Adopting Macro Nutrients into my Fitness Regime

Since the beginning of December 2012, I have been doing some extensive research into Macro Nutrients as this is something I have been interested in for a while. With the advice of my friend Melissa (@thrutheblue) and Bradley (@BradleyAJohnson), I decided to adopt the method commonly used by bodybuilders to decrease body fat percentage to help me achieve the body shape I desire.

I am purely adopting this method to decrease a little bit of body fat and would like to stress am AM NOT aiming for body builder fat percentages lol.

This method is a bit long winded as you are effectively counting calories and I would be lying if I didn’t tell you it takes a few trial and errors to master the numbers. Having said that it is definitely worth trying out if you really want to lose body fat in the most effective way.

To work out ones macro numbers requires a bit of mathematics *I made sure I had a piece of paper, a pencil and a calculator to hand as I worked through the steps required to obtain my numbers*

Note: The examples used to show the calculations are based on my own body weight numbers and should not be replicated. Should you also want to work out your own numbers  by following the steps below, make sure you conduct your own research in macro nutrients and cutting before you proceed!

Step 1

Firstly, I converted my current weight into lbs and multipled the number by 15.

This gave me  137.20 lbs and I multiplied it by 15 = 2058.

From here I subtracted 600 from the figure I just got which will give me my baseline calorie intake per day.

E.g. 2058 – 600 = 1458cals.

Step 2

I have now worked out my baseline calorie intake and will proceed to work out my  protein numbers.

To work out my protein numbers I needed complete the following formula:-

1.25 x current body weight.

This figure is the amount of protein in grams I am to consume daily. To get the number of calories per day I multiplied the number by 4.

E.g. 1.25 x 137.20 = 171.5 grams per day x 4 = 686 cals.

Step 3

Generally, fat numbers are calculated on 20% of your daily calorie intake. The formula to work ones fat number is 0.2 multiplied by daily calorie intake. This will give me my total calories number.

I Divided this by 9. This figure will be the amount of fat you I am to consume daily.

E.g. 0.2 multiplied by 1458 = 291.6 cals divided by 9 = 32.4 grams.

Step 4

Next, to work out my carbohydrate numbers I had to add my protein and fat calorie numbers together to complete the first section of this calculation *see steps 2 and 3 to see what  numbers I used to complete the calculation*

E.g. 291.6 cals f + 686 cals p = 977.6 cals.

Step 5

From here, I subtracted my daily calorie intake number by the number I got by adding my protein and fat numbers together.

E.g. 1458 – 977.6 = 480.4 cals.

Using the number I got by doing  the above calculation, I divided it by 4 to obtain the daily amount of Carbohydrates I should consume on a daily basis.

E.g. 480.4 divided by 4 = 120.1 grams

By following these five steps I ended up with my protein, fat and carbohydrate numbers.

Macro Numbers

Protein = 171.5 grams per day (686 cals)

Fat = 32.4 grams per day (291.6 cals)

Carbs = 120.1 grams per day (480.4 cals)

To stress again, the above macro numbers are unique to me *based on my own body weight* and should not be used by you the reader to decrease body fat, which is also known as ‘Cutting’ in the body building world.

Should you wish to work out your 0wn macros numbers, pleases ensure you use your current body weight at the beginning of Step 1 to ensure your numbers are correct and unique to you!

I have been using My Fitness Pal app as advised by friends familar with this method to help me keep track of my numbers as well as ensuring I hit them successfully *its such a brilliant app8.

One of my social network fitness buddies  Bradley (@BradleyAJohnson) has also been adopting this method since February 2012, and as a result lost a total of 25kg of fat in 9 months.

For those interested in using ‘Cutting’ as a way of loosing body-fat, there are many good articles on the web to help you understand the science behind macro nutrients and the procedures around cutting. I encourage you to research this before deciding if this method will work for you 😉

With that said my cutting journey has now begun, and will stick to these numbers for two weeks before re-assessing any improvements made that might cause me to re-adjust my numbers slightly.

Keep posted as I aim to document my progress whilst undergoing the ‘cutting phase’ for two weeks.

Until Next Time,

Your Girl Danni 😉