Macronutrients – Fit for a Queen
Last spring I attempted to start a little healthy living segment and then life happened and after 3 posts it did not continue. Fast forward to this spring and the president of Texas A&M where I work has made wellness a huge priority. Not only has he provided every employee the opportunity to take 30 minutes 3 times a week towards wellness, he has worked with our Human Resources area to create various fitness classes on campus FOR FREE during the workday. This created some discussion between some of my colleagues and we decided we would join together and help support each other! Since my favorite thing is sharing, I created a google group for us to use to motivate each other and share information. I don’t want to leave my readers out of this little journey so I am resurrecting Fit for a Queen!
***Full Disclosure, I am NOT a health professional. Everything I share will be based on personal experience and things I’ve incorporated in my own life that have promoted a healthy lifestyle, created weight loss, made me stronger. Any time you have concerns about your health you should always consult a professional.***
I personally believe the first area to evaluate when looking to live a healthier lifestyle is addressing what we eat. The rule of thumb is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise so I’m starting by sharing some information around nutrition.
Nutrition
Set your calorie goals. I try to focus on losing quality pounds verses quantity pounds which means losing more slowly but more likely to keepthe weight off. So how do you determine how many calories you should eat daily? First take a look at your resting metabolic rate which will tell you how many calories you burn daily just existing! There are many sites you can find with calculators but I used this one http://shapeup.org/resting-metabolic-rate-calculator/
I have been conscious about my weight for the past 30 years and during this time I’ve tried lowfat, nonfat and severe calorie restriction as well as various “miracle” pills and formulas. All of these more than likely will produce some results but what I’ve found is the results are temporary. The best course of action is to eat a healthy balance of food and focus on the numbers that really measure your overall health. This means lower blood pressure, good cholesterol numbers and reduced inches. Measuring your health only by the number on a scale is not productive. Easy enough right? Unfortunately not or we would all be walking around eating to our hearts content and wearing our ideal size feeling confident! So what’s next?
Balance
So I love food most. Like I really, really think food must just taste better to me than the average person. I also love to eat when I’m feeling a little stressed or to celebrate something exciting (like breathing, ha!). Seriously, though, I love food so much that restricting myself typically only leads to failure. What I have found is eating food that tastes delicious, satisfies my hunger and causes me to feel better while also improving my health works for me. When I first read about macronutrients I will admit I was a little overwhelmed. The more I read the more I realized how much
math was involved and instantly I was geeked out excited!!
There are three macronutrients required by humans: carbohydrates (sugar), lipids (fats), and proteins. Each of these macronutrients provides energy in the form of calories. The entire 90’s we were taught that fat was bad!! Good news; there are healthy fats!! Finding balance between the carbs, proteins and fats is the key. Depending on your goals (weight loss, increased muscle, etc) the balance will change. For me personally I use the 40/30/30 rule of 40% carbs, 30% proteins and 30% fat. If you have ever heard of the Zone Diet this is basically the same. Great right? So how does that compute? There are 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrates and protein and 9 calories in a carbohydrate of fat.
of how this shakes out for me.
40%)/4=150 grams of carbs
Sound too difficult to track your grams everyday? That’s why there are awesome people out there who develop Apps for us to track without the daily math!
Accountability
Again, lots of “quick fix” solutions out there for rapid weight loss but I will tell you the one HUGE thing you can do to insure you WILL lose is writing down EVERY SINGLE THING you put in your mouth! You will be more conscious of what you are eating, come to understand how much you really are eating and what a reasonable portion is and become more aware of how your body performs with the right balance for you. Programs like MyFitnessPal are great for tracking and will even allow you to set your own macros to keep track of the grams for you! One of the perks of writing things down is you can really see how a day of derailing (and cheat days WILL happen) may be amazing while you are devouring but ends up making your feel sluggish and sometimes will leave you with physical symptoms like upset stomach, etc.
Writing everything down will also help you learn much quicker how the foods you are eating flow into your daily balance of macro nutrients. Ideally each meal or snack you should be thinking
about the balance of your macros.
Having at least one accountability partner, or cheerleader if you will, to help celebrate with you when you are doing well and cheer you own when you are on the struggle bus is also so helpful.
Measuring
The logging and accountability will only work if you are 100% honest with yourself and that means you must measure everything! I bought a food scale several years back and it truly has made a huge difference for me when I’m using it. I’m even pleasantly surprised at times to find 4oz of meat is more than I thought I could have! I use this scale and have been very happy with the features. I can measure the weight of the plate first, reset and add the food. It also converts between lbs/ounces and grams/kilograms which can be helpful.
