Quick Start Macronutrient Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started

Macronutrients are important for everyone, whether you are a beginner or advanced athlete. In this macronutrient guide, I’ll explain the basics of what they are, their role in the body, and how to calculate them. Plus, I’ve got a macro mindset shift that could be exactly what you need nutritionally if fat loss is your goal.

What are Macronutrients?

Macronutrients, or macros, is the term used to categorize the three main nutrient groups your body needs to function: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Macronutrients provide you with energy, and help your body grow, repair, function and (hopefully) thrive.

All foods are made up of macronutrients. The majority of foods contain a ratio of 2 macro categories (i.e. eggs contain both protein + fat, beans contain both carbohydrates + protein). There are a few foods, like animal fat, honey and egg whites, that are 100% fat, or carbohydrate and protein (respectively), but they’re few and far between.

Each macro group contains unique nutrients that play vital, and often differing, roles in your body. This macronutrient guide covers the ins and outs of those differences.

Proteins: What You Need to Know

Dietary protein is made up of amino acids. These amino acids – there are 20 of them – are vital to many of the bodily functions that allow you to survive and thrive:

• Muscle protein synthesis
• Repair and growth of bone, tendons, ligaments and cartilage
• Transportation of other molesules through the body
• Facilitating enzymatic and metabolic reactions
• Immune function
• and more…

Protein Quality

When you eat protein, it’s digested down into those amino acids that I mentioned. There are 3 general categories that we can group dietary protein sources into, depending on their amino acid makeup:

1. Essential amino acids cannot be made by the body and must be obtained from your diet. There are 9 of these.
2. Non-essential amino acids can be made by the body and it is therefore not necessary to consume them.
3. Conditionally essential amino acids are amino acids that you may need to eat more of sometimes – for example when you are physically stress or sick.

Almost all foods contain some amount of protein. But there are foods that are better, complete sources of protein than others. Foods like seafood, poultry, beef and eggs are examples of complete proteins. “Complete” means that they contain all 9 essential amino acids. I’ve posted a giant list of protein sources for members of my Facebook group…you can grab that here!

Other foods are considered “incomplete” proteins. They have some of the essential amino acids, but not all of them. You will need to eat a combination of these foods to get the variety and quantity of amino acids that you need. These are typically vegetarian sources of protein like beans, legumes, nuts and whole grains.

Almost all proteins contain a percentage of the other 2 macronutrients: fats and carbohydrates. And you can get these proteins from a wide variety of sources. Remember: it adds up!

Meeting Your Body’s Protein Needs

The “baseline” protein needs – enough to cover basic daily function for the average person – is about 0.36 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. That’s about 50 grams of protein for a 150 pound person. At 4 calories per gram of protein, that’s 200 calories.

But this number assumes a few things that (are hopefully) not true about you. This amount of protein prevents deficiency only. That does not mean optimal. It simply means that it’s enough to prevent malnutrition. This number also assumes that you are relatively sedentary. Sedentary people don’t need as much protein because they don’t have much need for it’s repair and growth properties.

If you:

• train frequently and/or intensely
• have a physically demanding job
• want to lose weight and are eating at a caloric deficit
• are injured or sick
• are pregnant

You should consider adjusting that baseline amount of protein intake upwards. There are a few highly regarded recommendations that suggest that, if any of the above situations reflects your current situation, your protein goal should be more like 0.8-1.2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight.

*All of these recommendations come in ranges but for the sake of easier math that works, I like round numbers.

Carbohydrates: What You Need to Know

Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for your body, and preferred source of energy for your brain. They also promote gut health. Fiber specifically, acts as both a food source for good gut bacteria and a digestive aid.

Carbohydrate Quality

Carbohydrates are broken down by your body into saccharides aka sugar. There are 3 major classes of carbohydrates:

• Monosaccharides are the simplest form.
• Oligosaccharides are short chains of monosaccharides.
• Polysaccharides are longer, more complex chains.

The structural difference of carbohydrates affect how your body digests and absorbs them. This difference in complexity , and your body’s ability to deal with it, is where some confusion about carbs and their place in a healthy diet comes to light.

Complexity matters. Complex carbohydrates come from whole foods sources like vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains. These kinds of carbs come with bonuses in the form of vitamins, minerals, fiber, water and phytonutrients. Some even contain protein and fat. These sources digest slowly and keep your blood sugar, insulin and energy levels stable. Download an extensive list of carbohydrate sources here.

One of the most important thing to understand about carbohydrate sources is that sugar is not the enemy per say. ALL carbs are eventually broken down into the same simple, sugar molecule, not all carbs are created equally. Added sugar is where the trouble starts. These are simple, refined and highly processed carbs that have been stripped of their nutrients. They often come packaged with sodium, trans fats, preservatives and other flavorings that leave you feeling unsatisfied and craving more. These sources digest quickly and can quickly spike your blood sugar, insulin and energy levels (only to leave them crashing soon after).

What are Your Body’s Carbohydrate Needs?

Technically, dietary carbohydrates are not essential to human life. Meaning that it is possible to survive without consuming carbohydrates. But the important fact remains that carbohydrates are the most efficient source of energy for your muscles and your brain. Women especially should be careful about carb restriction as dietary carbohydrates help to balance hormones, energy levels and performance.

That’s not ignorable information as it does inform this piece about carb needs. There is no minimum requirement but based on the brain’s needs alone, healthy adults should be consuming a minimum of 100 grams per day. At 4 calories per gram, that’s a minimum of 400 calories from carbs. Most recommendations for daily intake of carbohydrates is between 40-60% of overall calories.

