Macros and calories

For beginners macros and calories might sound a little bit misterious. However, there is no magic to it if you listened to your highschool Biology teacher 🌝. If you didn't, this post is made for you!

Macros refer to macronutrients in your diet which are primarily carbohydrates, proteins and fats. You can imagine carbs as fuel for your body. They consist of majority of your diet. They can be simple to break like glucose or more complicated like lactose which you find in milk. Carbs can be a healthy sugar source like fruits or veggies but also very unhealthy one like chips and sweet things. Next one is protein which basically builds our body and muscles. It is essential to intake the right amount when you are exercising, thenabout 20-30% of your diet should be protein. Again not all protein sources are the same. Some argue that protein from plant sources are of better quality than animal meat. However, it is difficult to get enough protein without whey protein powders, turkey, chicken or salmon... You would need to a lot of time to prepare and eat a lot of spinac, beans, etc. If you have time, go for it! The last nutrient is fat which does not make you fat if eaten right. The good sources of fat are e.g. nuts and avocado. They are suuuuper healthy for you and tasty. They should consist of 20% of your diet because they are very calory sensed.

And now calories. What are they really? They refer to the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. If you want to lose weight it is essential that you are in caloric deficit; either you eat less or you burn more calories (cardio exercises mainly). Average caloric intake for female is around 2000. However, you can Google caloric calculator that will check your needs based on gender, age, activity levels etc. Then you can track your calories with a scale and fitness pal application on your smart phone until you learn how much calories your average meals have. It is important not to forget that healthy diet should be BALANCED. There should be enough variety in it to ensure you get all the vitamines and minerals you need.

This chart should help you with it. Good luck 🍀