A Beginners Guide to: Macronutrients

If you’re hoping to take your health or weight loss to the next level, focusing on macronutrients might be your best bet. Here’s why.  Calories provide your body with energy, which is essential for pretty much everything we do.  But basing your health on calories alone may leave your lab values and body composition goals unmet.  Macronutrients take a closer look at exactly what you’re eating versus solely focusing on how much. Let’s dive further.

What’s a Macronutrient, Anyway?

Macronutrients are the protein, fat, or carbohydrate content within the foods you pick. It helps to focus more on what you’re eating so you can better understand why a meal was so filling or why it left you unsatisfied.  Need a refresher on the differences between the three?  We can help!

The 3 Types of Macronutrients

1. Protein

Protein is a popular macronutrient.  Especially among the paleo, keto, and athletic communities; and for a good reason.  

This macronutrient helps to keep you feeling full, which is important for those losing weight but even more so for those in maintenance mode. Protein also allows you to build and repair muscle, leading to body composition changes like a reduction in body fat percentage.

You can find protein in animal-based sources (think: chicken, fish, and steak) or plant-based sources (like beans, nuts, and legumes). It’s also found in smaller quantities in some dairy products (such as Greek yogurt) and whole grains (like quinoa or bread).

From a macronutrient perspective, animal-based proteins also include fat while plant-based proteins are usually low in fat but do contain carbohydrates. Depending on your macronutrient goals one may be a better fit for you. Typically a combination of both is recommended to consume in your diet.

2. Fat

Fat has had quite a reputation, but lately, its popularity has been on the rise.  We can likely thank the keto and low-carb eating patterns for this trend, but also some researchers have begun to question the impacts of saturated fats on our health.  This switch is why you may see more full-fat products on grocery store shelves.  

Whether you’re aiming high, moderate, or low on fat, it’s essential to get this macronutrient in your diet.  It helps to absorb key vitamins and antioxidants like A, D, E, and K while also playing a role in hormone health and appetite control.  

Dietary sources of fats include cooking oils, avocados, nuts, seeds, cheese, meats, and some fattier fish.

3. Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates may be the most interesting macronutrient when it comes to understanding your eating patterns.  If you’re following a vegetarian, Mediterranean or balanced eating pattern, this might be your highest macronutrient category. Whereas, those with blood sugar concerns (such as diabetics or those with PCOS) may opt to keep it lower.  

Carbohydrates are the primary fuel source for some pretty essential systems, including your brain, central nervous system, and red blood cells. This macronutrient is digested quicker than the other two which is why eating carbs alone may not leave you as full.

Current research places emphasis on choosing high-quality carbs. Focus on eating whole foods like fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and dairy rather than refined options like sweets, packaged items, and overly processed snack foods.

How Do I Know How Much of Each to Eat?

This answer isn’t so clear-cut, but we’ll share with you what we know.

Your specific macros will vary depending on which eating pattern you choose to follow as briefly mentioned above. Still, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine put out general ranges that may be helpful to know when getting started.

These ranges, called Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges or AMDR, are recommended based on research.  The overall goal?  To help individuals reduce their risk of chronic disease while optimizing their intake of essential nutrients.

If you aren’t sure where to start with setting macronutrient goals, an easy place to try is right in the middle with 20% protein, 30% fat, and 50% carbohydrates.  Then, adjust based on what feels right for your body.  

Planning to set your percentage higher or lower than the recommended ranges?  It’s doable, but we always recommend running it by your healthcare provider first.

How Do I Get Started Tracking Macros in the App?

Macros are our thing, so we’ve made it easy for you to view your data within the app.  Here are some features to know:

1. Set Up Your Goals

• Open the Lose It! App
• Go to the Goals page
• Scroll to the bottom of the screen
• Under Set another Goal, Select Nutrition
• Select the Nutrient you would like to track (The following nutrients are trackable in Lose It!: fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbs, fiber, sugar, and protein.  For more information on this, click here.)
• Enter your nutrient goal info
• Hit Save 

2. View Your Totals On the Dashboard

• Here you’ll see macronutrient totals are broken down by color: yellow for fat, blue for carbs, and purple for protein
• Each day, the app will put your macronutrient totals into easy-to-understand color-coded pie charts.
• The app also automatically calculates your weekly macronutrient averages based on what you’ve logged into a graph.

3. Track Your Nutrient Goals on the Log screen

• Open the Lose It! app
• Tap Log
• Swipe the header (where it says Calories at the top) left or right (for existing goals) or tap down the arrow in the Header

The Bottom Line

When it comes to macronutrients, it’s best to take an individualized approach.  This will ensure that you are eating the proper amount of protein, fats, and carbohydrates for your body’s needs.