But if you are:

• highly active
• have endurance performance goals or training focuses
• competing in an athletic competition
• pregnant
• breast feeding

You may need more.

Fiber

There’s another piece to the carbohydrate puzzle: fiber. Fiber is a special type of starch that is not completely digestible. Soluble fiber can dissolve in water. Insoluble fiber cannot. Ideally, you get a good mix of both.

Fiber provides food for good gut bacteria. It also aids digestion by moving food through the digestive tract, contributes to healthy bowel movements, binds to cholesterol to help your body excrete that substance, and improves satiety and satisfaction.

Set a goal to eat at least 25 grams of fiber (as part of your overall carbohydrate intake) daily.

Fats: What You Need to Know

Dietary fat is broken down by your body into it’s two simplest form: fatty acids. Multiple fatty acids joined together make up triglycerides. Dietary fat has 6 major roles in the body:

• energy – fat has the highest energy density of any macro
• create and balance certain hormones
• forms cell membranes
• forms your brain and nervous system
• transport of fat-soluble vitamins
• provides your body with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (fats that your body cannot make itself)

Types of Fat

Fats are categorized by the hydration level (the number of hydrogen bonds) of these fatty acid chains. The more hydration, the more saturated the fat.

1. Saturated fats are full of hydrogen bonds. Because of their molecular structure, they are solid at room temperate. Think butter and cream.
2. Unsaturated fats have some hydrogen bonds, but are not fully saturated. The number of bonds determines whether the fat is monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. Unsaturated fats are more fluid at room temperature. Think olive oil and nut oils.

Though saturated fats get a bad rap, your body actually needs it. In fact, you want a relatively balanced mix of fats in your diet. Choose a variety of saturated fats and a variety of poly- and monounsaturated fats throughout the day. Pay attention to the omega-3 and omega-6 content of your unsaturated fats. Most Western diets have a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. To lower that ratio, include omega-3 rich foods like salmon, nuts, seeds and eggs.

What’s most important when it comes to fat quality and choosing minimally processed fat food sources (you can get a vast list of fat sources here). When fats that should be liquid at room temperature are processed and exposed to high heat temperatures, their structure changes and they become trans fats. That’s great for the food industry but not great for your body.

Trans fats are the one fat that you should avoid. Trans fats lower good cholesterol levels, increase cholesterol production and overtime, worsen essential fatty acid deficiencies and add up to a higher risk of chronic disease.

Your Dietary Fat Needs

Most people do best with a dietary fat intake between 20-35% of overall energy intake. Fat contains more energy per gram than protein or carbs. At 9 calories per gram of fat, you need less volume of fat than other macros to reach your needs. Most of that volume should be unsaturated, but certainly some of those calories should come from saturated fat food sources. In general, balance is your best friend.

Adjust Your Macros for Your Goals

How do you use this information to adjust your diet? Do you make changes immediately? Maybe that protein jump – from the baseline of 200 calories to the adjusted amount upwards of 540 calories – felt like a lot. Or maybe it’s hard to visualize what 20-35% of your daily caloric intake in fat looks like.

Simplify it.

Start here: overall caloric intake

Use a calorie calculator like this one to figure out what your overall, daily caloric intake should be. These kinds of calculators can’t take everything about you into account. You can’t enter you genetics, or fitness history or health history. But it will give you a good estimate to start with.

Let’s keep things simple and say that your calorie goal is 2,000 kcal per day.

Next: protein

Calculate your protein needs first.

Your goal as an active woman with fitness goals is to hit 0.8-1.2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. Let’s go for the middle ground and call it 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.

That means that your goal for daily protein intake is 150 grams. Protein contains 4 calories per gram so…

4 calories/gram x 150 grams = 600 calories from protein

*Scroll down for a step-by-step guide on how to hit your protein goal*

Then, fat

Calculating your fat intake comes next. You don’t want to let your daily intake drop too low. 30% is a good starting point. So if your total calorie goal is 2,000 kcal and fat clocks in at 9 calories per gram…

2000 x 30% = 600 calories
600 calories / 9 calories per gram = 66.67 grams of fat

Finally, carbs

All of the calories that are left, come from carbs. There are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate so…

600 calories from protein + 600 calories from fat = 1,200 calories
2,000 calories – 1,200 calories = 800 calories
800 calories / 4 calories per gram = 200 grams of carbs

Put it all together

When you put all of those targets together, here’s what you get:

Calorie Goal: 2,000
Protein Goal: 150 grams (600 calories)
Fat Goal: 66.67 grams (600 calories)
Carb Goal: 200 grams (800 calories)

Don’t freak out about numbers yet!

If this feels like a lot to take in, never mind a lot to adjust, take a deep breath. You do not have to hit these numbers perfectly to see progress.

Instead, figure out where your macros are now. Once you have those numbers you’ll know how close or how far off you are from these calculations.

First, focus on hitting your protein goals. You’ll probably find that as you make that adjustment you feel fuller, and your carbs and fats naturally decrease.

After you nail your protein, start purposefully adjusting down your fats and carbs until you hit your calorie goal.

FAT LOSS NUTRITION TIP: if you hit your calorie and protein goals consistently, don’t freak yourself out so much about perfectly hitting your fat and carb targets. Those are energy nutrients and as long as you have some of both, less important.

Hopefully this macronutrient guide leaves you with a baseline understanding and comfort with the what and why behind macros. Hopefully you feel a bit more confident in your ability to choose a balanced diet and reach your goals. (If you don’t, let’s chat – I can help you).