Tracking nutrition and food intake is important to any weight loss journey. While calorie counting is important for weight loss, understanding macronutrients and their role in your body is also an effective method for staying on track.
Find out how focusing on macronutrients during weight loss can prevent overeating, reduce cravings, and enable you to effectively lose weight.
What Are Macronutrients?
Macronutrients (macros) are the three main food components that provide energy to your body. These include protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Your body will break down these macro groups for specific functions.
Protein
Protein has many important functions in the body. It can affect muscle composition, making protein essential to weight loss. This is because protein helps build and repair muscle tissue. Protein is also satiating so prioritizing protein is an effective way to adhere to a reduced-calorie meal plan.
Proteins also have other functions. They help break down amino acids, create mood-regulating neurotransmitters, and are vital for immune function, cell signaling, and hormone and enzyme regulation.
Examples of protein-rich foods include meat, poultry, eggs, fish, and tofu. Optimal protein levels can also be achieved with protein supplements, such as whey protein powders.
It’s important to remember that protein recommendations will vary depending on your body composition goals, health, age, and more.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates (carbs) are the body’s primary source of energy, fueling the brain and any muscle activity.
When following a macro diet, it’s important to distinguish between certain types of carbs. You’ll want to opt for complex carbs, such as fibrous vegetables, whole grains, or rice, rather than simple sugars or junk food. Complex carbs enhance satiety (fullness) and stabilize blood sugar levels.
Many weight loss plans look more specifically at net carbs, which is the total carb count minus fiber. In some cases, providers keep patients within a certain net carb range to allow them to stay in ketosis.
Unfortunately, carbohydrates often have negative connotations in the world of dieting and weight loss. However, they play an important role in providing your body with energy. Make sure to focus on complex carbs that have high fiber levels and rich nutrients.
Fats
Fats are important for proper hormone production, body temperature regulation, nutrient absorption, and other critical functions. They break down into fatty acids that promote proper brain, nervous system, and cell structure.
When counting macros during weight loss, examples of fats include butter, avocados, nuts, fatty fish like salmon, oil such as olive oil and coconut oil, seeds, and other meats.
Why Are Macros Important?
Following a certain number of macros during weight loss allows you to stay within a specific calorie threshold while still focusing on protein, carb, and fat intake. Depending on your weight loss goals, macro numbers can be easily adjusted. This helps support any efforts to slim down, build muscle, and maintain or lose weight.
Other benefits of counting macros include:
- Fat Loss: The right balance of macros allows you to eat in a calorie deficit to support fat loss.
- Muscle Growth: Counting macros helps you gain and maintain lean muscle mass. Protein amounts are especially important here, which is why many elite athletes eat high levels of protein daily.
- Better Diet Quality: Counting macros during weight loss allows you to become more aware of what you put into your body each day, helping you find the right balance for your body’s needs.
- Flexibility: Macros offer a “flexible diet,” meaning you can eat more foods you want without feeling restricted.
- Personalized Dietary Needs: For those with certain dietary needs, such as those following a keto diet or needing higher amounts of protein, counting macros helps them meet their food intake goals.
How to Count Macros
Understanding optimal ratios when factoring macros into your daily food intake can better support weight loss goals, improve gut health, and create a balanced diet.
Following a macro diet allows for personalization for each patient, and optimal macro ratios will vary depending on the individual. It’s important to work with a medically supervised weight loss provider who can customize macronutrients based on your body composition, health history, lifestyle, and goals.
Staying within recommended macro ratios will ensure effective fat loss while supporting muscle growth.
How Do Macros Supplement Weight Loss?
Counting macros during weight loss is one of the best ways to lose fat while maintaining muscle. Prioritizing protein and water intake, as well as focusing on high-quality, whole foods, can help you meet your macro goals based on your lifestyle, activity level, and health history.
Promotes Fat Loss
Counting macros promotes fat loss from the body. This is done in a few different ways:
- Satiety: The right macro ratio for your body will help you feel full and satisfied, reducing cravings and preventing overeating. Protein, for example, will help suppress your appetite throughout the day because it takes more energy to digest.
- Caloric Deficit: Focusing on meeting each macro goal allows you to stay within a caloric deficit, promoting fat loss.
- Healthy Eating Habits: Above all else, tracking your food intake is a great way to know what you are putting into your body each day. It allows you to become more aware of your eating habits, which can then help you make adjustments for a healthier, balanced diet.
Those looking to lose weight should focus on fat loss. Weight numbers on the scale can be deceiving, especially if you gain muscle while losing fat. Because of this, total fat loss is better to look at than the numbers on the scale.
Preserves Muscle Mass
One of the biggest goals of macro-based weight loss programs is to preserve as much muscle as possible. Tracking macros ensures you intake enough protein for muscle preservation while still eating in a caloric deficit. Those wanting to preserve or gain muscle may consider more protein in their diet.
Allows for Personalized Weight Loss plans
Finally, counting macros for weight loss allows for a more personalized plan that fits your lifestyle. Eating at a restaurant, wanting a snack, and choosing the foods you love are all possible in a macro-based diet.
Every person is different, both in their weight loss journey and their health. A nutrition counselor can personalize the program for long-term success based on goals, age, fitness level, and more.
Other Ways to Supplement Weight Loss Efforts
You can also supplement your efforts to lose weight with weight loss injections, which include Semaglutide and Tirzepatide. Semaglutide is a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) drug that mimics the GLP-1 hormone in your body. Tirzepatide binds to both GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 receptors in the body.
Both weight loss injections slow the release of sugar into your bloodstream, make you feel full for longer by suppressing appetite, and can even reduce food cravings. This, in turn, can help you adhere to a lower-calorie nutrition plan and make weight loss more rapid.
At Mirabile M.D., we offer personalized weight loss plans tailored to your specific needs. Contact us today to learn more about how our providers can support your weight loss and nutrition journey.
