I hosted a webinar last week, speaking to a group of women about how to successfully implement 5 key healthy habits in life. One of the key principles I refer to as “The Balanced Key 3”. This means that each meal should have a balanced ratio of the three essential macronutrients.
A macro-whata? If I’ve lost you already, that’s why today we’re going to discuss:
- What are macronutrients
- Why are they important to you
- How to determine how many of each you should be eating
There are two types of nutrients that we receive from what we consume:
1. Macronutrients
2. Micronutrients
Looking at the first part of each word, you may be able to guess what the difference is. Macronutrients are nutrients required by our bodies, in larger amounts every day, to live and function. Micronutrients are nutrients needed in lesser amounts, like vitamins and minerals.
We need macronutrients for physical growth, brain development, digestion, immune health, and disease prevention.
There are three types of macronutrients that we need:
PROTEIN Protein helps to repair tissue, create hormones, sustain energy, grow, and maintain lean muscle mass.
FAT
Fat helps to provide energy, absorb vitamins, sustain brain health, and assist in weight loss (note: eating fats is not a direct cause of gaining fat).
CARBOHYDRATES:
Carbohydrates, especially those that are high in fibre, are your body's preferred source of energy, and assists in digestion and toxin elimination (in the form of bowel movements).
Each macronutrient has a crucial role in the development and function of our body.
The habit that I emphasize in my Healthy Habits Training guide, is to include a source of protein, fat, and fibre-rich carbohydrates at each meal every day (or almost each meal).
Why?
Including a proper balance of the three macronutrients can improve our immune health, hormonal balance, blood sugar balance, energy levels, cognitive function, weight management, and how full we feel after each meal (to help eliminate yo-yo diets, cravings, crashes, and constant hunger).
What does this look like?
For breakfast, recipe ideas include eggs and vegetables, with half a sweet potato. Or a green smoothie that includes a piece of fruit, a scoop of natural protein powder, flax seed/chia seed/hemp seed, a teaspoon of coconut oil or nut butter, and a few fistfuls of leafy green vegetables.
For lunch, recipe ideas include a dark leafy green salad, with chicken or a boiled egg or 1/2 cup of pinto beans, with a teaspoon each of olive oil and lemon juice, and 1/2 an avocado.
For dinner, recipe ideas include chickpea and spinach curry cooked in butter/ghee. Or roasted chicken, brown rice, and half a plate full of vegetables, cooked in olive oil/avocado oil/ butter/ghee. Or salmon with broccoli with a sprinkle of melted grass-fed cheese and a scoop of brown rice.
For a snack, recipe ideas include an apple with a tablespoon of nut butter and a teaspoon of hemp seeds.
The options are endless. But the key is to develop the habit of including a balance of macronutrients in your meals, which you can assess by looking at your plate (or even way beforehand, while meal planning), and ask yourself “Do I have a source of each macronutrient?”
A great question that I was asked last week during the webinar was how many of each macronutrient should we eat?
Well, there are two ways to do this.
The first method, which is a good starting point if you're a beginner in your journey, is by using a macronutrient calculator, and based on your weight goals, it will provide you with the target goal amount of calories to eat per each, and how many grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates you should eat. The calculator that I like to use can be found here, through www.healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator. The calculations are based on your age, height, weight, goal weight, and current activity level.
Carbohydrates are 4 calories per gram.
Protein is 4 calories per gram.
Fat is 9 calories per gram.
That's why you would typically require more carbohydrates and protein, and a lower amount of fat, as they're more calorie-dense and satiating (unless you were following a ketogenic diet, where the amount of fat is always the highest ratio of macronutrients).
The macronutrient calculator will give you a target number of calories to eat per day (example: 1700 calories) and will divide the number of calories you need by each macronutrient, (example: protein is 4 calories per gram, fat is 9 calories per gram), thereby converting it the total grams of each you need per day.
The next thing you're probably thinking is, "Well... how do I figure out how many grams of each I'm eating?"
Good question!
You can use a food scale to weigh your food, however this is a challenge if you don't have a food scale or don't want to weigh every bit of food you eat. You can always use Google and the MyFitnessPal app to see how many grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates are in the foods you're eating (and you can do your best to estimate the serving size or portion), so you can keep track of your macronutrient intake (directly in MyFitnessPal or in an Excel spreadsheet).
If you feel overwhelmed by this information, my suggestion is to try the macronutrient calculator first, so you can see the numbers and possibly make better sense of my explanation above.
Once you have an idea of how your macronutrient calculations and have been following your recommendations for awhile, the second method is to use this pie chart below, as a general guideline. The percentages are a practical point of reference to follow, if you've already created your customized macronutrient breakdown and know how many grams of each you should consume, and roughly how much of your daily food intake it equates to in a percentage format.
Disclaimer: image above has been taken from the following site here.
During my fitness and nutrition journey, I personally created my macronutrient calculations based on my goals and started off using MyFitnessPal to see how many grams of each macronutrient were in a typical day's worth of food for me. From there, I used that as a guideline to have an approximate idea of how much to eat each day to maintain my weight.
Please remember that everyone's journey and preferences will be different. Personally, weighing food with a food scale isn't for me because I choose not to dedicate my time to that. I simply try to focus on the quality of food I'm eating, and amount of health-supportive micronutrients that are available in those foods.
Best of luck on your healthy eating journey and as always, if you have any questions or comments, please drop me a line on Instagram @greensoulvibe or email me at info@greensoulvibe.com.
Yours in best health,
Jasmin💚