A Simple Guide to Counting Macros
We’re going to learn about reading food labels...
“Macro Nutrient Ratios!”
The important thing to remember is most of the food we eat should not have any long ingredients list, since REAL FOOD has only one thing in it! The REAL FOOD! But, for the foods that do require a label, we want to teach you how to read and interpret those labels, and how that information relates to your new lifestyle!
Understand:
The Servings Per Container
Protein Grams
Fat Grams
Net Carb Grams = Total carbs, minus the fiber
Now, if you print out one of the following...
You can fill in the grams of fat, protein, and net carbs for each item you eat, as shown in the sample page.
If you do not have the nutritional info on a label because the food is whole, you can go to any of the many apps or websites which will list the foods and the quantity you’re eating, along with the corresponding Fat, Protein, and Carbs. You just need to look for Nutritional Information.
Fill in the appropriate numbers on your Daily Journal, and follow down the column to total them up. If you multiply the totals by the following formula, you will get your Total Calories:
x 9 for Fat
x 4 for Protein
x 4 for Carbs
Get comfortable with the recording of your Macro Nutrients in your journal, and add your daily totals at the bottom of your food journal page.
Refer to the “sample journal page," you will see the sample calories of the day at the bottom of the page are:
1332 Fat + 312 Protein + 52 Net Carbs = 1696 Total
Take 1332 Fat Calories and divide by the 1696 Total = .78 or 78% Fat
Take 312 Protein Calories, divided by 1696 Total = .18 or 18% Protein
Take 52 Net Carb Calories, divided by 1696 Total = .03 or 3% Net Carbs
Now let's look at what the proper ratios for each should be:
75-80% from Fats
15-20% from Protein
5-10% from Net Carbs
Begin to adjust your daily nutritional intake, so that you are having similar ratios as above.
Don't worry about your totals calories at this point!
See The Examples Below:
As you can see with the macadamia nuts above the serving size is (1oz.) This is about the size of a small handful, or 15-20 pieces. Careful, these yummy treats are easy to over eat!!
These are a perfect ketogenic snack, as they are high in healthy fat, with very low net carbs and just a little protein.
The protein grams = 2.25
The fat grams = 21.5
The total carbs are (4). Subtract the fiber (2.5) and you have:
Net carb grams = 1.5
* NOTE: These don’t have to be exact, and you will not need to do this forever. After a while, you will get a good idea what your food ratios should be, and what they look like.
As you see, from this nutritional label on the bean pasta, even though it’s a bit hard to read, it has (4) servings per package. This is a key point you need to understand and may be a little deceiving. You must first identify how many servings there are per package.
*Note: The “bean pasta” here is only to be used as a treat once in a while, and there is no need for additional protein or it may throw off the ratios you are trying to achieve. The bean pasta is high in protein itself and very low in fat. It also has a fair amount of net carbs. Enjoy a serving perhaps a few times a month with a heavy cream sauce (such as Alfredo or pesto), a low carb homemade tomato sauce, or just sea salt and grass-fed butter.
Protein: 21.5 grams
Fat Grams: 1.8 grams
The Total Carbs are 17 grams: Subtract the Fiber, which is 9 g, and you have:
Net Carbs = 8 grams