LET’S TALK ABOUT MACROS
Macros is one of those topics I am sure you’ve heard of before — maybe when you were trying to lose weight, build muscle, or just understand more about the food you’re putting into your body. If not, that’s okay too, because we are going to go into all of those important details in the next series of blog posts!
While hearing about macros is common, talking about your micros isn’t always as common, but it is important to know that
your micronutrient status determines your macronutrient status.
So that means we first need to focus on our micronutrient (vitamin & mineral) status, which is also more complicated than one might think. One of the most important things to understand is that we cannot expect to absorb 100% of the food we eat. Even if you are eating the most “perfect” diet, you may not be absorbing it all. To absorb your micronutrients to 100%, we first need to supplement with a high quality multivitamin, like this one*. I call this an insurance policy — while taking a multivitamin will NEVER replace eating real food, it is there to make sure we always get all of the micronutrients we need each day, just in case our busy lives get in the way (which they will, of course at times).
The next steps are D I G E S T I O N & A B S O R P T I O N .
So now we are hopefully getting the micronutrients that we need, but the next step is to ensure that we are digesting and absorbing them properly. This step is very important to work with a dietitian experienced in gut health (like myself) in order to guide you in investigating and repairing the gut lining. A lot goes into discovering whether these areas are working properly or not, and how to heal them is very individualized to a person, but nevertheless, crucial steps into ensuring your micronutrient status is the best it can be.
And finally, we start to talk about our macronutrients. In all of the times you have heard about macronutrients, have you ever heard about any of the steps listed above? If you haven’t started with those steps, counting your macros really is a waste of your time. You may be eating 100 g of protein a day... but what if you are only absorbing 50 g? No wonder you aren’t achieving the results you thought you would in the gym! Now you are probably overworking and undernourishing, but you didn’t even know.
So what is a macro to be exact? “Macro” stands for the word M A C R O N U T R I E N T . Macronutrients are essential nutrients, like micronutrients, that our bodies cannot make in essential amounts. These nutrients must provide a specific function in the body where without them, there is a decline in function, but once replaced, normal function is restored. Therefore, these MUST be obtained from your diet:
c a r b o h y d r a t e s | f a t | p r o t e i n
Now you might be wondering why you may hear about so many people counting their macros. Let’s start by breaking down each of them to help you understand:
C A R B S // a component of fruits, vegetables, and grains
Carbohydrates are the group that seem to always get a bad wrap, but it’s important to note that they are a macro for a reason, as stated above, they provide a specific function in the body, and without them, there is a decline in some bodily function, therefore, they MUST BE OBTAINED FROM YOUR DIET. Now, that being said, because they are a component of grains, they are typically the macro that is consumed in the highest amount, hence counting macros becoming a very popular topic and trend. We will get more into these in the next blog post.
F A T S // a component of grains, meat, seafood, oils, fats, nuts, seeds, dairy, eggs, and avocados
Fats used to get a worse wrap than carbs, as you can probably remember the day of “fat-free” everything. Use that as a learning lesson for macros in general — when we try to get rid of a macronutrient, or try limiting it significantly, it only causes more harm than good. Why? Well you already learned above about why macros are macros in the first place, because they are essential and cannot be produced by the body. But also, what are you eating if you aren’t eating fat? Typically more carbs, then all your ratios are thrown off again! It’s just a downward spiral from there. Key point here — eat real food, and enjoy it. Fat does NOT cause you to be fat, despite the name (I so wish we could change this, just as I wish I wasn’t called a DIETitian — no diets for my clients!). Fats actually help you BURN fat more efficiently... but more into this later!
P R O T E I N // a component of beans/legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs, meat, and seafood
Protein is the only group that never had a bad day! Why? Well protein for the most part doesn’t affect our blood sugar (fats don’t affect it at all), meaning it helps keep our sugars stabilized and prevents fat storage in the midsection. Also, we know it helps us to build lean muscle mass, which we all want!
And then, there’s A L C O H O L . Yup, I said it! It’s something we have to discuss because it is a macro, but it isn’t... meaning it’s a macro in that it doesn’t fit into another group (it’s kind of a cross between carbs and fat), yet it’s not a macro in that it is NOT ESSENTIAL (I know, you probably got excited there for a hot second). That’s really all you need to know about it right now. In the coming posts, we will talk more about it in detail, and how it falls into counting your macros, because like I said, it doesn’t quite fall under just one category.
So now that you understand macros at a surface level, I need to mention how they can also be a major downfall in your progress toward reaching your goals. Macros provide us with NUMBERS, but food isn’t all numbers. For example, if you are looking to lose weight and build muscle, and you think all you need to do is count your macros, you are completely wrong. Numbers are just one part of the game, and in my professional opinion, a very small part of that game — quality over quantity, ALWAYS. Let’s compare a donut to 1 cup of oatmeal with a banana, each being ~250 calories total, and both predominantly carbohydrate foods. So if you are counting your macros and/or calories, it doesn’t matter what you eat if the numbers match up, right? WRONG. This could not be more wrong.
Some facts about your regular glazed donut — it’s deep fried, probably in old oil, meaning it’s high in trans fats which are the worst fats for your health, raising your bad cholesterol and lowering your good cholesterol, causing inflammation in the body, which in turn will cause your blood sugars to be higher long term, promoting fat storage in the midsection.
Some facts about oatmeal + a banana — full of fiber, a component your donut is lacking, which stabilizes your blood sugar, giving you steady energy throughout the day, preventing cravings in the short-term, and diabetes in the long run. Not to mention full of vitamins and minerals, of which your donut has little to none of, which you now know plays an extremely vital role in helping you to digest and absorb your macronutrients that you’ve spent all this time trying to keep up with.
Kind of make sense?
Now let's talk about how we treat macros here at Water and the Well. Macros are a PART of our journey together, and a very small part at that. In our time together, we will dive much deeper into macros and how they play into your journey and reaching your goals, but they are not the end all be all. It is NOT calories in calories out, numbers are NOT the answer. In my experience as a dietitian, calorie counting and macro tracking becomes much more of an insecurity and added stressor than it does as a helpful tool. Most of our time together will be spent understanding the ROOT cause of why you are where you are now, and how we can learn to change these habits, NOT with force, but because you have learned how to do better and WANT to do better, because your desire for the opposite has subsided. I know it may sound crazy, but it works. In fact, if you decide to take our classes and work with me, you will learn that in our 3 months together, we only actually track for 1 week in the beginning, and 1 week at the end, and depending on how I gauge you are as a client and your history with food, I determine how much to share with you and when. Remember, stress is a HUGE component of your weight loss journey, and counting macros and calories is a stressor for most people. Not only that, but the last thing I want you to be worried about is counting your calories or macros, for example, on Thanksgiving Day, a day that should be spent enjoying time with family, cooking, and eating good food. Life is SO much more than numbers, and I want you to know that all of my clients have always seen success without having numbers be the center stage. The thing is, once you learn about yourself and your habits, about the foods you love and the ones you don’t, about the issues you’ve had in reaching your goals, and about the root of ultimate health and wellness, you change. You learn what to do and how and you want to do it. What I see happen every single time with clients, is that once we come to our last week of tracking, you’ve reached your macro goals without even knowing or tracking for the other 2.5 months, pretty incredible, right? Real food is an amazing thing, and what’s even cooler, is that your body is a lot smarter than your brain when it comes to these things, so stop stressing!
In general, this is a very, very brief overview of macronutrients, really just skimming the surface. In the next couple of posts, we will dive deeper into each macro individually, learning about how they function in the body, and why having them as a part of our diet is a crucial part of our success.
In wellness,
Allie, RD, LDN, CPT