THE KING OF ALL MACROS
Let’s cover the basics first. Food that you eat is made out of micronutrients – vitamins, minerals; and macronutrients (macros from here on) – proteins, fats, carbohydrates. Eating enough of all of the above is paramount for a successful fat loss plan.
But in this article I’ll focus on convincing you why there is one king in the macros that should take the first priority when setting up your fat loss plan.
Despite the risk of sounding just like another fitness knob I am about write an ode to protein. All hail protein, the king of all them macros. The builder of all them muscle. The trigger of all them muscle protein synthesis. And it’s all based on the current science and research.
Protein plays a humongous role in your body and is important component of every cell you carry with you. It is the main building block for your muscles, bones, digestive system, immune system, hair, nails…everything. When you are setting up your macronutrients for your fat loss plan it’s crucial that you set your protein intake first and adjust the other macros around it.
If you’ve read anything about protein lately you’ve most likely come across articles that beat the drum of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight (or even less). According to them this is enough for a healthy adult. And they are correct.
What these articles often fail to bring across is that 0.8 grams per kilogram is enough for a healthy adult to sustain a healthy body. But sustaining a healthy body is different than striving for a great body. The requirements change once we add frequent, heavy resistance training, and fat loss or muscle gain goals.
The latest research shows optimal protein intake should be between 1.8 – 2.4 gram per kilogram of body weight.
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2017/08/08/bjsports-2017-097608.full
Start at the lower end and see how your body responds, go higher if you need to. If you are dieting for fat loss I recommend going higher as protein will increase food satiety.
Things change if you are a mad meathead doing frequent hard resistance training for bodybuilding or physique goals, CrossFit, or power sports such as powerlifting or Olympic lifting. In these cases your body need more protein so you’ll get the most out of your recovery from training sessions.
In other words, more protein can mean that you get more jacked up to the hilt and kick more goals.
Calculating your protein intake
Let’s bring it all home by taking simple steps in everyone’s favorite subject, math. If you are a guy sitting at solid 100kg of bodyweight your daily protein intake is 180g (100 x1.8). For a woman at 60kg of bodyweight your daily protein intake is 108g (60 x 1.8).
There’s an important factor I like to raise if you are eating a plant based diet. Animal based protein is more anabolic due to the higher amino acid (that’s what protein is made out of) content. When eating a plant based diet you can compensate this (most of it anyways) by simply eating more protein than what the above numbers say.
After you set your protein numbers for the day it’s time to look at where your fats and carbohydrates are sitting at. How you set these up comes down to your body type, how active you are throughout the day (office job vs heavy labor), which one makes you feel fuller and have more energy, and your preferences.