When counting calories, you have a set number of calories to eat each day based on your height, weight, age, activity level, and goals. With macro counting, calories are divided between three main macronutrients: protein (4cal/g), carbohydrates (4cal/g), and fat (9cal/g). Alcohol is also a macronutrient and could be tracked if desired. ☺
Did you know that Alcohol is technically its own macronutrient and contains 7 calories per gram? It isn’t essential for survival, it’s not typically mentioned with the other macros: protein, fat, and carbs. It’s important to keep in mind that alcohol has value as energy, but no nutritional value such as vitamins, minerals, or fiber. When the body senses alcohol present, it stops everything it’s doing, as fat burns for example, and concentrates on getting the alcohol out of its system.
Carbohydrates are mainly used as energy for muscle movements and brain functions. Your body can transform extra carbohydrates into stored energy in the form of glycogen. Several hundred grams can be stored in your liver and muscles.
Our body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use it to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.
Fats are essential to give your body energy and to support cell growth, protect your organs, and help to keep your body warm. Fats help your body absorb some nutrients such as vitamins EDAK and produce important hormones, your body definitely needs fat.
Macros are a metric of energy, not nutrition. The counted calories on foods are NOT equal to the calories in your body. That’s because food doesn’t just contain calories, it contains information. Some calories are addictive, others healing, some fattening, some metabolism-boosting….as complexes Carbohydrates (vegetable, beans, quinoa, rolled oats..), protein (eggs, poultry, fish, seeds..) and healthy fats (avocado, nuts, olive oil…)
Complex carbohydrates are usually a great combo of Fibre, Protein, and fats as in Rolled oats. Which makes it a top food! Please click the link to understand more.
Calories: 389, Water: 8% Protein: 16.9 grams, Carbs: 66.3 grams, Sugar: 0 grams, Fiber: 10.6 grams, Fat: 6.9 grams.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/oats
Most people just count calories when they want to lose, gain or maintain weight, but that is not safe because the way we assimilate nutrients and absorb calories depends on the quality of our intake, how we integrate foods in our daily life, how we think, how we treat our self from the first and last thing of the day. Also poor quality food and fear of food can result in weight gain. There is a strong connection between what, when, and how you eat your food. Restricting calories is a stress factor! When your body is stressed and believes it is starving, it wants to hold on to fat. Your body is worried about not getting any food anymore. By eating more of the right and regular foods, you tell your body it’s okay to burn fat. Many times the body resists long-term weight loss by increasing hunger. At the same time, you get sick because of the non-right use of the calories in your body.
Nutrient-dense foods are often kicked out of your diet when you want to lose weight but my experience showed that the people who eat regular nutrition-dense food, that boost their metabolism, their microbiome. The body is happy and has trust in you. No starving, no fat storage. Most of my clients which have trust in food achieved their goal much easier and sooner.
Motion Fitness Foods, our snacks, meal plans, or café meals have a high nutrient content and some foods are high in calories, which is why misinformed calorie-fearing people may not eat them ever.
Still, most of our café clients are in a healthy weight or looking really fabulous. BUT not just this as most Meal Plan clients tell us that the energy is the best they ever felt and getting a new love for eating the foods itself. The fact is that without proper nutrients, your body won’t efficiently burn fat or build muscle. It’s the food quality and the right combination of nutrition that gives you the longtime energy and a strong healthy body.
In order to cut calories, many people resort to things like 100 calorie snack packs, diet soda, and fat-free yogurt. These foods might be lower in calories, but they make you crave more food and can be extremely harmful to your body and microbiome. If they would eat a creamy Greek yogurt with some nuts and berries which might have a triple amount of calories, they would even burn calories through digestion. Keep in mind that our body uses energy to digest foods. Complex Carbohydrates, Proteins, and fats are much more complex than fiber too. Make your body a fat burn machine and at the same time healthy and strong through eating nutrient dense food.
So who should count Macros and why can it be very effective? Read more about tracking Macros, why it can be good, and what is behind the hype in Part 2.
Please feel free to contact me if you want to know more, I am happy to answer your questions.
Experience the power of food with us.
Mel Motion ☺
