 eggs + steamed broccoli = 16 g fat, 8 g net carb, 8 g fiber, 32 g protein.
I often pair cheddar cheese (the real stuff, not the rubbery Kraft Singles) with eggs, so I'll do the same here. I've also memorized the nutrition label for the cheese I always get, Kerry Gold Aged Cheddar (it's grass-fed, and it's awesome): 1 serving of cheddar cheese (28 grams) = 9 g fat, 0 g total carbs, 7 g protein. Here's where a scale comes in handy.
After the cheese, we're up to 25 g fat, 8 g net carb, 8 g fiber & 37 g protein. No fat remaining, with 27 g of net carbs & 3 grams of protein to account for. Going in this order, protein to fiber to fat to carbs, mirrors the priorities of your diet & ensures you have the most important pieces in place first.
Over time, you're going to become more accustomed to projecting what foods will fill the rest of your macros. Case in point: 27 g net carbs & 3 g protein are very similar to what you would find in fruit. Since the database search for bananas is already on this page as well, let's use bananas. We simply need to figure out how many grams of bananas = 27 g net carbs.
On the USDA Database, total carbs are listed as "carbohydrate, by difference." So you have to remove fiber on your own here, too. That means for every 100 g of bananas you have, there are 20 grams of net carbs & 3 grams of fiber (reference the above photo, and yes, I'm rounding up to the nearest whole number).
Just a little bit more simple math tells us what we need to know: if 100 g of bananas = 20 g net carbs, then 5 g of bananas = 1 g net carbs. All I did to find that was divide each value by 20, the lowest common denominator. We need 27 g net carbs to fill out our meal; an equivalent amount of bananas would therefore be 5 x 27 = 135 g bananas. Now we put 1.35 in the "Value Per 100 g" calculator on the USDA Database & get our total macros: 0 g fat, 27 g net carbs, 4 g fiber & 2 g protein.
Voila. When you add this to the rest of the meal, we've nearly nailed every single macro target. We came a single gram short on protein, which you can easily make up at your next meal. We also picked up 12 grams of fiber in this meal.
You simply repeat this process for every meal. Now you probably understand why a rotation of "go-to" whole foods is much easier on a practical level as well as a physiological level; you commit the macros to memory and can manipulate them with ease across meals.
I also want you guys to notice something about the meal itself: it's not "flashy." It doesn't have a "theme." It's not a "gourmet dish." And that's perfectly okay. Huge meals & secret family recipes are great for large get-togethers once in a while, but they make day-to-day life much harder if your true goal is improving your body & your health. You relieve the burden of having to prep full meals for hours at a time & having no clue what's in the dish (often in regards to both ingredients & macros).
Speaking of "meal prep," this doesn't have to be a huge undertaking. I personally batch-cook a few pounds of meat the same day I go shopping & divide the portions up into containers so I have protein sources handy for each meal. Steamer bags of vegetables cook in under 10 minutes. Fresh fruit, nuts & full-day dairy require no cooking time. And it takes all of 10 minutes to hard boil a dozen eggs & have them for the week. When you play your cards right, you'll be spending less than 30 minutes in the kitchen a day. So when someone tells you "bro, my meal prep takes forever," they're clearly doing it wrong.
By measuring & tracking macros, you're adding another element of control to your life. You're making a conscious choice to improve yourself over these next 14 days (& beyond); have your actions support that.
To Recap:
- Print out & reference your macro targets at each meal on all days.
- Use My Fitness Pal for quick & easy (be aware that this app also doesn't subtract fiber from total carbs, & the database info is often wrong)
- Use the bar code scanner & the USDA Database to find your true macros.
- Using a scale is going to give you the most precision.
- Filling your macros is as simple as a game of Tetris.
- Prepping food for the week can take as little as 30 minutes a day.
My Fitness Pal will try to set macro goals for you; don't listen to it. This is why you've printed out & filled in your template with the calories & macros we found earlier. These are the guidelines you'll be sticking to, not what some app tells you to do. It serves a purpose in making tracking easier, but it's not your nutrition coach.
How does this look in practice?
Say my three training day meals all have 25 grams of fat, 35 grams of carbs & 40 grams of protein (you values will be different, this is just an illustration). Since the nutrition panel for eggs is already on this page, I can decide to use four eggs as my protein source. That equates to 16 g fat & 24 g protein with no carbs or fiber. This is assuming you hard boil your eggs (which takes 10 minutes and they last for up to 5 days).
