Welcome to Day 2! It’s important for us to learn a lot over this challenge if we want to make it a successful life long change, and your macros on Keto is one of the cornerstones of success.
So, let’s talk macros on Keto!
Understand macros on Keto is one of the more challenging topics for many people, because if you’ve never really learnt about them before it can seem a bit strange.
Macros on Keto are pretty important though, because unless you are going to follow a set meal plan that someone has created for you for the rest of your life, you need to understand them.
Macros are how you are going to make your OWN meal plan after this challenge.
So let’s get learning about what are macros on Keto and what to do with them!
And don’t beat yourself up if you don’t understand straight away. Keep reading and keep learning, and you will slowly gain clarity.
WHAT EXACTLY ARE MACROS?
Macros (macronutrients) are what make up our food, and help scientists specify the calorie count in them. It is the 3 main components of every food substance – protein, fat and carbohydrates.
To calculate macros, scientists set each of the macronutrient types on fire (protein, fats and carbs) and noticed they would produce a
certain amount of energy and used this to provide an energy amount to food (those kilojoules and calories you see on the label)
The thing is, our bodies aren’t fire.
Our bodies use energy a bit differently to fire, don’t you think? This is why a calorie is NOT a calorie – where you get those calories matter.
It’s also very common for the labels to be wrong when it comes to calories.
So what should our Macros on Keto be?
One of the first things you learn is below 20 – 25 grams of net carbs is most likely to get you in Ketosis.
We then need a certain amount of protein to maintain or improve muscle depending on our goals.
The tricky part is that the jury is still out on how much…
Here’s some calculators for you to try so you can get an idea of what your protein goals might look like when you’re calculating your Keto Macros:
- calculator 1 From Ruled Me
calculator 2 from Ketogains, focused more on muscle gain - Calculator 3 – TDEE Calculator from Fitness Vault
We then add fat to our meal until we are comfortably full.
It’s that last part that trips people up.
We are so used to being SO full we are bursting, or otherwise bloated on carbs and think that feeling is ‘full’.
It took a while for me to really understand what full is – it just means not empty.
It doesn’t mean a food coma on the couch, or feeling sick for 2 hours after dinner (hello my fellow binge eaters, yes I’m talking to you)
If you’ve been following along the set meal plan, you’ve been eating a healthy amount of calories (1300 – 1600) and keeping your carbs below 20 – 25 net carbs per day.
For some people this amount of calories be lowered comfortably once they are in ketosis.
For others, they may need to increase it it if they are active or male (lucky guys get to eat so much more than us!)
If you want to read more about macros on Keto and understanding how they might fit into your meal plan, read through the Getting Started section here.
I always say that trial and error is the best teacher.
Put your food into a carb calculator like chronometer, see what comes back and learn from it. Remember, understanding your Macros on Keto is not something that happens overnight. It is a learning process, you’ll constantly improve!
Love,
Rachel xxx
The Aussie Keto Queen
