Macro and Calorie Myths

People often make their weight loss journey more complicated than it needs to be. They stress out about how many calories they need to consume daily, how they should split up their daily macros (protein, carbs, and fats), and so on. Honestly, trying to figure out whether you should eat more protein than carbs or vice versa and how many calories you should limit yourself to can be confusing and is what often frustrates people the most when trying to lose weight.

I've never been much into tracking my calories or macros. I've only tracked calories when I've tried to gain muscle and weight, and the same could be said for macros. Right now I'm fully into functional fitness and just eating good healthy food that makes me feel good. I let my body tell me what foods it loves and which it disagrees with, and go from there.

But for those of you who want to lose weight and need a starting point, I'll make it simple for you. In order to lose weight, you need to expend more calories daily than you consume. That's it. Well, it's a little more complicated, like what kind of calories you consume, but you get the gist.

In all honesty, there's a lot of bullsh*t out there these days about calories and macros. For example, that protein is the superior macro (Truth: You need all three), that carbs make you fat (Truth: Nope), and starvation diets are okay (Truth: Anything under 1200 calories a day over a long period of time is not healthy for you). I hope to clarify on a few of these myths for you so you can live with a little less stress and enjoy your weight loss journey a little more.

1) A high protein/ low carbohydrate diet is superior for weight loss than a high carbohydrate/low fat diet or vice versa.

The truth is neither are superior for weight loss. Again, weight loss is achieved when your calorie intake is less than the calories you expend. Studies have been conducted on different diets, and each study has found that over one year's time the weight loss average is the same, regardless of the diet. People do initially lose weight faster on low carb/high protein diets than they do with high carb /low fat diets, but over a year's time the results are the same. You may have to experiment to find which diet works best for you, because some diets are harder to adhere to than others.

2) Carbs make you fat

False. Carbs are a necessary nutrient. They provide energy for you during and after your workouts (and throughout the rest of the day), and provide much needed fiber, minerals, and vitamins. The only time carbs will make you fat is if you over-eat your daily allowance, but the same can be said for proteins and fats also.

You have to choose the right carbs to eat. Avoid sugar, processed carbs, and high-glycemic foods. Instead choose  unprocessed whole food carbs such as veggies and fruits (and the right type of grains). Carbs are essential for your workouts to be successful.

3) If I exercise I can eat whatever I want

Your fitness is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. You can knock your work outs out of the park every day, but if you're still consuming more calories than you are expending, you won't lose weight. Approximately 3,500 calories equals a pound of fat. So in order to lose a pound per week, you have to have a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day. If you do the opposite of that (and have an overage each day), you will gain a pound.

4) Eating at night makes you fat

There's a theory out there that eating a large meal right before bed will cause your body to store the carbs as fat while you sleep. Again, whether you gain or lose weight will depend on how many calories you expend compared to how many you consume through out the day. If you had an active day and expended 2,000 calories, and only ate a small 400 calorie breakfast, and then came home and ate a large 1000 calorie dinner, you're still at a 600 deficit. Now, I still suggest not doing this because it will be harder to fall asleep as your food digests, and getting enough sleep is a huge part of recovering from your work outs, but don't stress if your schedule only allows you to eat later in the day.

5) I have to consume A LOT of protein to gain muscle and get big

Your body can only process a certain amount of protein. If you are consuming more protein than your total calories needs, it will get stored as fat. Yes, active individuals who are trying to achieve hypertrophy will need to consume more protein than an endurance athlete or even a sedentary individual. But the notion that you need to consume 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight is not true. Aim for .5 to .8 grams. Remember that too much protein can have negative effects on your body.

6) Starvation diets are the way to go

This is such a stupid belief I am not going to delve too much into why it's a terrible idea. Anything under 1,200 calories is not good for you, physically or mentally. You risk malnutrition, will get easily fatigued due to lack of energy, and overall will not feel good. You don't have to starve yourself to get in shape. Exercise, eat the right food, and again, consume less calories than you expend. If you still want to go the starvation route, please be monitored and advised by a medical professional.

If you're looking to lose some weight for 2014, here's some simple tips:

- Increase physical activity, decrease food and beverage calorie intake
- Shoot for 4-6 meals a day. I go for 4-5 (breakfast, AM snack, lunch, PM snack, dinner). This aids in keeping your hunger in check and provides energy through out the day.
- Shoot to spread your macros through out the day and for each meal.
- Do away with processed foods. These don't help in satiating your hunger and overall are just bad for you.
- Drink lots of water
- If you want to track your calories and macros, use the MyFitnessPal app. This will help you track you calories and macros through out the day and whether you met your goal each day.