Alright, so if you've been following, the previous post explained why under eating is not the answer to long term fat loss and weight management. If you missed it, check it out here. We need to keep a healthy metabolic rate that is strong so that the engine is burning hot, and utilizes the proper fuel to help us maintain good health and body composition.
You've started tracking your food in some sort of app (MyFitness Pal or Fat Secret), and you have been REAL with yourself about what and how much you've been consuming (yes, you probably need to be weighing food to see if you're truly accurate in your quantity). Once you have this information to objectively evaluate, now what? Calories in vs. calories out has been a typical theme or motto you have probably heard. To an extent, that is correct, but what is more important is what is the macronutrient composition of those calories? Huh? What is this gibberish I am talking about? I am referring to protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
When you are looking through your food diary, you want to note and evaluate how much of protein, carbohydrates, and fats that you are consuming. Get an honest starting point on what the composition is of what you typically are consuming with regards to those macronutrients.
The composition of those calories will determine the type of weight lost or gained. No, carbs are not your enemy. Neither is fat. Contrary to whatever the trend is of current day, any excess of macronutrients can be stored as extra body fat.
Before I hired my nutrition coach, I didn't care to pay much attention to the macronutrients I was consuming. I felt I ate quality food and I could adjust total calories so I could navigate my nutrition and weight management. Well that plan didn't work! I didn't have the body composition I wanted, and I also didn't feel great overall. My training performance was decent, but I felt it could be better. There were some compounded issues after recovering from injury that didn't create the ideal health environment for me, and I was committed to making my overall health a priority.
I needed a better understanding and to experience how my body would respond to the various macronutrients. Based on my goals, my nutrition coach gave me a plan that was individual and ever changing based on my lifestyle and my activity level. A coach needs a coach too. It truly has been the best investment in my health. I had a flexible eating plan that wasn't restrictive in nature, and created a lifestyle that has put me in an optimal position to be the best version of me.
Part 3. More on Macro Composition. Click here.
