Starters Guide: How to Balance Out Your Macros to Reduce Unwanted Fat with Healthy Whole Foods
Simple guide to balancing macros and caloric intake
In this guide, you'll find:
Cliff Notes on Body Types
How to Achieve a Lean Body
Why This Works
How to Get Into a Deficit
Simple Guide to Being in a Deficit
Some Things to Be Cautious Toward
If you're reading this, you're already familiar with the wonderful world of Macronutrients. If you're not, click here to read my starter's guide to macronutrients. As we know, macronutrients are the building blocks that give our bodies the nutrients it needs to build and use energy. If you're unfamiliar with how certain body types are created, here's a quick cliff notes from the starter's guide to macronutrients.
Cheat Sheet for Understanding Body Types
For a Fat Body with no Muscle (Surplus of Calories): Low protein, high amounts of carbs, high amounts of fat, no to low activity.
For a Skinny-Fat Body (Maintenance of Calories): Low to moderate protein, moderate/high carbs, moderate/high fats, high amounts of cardio (mainly Zone 3 and HIIT), low to no progressive load in resistance training.
To Build a Strong Body and Minimize Fat Gain (Maintenance to Slight Surplus of Calories): Protein-heavy and carb-heavy diet with the bare minimum of fat for healthy function, resistance training, and a healthy amount of Zone 2 cardio.
For a Performing Body (Maintenance to Slight Surplus of Calories): Protein-heavy and carb-heavy diet with the optimal amount of healthy fat, resistance training, skills acquisition, and energy systems development.
For a Lean Body (Deficit of Calories): Protein-heavy, moderate carbs, and the bare minimum of fat for healthy function, resistance training, and a healthy amount of Zone 2 cardio.
If you’re in this guide, the body you’re aiming for would be a Lean Body. The goal would be to adjust your caloric intake into a deficit and aim your meals toward prioritizing protein. While being in a deficit, your goal is to moderate carbohydrate intake and minimize the amount of fat intake you have.
Why Does This Work?
For the majority of people out there, being in a caloric deficit is enough to lose some weight. How do we know?
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy (measured in calories) that your body needs to maintain basic physiological functions at rest, such as breathing, circulating blood, and regulating body temperature. BMR accounts for the largest portion of your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).
When you eat at maintenance, you consume the same number of calories that your body uses in a day, including BMR, physical activity, and the energy required to digest food. Eating at maintenance means that the energy you take in matches the energy you expend, leading to energy balance. This balance ensures that your body weight remains stable because there is no excess energy to be stored as fat and no deficit that would cause the body to use stored energy.
To eat at a caloric deficit, you need to consume fewer calories than your body uses in a day.
Here are the steps to achieve a caloric deficit:
Calculate Your Maintenance Calories: Determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), which includes your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and the calories burned through physical activity. You can use online calculators or formulas like the Harris-Benedict Equation to estimate your TDEE based on your age, gender, weight, height, and activity level.
Set a Caloric Deficit: Decide on the amount of caloric deficit. A common recommendation is to reduce your daily intake by 500-1000 calories, which can lead to a weight loss of about 1-2 pounds per week (since 3500 calories roughly equals 1 pound of fat).
Track Your Caloric Intake: Monitor the calories in the food and drinks you consume. Use food labels, apps, or websites that provide nutritional information to keep an accurate record.
Make Healthy Food Choices: Choose nutrient-dense foods that are lower in calories but high in essential nutrients, such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. Avoid or limit high-calorie, low-nutrient foods like sugary snacks, fried foods, and sugary drinks.
Participate in the Correct Physical Activity: Incorporate regular resistance training routines and follow progressive overload. Target 15 - 20 reps for the first 4 weeks, the next 4 weeks aim for 10 - 12 reps, following that block aim for 6-8 reps. Have a minimum of 15 sets per muscle group. Minimize the amount of HIIT and do Z2 cardio for a healthy heart, not to burn calories. Studies have shown that too much HIIT and cardio can actually slow your metabolism down. A good protocol to follow is 1 - 2 Sessions of HIIT and 2 - 3 Sessions of Z2 is ideal.
Monitor Progress: Regularly check your weight and body measurements to ensure you are losing weight at a healthy rate. Adjust your caloric intake and exercise routine as needed based on your progress. By consistently consuming fewer calories than your body expends, you will create a caloric deficit, leading to weight loss over time.