Bottom line, this works better than anything else I’ve ever tried. Restricting myself from ever having anything I love is just never going to work and I will always, always fall off the wagon. Eating food that isn’t satisfying is also never going to work for me…did I mention I LOVE to eat? I also can get quite carried away and eat way more than intended if I do not consciously measure what is going in. Think pan full of lasagna that you just have to “even out”. Oh…is that just me?
I have attempted to increase fat loss by trying a macro combo of 25% carbs/45% protein/30% fat and it was so incredibly hard for me. Even without eating bread or pasta I could not stay within the 25% a day. Another eye opener for me in learning so many more foods are high carb than I realized. My biggest suggestion is to start slow!! Don’t stress over what you are eating for a week or two but actually measure and log everything so you can get a good idea of where you may be off balance.
If there are areas of healthy living you would like me to share about such as workouts, meals, more post like this I would love to know!
Introduction – Fit for a Queen
Accountability and Focus – Fit for a Queen
Healthy Tips for Dining Out
This was my life a year ago. I was OBSESSING over Macros and then I got a little relaxed and haven't tried again since. It is SO hard for me to find some kind of balance. The 30% of your diet in protein is REALLY hard work too.
Beth my issue has always been becoming obsessed with whatever I'm doing….the first time I tried Macros I was way too obsessed and ended up frustrated. Now that I use it more as a guide than a directive I have to meet exactly every day it's been easier. Getting the protein without the busting the fat is the biggest issue for me!! But it is definitely the only thing that has worked to keep the belly fat to a minimum since entering my 40's.
So many good tips here. Thanks for the motivation!
Yes! I need to give it another go I just had to quit for a while. Maybe a year is enough time to get back to it. The easy part is I am a creature of habit. I tend to eat the same breakfast and lunch so that makes things easy. I also found that if I was really good through the day dinner usually didn't mess me up. I am totally with you on the protein without busting the fat. I often have to use protein shakes and egg whites, BLECK.
I definitely think it makes it easier to be a creature of habit when it comes to plans like this….thankfully for the most part especially for breakfast and lunch I don't mind so much!
There are a lot of great tips here. I have been interested in Macros for awhile but it seems so overwhelming. Thank you for sharing this post!
I love this – thanks so much for sharing. It does sound complicated but maybe downloading the app will help.
So who's bringing the beer and wine to this party?!
No beer or wine for me at least during the week…and I am going to try and stick to vodka until I get back on track! 🙂
I need to get back on the wagoN!!! So vodka eh? Maybe I should do the same!! I've been doing spritzers to cut the calories recently!
I am so proud of you! Trust me I understand the eating when stressed or happy, so that's all.the.time, lol!! Our company promotes wellness too and I go for 2 25min walks everyday at work. Helps me get through the day. Exercising I'm good at and eating like at 50% but the other half time I struggle with my nemesis-sugar!!
Okay, you had me going until numbers got involved. I am so glad I don't have to worry about all of this tracking. Sucks the fun out of eating – for Me. With that said, I am in awe of how others can track what they eat, how they burn calories, etc. and come out achieving their goals. Sounds like you have this under control Shelly. I'm pretty disciplined in the eating and exercising department… My downfall is the damn sugar! Now that is my goal, to cut it back. Like the baked goods. I love to bake and then it is hanging around far to long with no kiddos at home to eat it fast. Thanks for linking today. Always love seeing you. Keep up the good work!
I really wish I had the kind of metabolism and restraint I need to not have to log my food but over the years it definitely has proven my only way to stay accountable. As soon as I stop paying attention I start overeating or eating for the wrong reasons. I really do it more now to get the kind of results I want in certain areas more than to just reduce my overall size. I ate my way through spring though friend..oh my.
I never cared much for sugar until I got older and now seriously….I just can't keep stuff like chocolate chip cookies around. I would also live off chips and hot sauce if I had my way. 🙂
Haha…supposedly vodka…or clear liquors…are the best choices. I try to stick with vodka and a sparkling flavored water or red wine most of the time. This time of year though I really just want beer and margaritas. ugh!
It is a process for sure Coreline! It really is just about learning how different foods affect you and how much you are really eating compared to how much you think you are really eating. I'm always shocked when I start being accountable again at how much I was going overboard.
Jenna it was so overwhelming to me at first too but once I really started understanding it a little and had the help of the app it made it a little easier. Once I saw the difference in the way my body responded to losing actual fat instead of just random pounds it definitely made me a believer.
Thanks Michele! Hoping this helps me stay accountable.