You may have heard about macronutrients before – protein, carbs and fats. From helping you build muscle mass to providing your body with energy, boosting your immune system and supporting nutrient absorption, to say that macros do a lot for your health is an understatement.
If you have a specific fitness goal in mind – be it weight loss, gain or maintenance – it’s important to tailor your intake of each macro, but how?
What are macronutrients?
“Macros” are like the building blocks of your diet, responsible for giving your body the fuel it needs to perform daily tasks like moving, thinking, and healing. Unlike vitamins and minerals, macros provide calories, which means they play a significant role in energy balance — critical for weight loss or gain.
The three main macronutrients are protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Your body relies on each one, so it’s important to consume them in the right proportions for your specific goals.
Protein
Protein is most famous for its role in muscle building, but its importance goes far beyond that. Made up of amino acids — your body’s essential building blocks — protein supports many critical processes, including immune function and hormone regulation.
If you’re wanting to lose weight, eating enough protein is key for many reasons:
- It helps you feel full for longer, so you’re less likely to overeat or snack unnecessarily.
- It has the highest thermic effect, which means your body burns more calories digesting protein compared to carbs or fats.
- It can help you retain lean muscle mass, even as you lose body fat.
“Essentially, muscle is more metabolically active than fat. So the more lean muscle you have — the more efficiently your body burns calories,” explains Lani Finau, a Registered Nutritionist and Health Coach at Juniper.
Healthy protein sources: Chicken, tuna, tofu, Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, lentils, edamame beans, and eggs.
Carbohydrates
Carbs often get a bad rap but they are a vital source of energy for your body. From powering your workouts to fueling your brain and digestive system, they play a key role in keeping you functioning.
However, not all carbs are created equal. Simple carbs – those found in candy, soda, and cookies – digest quickly and can cause rapid spikes in blood sugar. 3PM energy crash, anyone?
Complex carbs, on the other hand, take longer to digest, which means the blood sugar increase that happens when you eat them is a lot more gradual. They provide lasting energy and if that’s not enough, are also packed full of fibre and nutrients.
“If you’re wondering why this matters, to put it simply — it means you have more time to expend the energy you have consumed,” says Lani. “This helps balance that whole energy in, energy out equation. If you consume more energy (calories/kilojoules) than you need for day-to-day functioning and physical activity, then it can be stored as fat.”
Complex carb sources: Quinoa, oats, butternut squash, fruits like blueberries or bananas, and brown rice
Fats
Another one that gets a bad reputation is fats. The truth, though? Healthy fats are essential for overall health and can certainly be part of a balanced meal plan, regardless of your goals.
Similar to carbs, not all fats are the same. The ones you want to avoid are trans fats and saturated fats, as they raise bad cholesterol.
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, however, are what we call healthy fats. They support heart health, immunity, and nutrient absorption. Plus, they can contribute to satiety, helping you feel fuller for longer and supporting mindful eating habits.
Healthy fat sources: Avocados, salmon, chia seeds, olive oil, and nuts. Need a sweet treat? A square of dark chocolate will do it!
How to calculate your macros
Want to personalise your macro intake to meet your goals? Here are three common approaches:
1. The Mifflin St Jeor equation
This method is the most time-consuming and full disclosure, it does involve some maths. You start by calculating your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the number of calories your body needs at rest. From there, you can determine how many calories and grams of each macronutrient to eat daily.
- Calculate your BMR: 10 x body weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) – 161
- Multiply by your activity level to find your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).
- Adjust for your weight loss, maintenance, or gain goals by tweaking your calorie intake.
- Calculate macros based on your goals (for example, 45% carbs, 30% protein, and 25% fats).
Too much number crunching? Don’t stress, there are easier options.
2. Use an online macro calculator
Online tools take the guesswork out of macro tracking. All you need to do is enter details like your age, weight, activity level, and health goals, and the calculator does the heavy lifting for you. Many online tools also provide food suggestions to help with the meal-planning process.
3. Consult a dietitian
For the most tailored advice, you can team up with a registered nutritionist like Lani to help you calculate macros, create a personalised meal plan, monitor your progress, and make adjustments along the way.