Simple Guide to Eating in a Deficit
I'm a big advocate for eating whole foods and using simple ingredients. Eating a large variety of proteins, veggies, and fruits is a sure way to cast a broad net to meeting micronutrient requirements and stay healthy. Whole Foods and minimally processed foods, in general, are more satiating and in return, you'll be less tempted to derail yourself from the plan you've set for yourself.
For a super easy system that is relatively accurate, I use the hand size guide for portions.
Hand Size Guide
Proteins: A palm-sized portion of protein is equivalent to 20-30g.
Carbohydrates: 1 cupped hand is equivalent to 20-30g.
Fats: A thumb-sized portion is equivalent to 7-12g.
Calorie Cliff Notes
1g of protein = 4 Calories
1g of carbs = 4 Calories
1g of fat = 9 Calories
Let’s say you have 3 square meals a day and if you were to eat a serving size (hand size guide) of each macronutrient, your caloric intake will look like this:
Meal 1:
30g Protein
30g Carbohydrates
12g Fat
Meal 2:
30g Protein
30g Carbohydrates
12g Fat
Meal 3:
30g Protein
30g Carbohydrates
12g Fat
You’d total 90g of protein, 90g of carbohydrates, 36g of Fat, which would be equal to 1044 Calories.
I would not recommend you eat like this since the calories are extremely low, but if you add a snack that would increase protein and carbohydrates and keep the fats down you can get to a respectable macronutrient ratio and caloric intake.
Snack 1
20g protein (e.g., Greek Yogurt)
18g carbohydrates (e.g., Mixed Berries)
Snack 2
17g protein (e.g., Egg Bites)
20g carbohydrates (e.g., Oatmeal with Mixed Berries)
12g fats (e.g., Cashews)
Your new total would be: 127g of protein, 128g of carbohydrates, 48g of fat for a new caloric total of 1,452 Calories. Being at this caloric intake would definitely have you at a deficit, and the percentage ratio would match the demands for the body type you desire. Keep in mind that casting a large net for variety and developing a diverse menu helps tremendously with adherence to the program.
Some Things to Look For
Sauces Can Be a Double-Edged Sword
There’s no doubt that if you’re eating this “clean”, you’re going to be adding different sauces to maximize the variety and keep everything interesting. Sauces generally rely heavily on fats and some sugar to balance out flavor profiles of the dish. If you use a sauce, take into account the macronutrients from the sauce toward your totals.
Integrate This into Your Life
The rule that works for most is the 80-20 rule with nutrition. 80 percent of your day is on plan; the social aspect of life starts to play a factor (if you’re a parent, this is even more relevant). Tiny opportunities to eat something you did not plan to will present itself. A little hack I tell everyone, if you met your protein macros for the day already and are lagging behind in the energy source nutrients, a little treat doesn’t hurt. It’s only when that little treat snowballs into an avalanche when problems arise to the surface.
Now, let's add some credible references:
References:
American College of Sports Medicine. (2018). ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. Wolters Kluwer.
National Institutes of Health. (2020). Dietary Guidelines for Americans. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. (2020). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Total Diet Approach to Healthy Eating. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120(12), 1976-1984.
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2022). Counting Calories: Get Back to Weight-Loss Basics. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/calories/art-20048065
American Heart Association. (2021). All About Heart Rate (Pulse). Retrieved from https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure/all-about-heart-rate-pulse
TDEE Calculator - https://www.calculator.net/tdee-calculator.html (This can be referenced for calculating Total Daily Energy Expenditure)
Johnston, C. S., Tjonn, S. L., & Swan, P. D. (2004). High-protein, low-fat diets are effective for weight loss and favorably alter biomarkers in healthy adults. The Journal of Nutrition, 134(3), 586-591. https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/134/3/586/4688800
Pasiakos, S. M., Cao, J. J., Margolis, L. M., Sauter, E. R., Whigham, L. D., McClung, J. P., ... & Karl, J. P. (2013). Effects of high-protein diets on fat-free mass and muscle protein synthesis following weight loss: a randomized controlled trial. The FASEB Journal, 27(9), 3837-3847. https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1096/fj.13-230227