Everyone who eats food (which is just about every human reading this… aka you), should know about basic nutrition. Why nutrition isn’t a required class in any level of school is beyond me, but I’m here to at least offer a little information for you. I do want you to keep in mind that there are a lot of different diets out there – some good and some not so good – and there are a lot of opinions out there on what is the best diet. I also want you to keep in mind that when I use the word “diet”, I don’t necessarily mean a restrictive diet that someone is on. I’m just talking about all of the food we eat and drink day to day – in other words, your daily diet. Now for the fun stuff….
First, let’s talk about counting calories or macros (macros are macronutrients, which are protein, carbohydrates, and fat). Please please please please… please… DON’T strictly track your food for more than a month or so unless you’re being supervised by a professional in the nutrition field. You should count your calories or macros strictly (if you think that this is okay for your mental health) in order to get an idea of what you’re eating and how much you’re eating. Once you have an idea of those things, don’t put yourself through looking up and writing down (or typing) everything that you put into your mouth. I’ll write another post about why I believe in this method rather than the “IIFYM” (If It Fits Your Macros) method.
In that time that you are counting calories or macros keep in mind that you do not want to eat fewer calories than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) , or the amount of calories your bodies burns at rest in one day. There are a few long equations that you can put your age, weight, etc into in order to calculate your BMR or you can just google “BMR calculator” and then you’ll be able to figure it out that way. I’d just suggest double checking those online calculators with one or two others to make sure that they come up with similar numbers because we all know the interwebs does not know all and can give you some bad info. Now, again, your BMR is the absolute lowest number of calories you should eat per day – and that’s if you’re not doing anything at all. If you eat below that number then your body will go into a starvation state, which basically means that more of the food that you do eat will be stored by your body as fat because it thinks that there might not be another meal coming – let me say again: starvation. Nobody wants to starve while we surrounded by all this beautiful food! Now how many calories above your BMR should you eat? That depends on your activity level. Here’s an example of a table you can find by googling “caloric intake formula”. Depending on where you look, these numbers may vary slightly, but they are generally in the same ball-park.
| Little to no exercise | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.2 |
| Light exercise (1–3 days per week) | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.375 |
| Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week) | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.55 |
| Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week) | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.725 |
| Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts) | Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.9 |
Once you have your final number for your caloric intake, you have to consider if you’re wanting to maintain, lose, or gain weight. If you’re wanting to lose weight then you should subtract “x” amount of calories from your caloric intake and if you’re wanting to gain weight then you should add “x” amount of calories to your caloric intake. This number can vary from person to person depending on how much weight you’re wanting to put on or lose and how quickly you’re wanting to do that (remember that slow and steady weight loss is the healthier way to lose weight).
Okay, so now you have an idea of how much you should eat (hopefully). If you’re dying to count your macros then sure, do that. Gym rats tend to eat a significant amount of protein while keeping their carbs on the lower side. Here’s what the AMDR (Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges) – the scientifically backed healthy ranges for how much you should eat of each macronutrient – suggest.
Protein: 10% to 35% of your total caloric intake
Carbs: 45% to 65% of your total caloric intake
Fat: 20% to 35% of your total caloric intake
(*Keep in mind that there are 4 calories per gram of protein, 4 calories per gram of carbs, 9 calories per gram of fat, and 7 calories per gram of alcohol – I figured I’d throw that one in there just for fun for you all.)
Wait wait wait… protein is only 10% to 35%?!? Did you think that you were supposed to eat as much protein as you possibly can because that’s what body builders do? Nope, incorrect. Don’t get me wrong, protein is important BUT you’re able to get up to the 10% easily by just eating fruits, veggies, and grains – no meat or dairy or supplements required. Now, if you’re heavily working out then you should try to get around 1.2 grams of protein per KILOGRAM of body weight (that’s your weight in pounds divided by 2.2). Let’s say that I have a client who weighs 125 pounds and they want to put on some muscle, so they would be lifting heavy and working out quite a bit. I would calculate their protein requirements by dividing 125 lbs by 2.2, which equals 57 kg or (57×1.55=88) 88 grams of protein per day. I promise you, that is almost guaranteed to fit in or be close to that AMDR range for protein. You can definitely get to that number without typical protein sources like dairy and meat, but you have to be a little more creative and do a little more research than a person who does eat meat or dairy. I will note that the amount of protein I’m suggesting is significantly lower than what most trainers will tell you. Everyone has different philosophies and every body reacts differently to different diets. I’m just telling you what I’ve learned in school and what I’ve talked to dietitians about.
Now wait wait wait again…. carbs can be up to 65% of my total calories?!? But don’t carbs make me fat?? [imagine a Scott Pilgrim vs the World “bread makes you fat!?” meme here and laugh because that movie is hilarious]. Let me make this clear… carbs do NOT make you fat. Being sedentary, eating too much, or having some kind of health condition can cause a person to gain weight. Carbs are SO important. Our brains prefer carbs as an energy source and require 130 grams per day to function normally – and that’s ONLY your brain I’m talking about. Yes, the brain can use other sources for energy by converting it into the same type of energy source but it is not ideal. So please, never go below 130 grams of carbs per day at the very least. Also, depending on what type of exercise you’re doing – carbs and fat can both be a significant source of energy while working out. The longer or more intense your workout is, typically, the higher the percentage of carbs used as a fuel source. So you not only need 130 grams of carbs per day for your brain – you need more than that to feed the rest of your body, including your muscles. Just make sure that your carb intake falls in that AMDR range. Also, the kind of carbs you’re eating should be taken into account. Just because I said that carbs are important doesn’t mean that you should go out and eat refined sugar all day long. Fruit, veggies, grains, bread (yes, bread, but preferably the whole wheat or seedy kinds), etc are the types of carbs I’m talking about here.
And lastly – fat. Fat is also very important. The most important thing I can mention about fat is that you need the right kinds of fat. Don’t go out there eating all the bacon and butter you want because I said fat is important. Go out there and eat avocados, olive oil, canola oil, nuts and seeds, etc because those contain the ‘right’ kinds of fat – aka polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat. Saturated and trans fats are your enemies – the kind of enemies you want to avoid and not actually fight. A little bit here and there isn’t going to kill you, but it is best to keep those two as low as possible. Also keep in mind that each gram of fat contains over twice the amount of calories as carbs or protein. So a handful of almonds doesn’t seem like much but that can be up to 200 calories alone. Almonds and other foods with healthy fats are great and I want you to eat them, but make sure that you eat them in moderation!
Okay… now that you’ve spent however much time it takes to read this, hopefully you have some kind of understanding about how much you should eat. The only thing that I want to mention – for now – on WHAT to eat is: eat real food. If you are about to buy something and you cant even pronounce the ingredients – don’t buy it. Pick something else that has ingredients that are real food. Better yet, buy things that are real food by themselves – like fruit, veggies, beans, rice, quinoa, etc.
Alrighty, that’s all I’ve got for you to read for now. I hope you all have a beautiful day!
Did I just make all of that up? Nope…. here are a few resources with similar information:
http://nationalacademies.org/HMD/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/DRI-Tables.aspx
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