Carbs or Macros?

What is a Calorie?

The word calorie gets thrown around a lot when talking about food, dieting, and weight loss, but if asked; "what is a calorie?", expect to hear a whole array of answers. In the most basic terms, a calorie is unit of measurement. It is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

The most important thing to take away from that definition is the word "energy". Calories are energy that fuel our bodies on a daily basis. Without a sufficient amount of calories, our bodies cannot function or survive.

What are Macros?

Macros or macronutrients are nutrients that provide calories or energy. Nutrients are substances needed for growth, metabolism, and are used for other bodily functions. There are three primary macronutrients that perform essential roles in the human body - protein, carbohydrates and fat.

• Protein provides 4 calories per gram.
• Carbohydrates provide 4 calories per gram.
• Fat provides 9 calories per gram.

This means that if an item of food contains 10g of protein, 10g of carbohydrates and 5g of fat, the total calories for that food would equate to 125 calories.

• ( 10g x 4Kcal ) + ( 10g x 4Kcal ) + ( 5g x 9Kcal ) = 125Kcal

So What Do I Track?

The plain and simple answer is, track your macronutrients.

One of the biggest problems with calorie counting is that it does not take into account what you're eating or quality of food. Keeping a watchful eye on total daily calories and portion control may help to begin with, but eventually your self-control will give way due to eating foods that offer very little in the way of satiety and feeling full.

The purpose of your diet should not only be too look good, but to also feel good and have a clean bill of health. If you can lose a 1lb a week by consuming 2000Kcal, is it sensible eating 2000Kcal worth of chocolate on a daily basis, or getting 90% of your calories from carbohydrates?

To achieve a healthy and strong body, we need a balance between the three macronutrients, and though the ratio between protein, carbohydrates and fat will vary from person to person, no single macronutrient should ever be completely avoided.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]