Calories vs. Macros
At some point in your life, you’ve tried counting your calories, right? If not, I imagine you’re among the .01%. 😜
What I mean by “counting calories” is having a set number of calories you aim to eat each day.
With the calories in calories out equation, you’ll eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight and more calories than you burn to gain.
The problem with this system is that it doesn’t take into account where those calories are coming from — and you could end up losing muscle rather than fat, or gaining fat rather than muscle. Not what you signed up for, amirite?
That’s where counting macros comes in.
Macros, short for macronutrients, are proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Each macro has different effects on your body, which is why all calories aren’t created equal.
Protein
The leading champ of the macros. It helps you build or maintain muscle while keeping you full.
Fat
Essential macro to live. Fats store energy, insulate us, protect our vital organs, assist with brain functionality and more.
Carbs
Source of energy. They help fuel our bodies and keep our brains and muscles fresh.
Unlike counting calories, which only requires you to hit a general daily number, counting macros ensures that you’re squeezing the most body-productive, metabolism-boosting, goodness out of every bite.
In essence, macros don’t make you count your calories, they make your calories count for YOU!
It’s an extremely effective way to reach your fitness goals — whether that’s losing inches off your waist, increasing your Fran time, getting jacked or simply living your best life!
We aren’t even scratching the surface when it comes to macronutrients, so if it’s something you’re interested in learning more about, I encourage you to download the WAG Nutrition Guide. It goes into an incredible amount of detail on all things macro-tracking.
Keep checking our blog for nutrition-related guidance in the coming months!