The next step would be to find a vegetable to make sure I'm working toward my fiber goal. My go-to option here is the steamable vegetable bags that cost roughly a dollar and take 5-8 minutes to cook. By now, I know the nutrition fact panel of my steamable broccoli by heart: 4 servings per bag, with 0 g fat, 4 g total carbs, 2 g fiber & 2 g protein per serving.
First, since I eat the whole bag (and recommend you do the same, it's honestly not that much food in those small bags), you multiply all of the "per serving" values by 4: 4 g total carbs x 4 = 16 g total carbs. 2 g fiber x 4 = 8 g fiber. 2 g protein x 4 = 8 g protein. One last step: subtract the fiber from total carbs to get net carbs (the number I prescribe you is net carbs, not total). 16 g total - 8 g fiber = 8 g net carbs.
Now we add those totals to our meal: so far, 4 eggs + steamed broccoli = 16 g fat, 8 g net carb, 8 g fiber, 32 g protein.
I often pair cheddar cheese (the real stuff, not the rubbery Kraft Singles) with eggs, so I'll do the same here. I've also memorized the nutrition label for the cheese I always get, Kerry Gold Aged Cheddar (it's grass-fed, and it's awesome): 1 serving of cheddar cheese (28 grams) = 9 g fat, 0 g total carbs, 7 g protein. Here's where a scale comes in handy.
After the cheese, we're up to 25 g fat, 8 g net carb, 8 g fiber & 37 g protein. No fat remaining, with 27 g of net carbs & 3 grams of protein to account for. Going in this order, protein to fiber to fat to carbs, mirrors the priorities of your diet & ensures you have the most important pieces in place first.
Over time, you're going to become more accustomed to projecting what foods will fill the rest of your macros. Case in point: 27 g net carbs & 3 g protein are very similar to what you would find in fruit. Since the database search for bananas is already on this page as well, let's use bananas. We simply need to figure out how many grams of bananas = 27 g net carbs.
On the USDA Database, total carbs are listed as "carbohydrate, by difference." So you have to remove fiber on your own here, too. That means for every 100 g of bananas you have, there are 20 grams of net carbs & 3 grams of fiber (reference the above photo, and yes, I'm rounding up to the nearest whole number).
Just a little bit more simple math tells us what we need to know: if 100 g of bananas = 20 g net carbs, then 5 g of bananas = 1 g net carbs. All I did to find that was divide each value by 20, the lowest common denominator. We need 27 g net carbs to fill out our meal; an equivalent amount of bananas would therefore be 5 x 27 = 135 g bananas. Now we put 1.35 in the "Value Per 100 g" calculator on the USDA Database & get our total macros: 0 g fat, 27 g net carbs, 4 g fiber & 2 g protein.
Voila. When you add this to the rest of the meal, we've nearly nailed every single macro target. We came a single gram short on protein, which you can easily make up at your next meal. We also picked up 12 grams of fiber in this meal.
You simply repeat this process for every meal. Now you probably understand why a rotation of "go-to" whole foods is much easier on a practical level as well as a physiological level; you commit the macros to memory and can manipulate them with ease across meals.
I also want you guys to notice something about the meal itself: it's not "flashy." It doesn't have a "theme." It's not a "gourmet dish." And that's perfectly okay. Huge meals & secret family recipes are great for large get-togethers once in a while, but they make day-to-day life much harder if your true goal is improving your body & your health. You relieve the burden of having to prep full meals for hours at a time & having no clue what's in the dish (often in regards to both ingredients & macros).
Speaking of "meal prep," this doesn't have to be a huge undertaking. I personally batch-cook a few pounds of meat the same day I go shopping & divide the portions up into containers so I have protein sources handy for each meal. Steamer bags of vegetables cook in under 10 minutes. Fresh fruit, nuts & full-day dairy require no cooking time. And it takes all of 10 minutes to hard boil a dozen eggs & have them for the week. When you play your cards right, you'll be spending less than 30 minutes in the kitchen a day. So when someone tells you "bro, my meal prep takes forever," they're clearly doing it wrong.
By measuring & tracking macros, you're adding another element of control to your life. You're making a conscious choice to improve yourself over these next 14 days (& beyond); have your actions support that.
To Recap:
- Print out & reference your macro targets at each meal on all days.
- Use My Fitness Pal for quick & easy (be aware that this app also doesn't subtract fiber from total carbs, & the database info is often wrong)
- Use the bar code scanner & the USDA Database to find your true macros.
- Using a scale is going to give you the most precision.
- Filling your macros is as simple as a game of Tetris.
- Prepping food for the week can take as little as 30 minutes a day.
