This is a very important topic nutrition is key if you are wanting to see your hard work in the gym turn into results there is no one fits all approach to this we are all different our body types gender age height these are all factors that make us all different and what you need to be consuming can change overtime depending on your goal this is what we need to find out:
Your TDEE which stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure
Everyday our bodies burn a certain number of calories just for us to survive this is called our BMR (basal metabolic rate) which is based on your weight height and age so when we participate in physical activity we burn additional calories than what we are burning to survive then you combine your BMR with calories burnt which gives us your TDEE this is a link to a TDEE calculator https://tdeecalculator.net/ (ignore the macros part) which can give you a good estimate of how many calories we should be looking for.
Maintenance
Keeping at your current body weight you would eat at maintenance calories.
Muscle Gain
You would add 20% to maintenance calories 250-500 additional calories is a good starting point putting you in a calorie surplus you would not jump straight up to that amount of calories you would do it gradually.
Fat Loss
You would – take away around 20% 25% from maintenance calories around 250-500 calorie deficit is a good starting point putting you in a calories deficit you would not jump straight down to that amount of calories you would do it gradually for example:
24 year old male
– weight 163 pounds
– height 6ft
– moderate exercise
– maintenance 2,702
– muscle gain (calorie surplus) = 3202
– fat loss (calorie deficit) = 2202
In this case I have rounded it up as remember it’s an estimation not exact.
The Macros
Depending on your goal this will help you decide what your calories should be for example if you are bulking you want to be in a calorie surplus cutting a calorie deficit.
Protein
– Bulking 0.8 to 1 gram of protein
– Cutting we want around 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per bodyweight we simply x our bodyweight by 1gram which will give me 163grams in my case.
Fats
– We want around 0.5 to 1gram per bodyweight 0.5 x 163 (my bodyweight) = 81 grams
– No lower than 0.3 per gram of bodyweight, this is because you want to keep hormonal balance. This can also be done by taking a percentage from your calories in my fitness pal.
– Bulking 20% to 30% of your calories coming from fat.
– Cutting 20% to 25% coming from fat.
Carbohydrates
The rest of the calories we have remaining will be eaten in carbohydrates, to summarise I’m aiming for 2200 as my calorie intake.
– 1 gram of fat = 9 calories 81 x 9 = 729 calories
– 1 gram of protein = 4 163 x 4 = 652 calories
– 1 gram of carbohydrate = 2200 – 652 – 729 = 819 calories divided by 4 will give us how many grams we need = 2204 grams thats 729 calories from fat 652 from protein and 819 from carbohydrates this is a rough guideline and not set in stone. For example if people prefer high-fat foods than high carb they could get the majority of their calories from fat if they wanted to
or eat a bit more fat and lower the carb so this can be adjusted to preference the most important thing is your overall calorie intake and insuring you get enough protein.
Overall
I should consume:
– 204 grams of carbohydrates
– 163 grams of protein
– 81 grams of fat
Giving me daily calorie intake of 2200 calories. I would say aim to hit these targets within around 5 to 10g of the target on a daily basis we would then set these macros up and see how it progresses and make changes accordingly.
Please remember your macros and calories will change if:
– Your goal changes
– You are wanting to gain weight and your activity levels increase
– You want to lose weight and your activity levels decrease
– You lose weight your calorie requirement will lower
Your macros should be rechecked about every 2 weeks, I offer a service of keeping your macros in check for you with my nutrition plan this is not a meal plan this is me showing you how to eat correctly and how to keep it consistent and keeping you on track with your macros taking this part of the equation in safe hands.
I hope this was clear and you found it helpful if you need any help with this please don’t hesitate to contact me.