Are you struggling to get consistent results while losing weight? Fast weight loss can seem complicated, especially if you eat intuitively, but it doesn’t have to be.
Learning how to calculate macros to lose weight fast is actually relatively simple if you are willing to put in the effort upfront. Keep reading to understand exactly how to calculate macros to lose weight fast.
Tracking is Not the Goal
Before I jump into this, I want to mention that tracking macros is not the goal here. In fact, I don’t recommend tracking macros for anyone as it can quickly become an unhealthy obsession that leads to a bad relationship with food. Trust me, I’ve been there, and it isn’t fun.
There was a point when I was so caught up in tracking my food that I took containers of premade and measured food to friends’ houses for holiday parties where they had cooked!
The goal is to learn what works for your body. The only way to do that is by testing and measuring. So, calculate macros for weight loss, figure out the foods that work, then stick to those and stop stressing the numbers once you learn your body.
Don’t get me wrong; there are times that your macros need to be pretty airtight. However, I recommend getting a professional to write you a meal plan for times like this, so you don’t get fixated on the food. As a bonus, it is incredible to never worry about figuring out what to eat.
The Best Macros to Lose Weight Fast
Here is the thing: recommendations will absolutely vary, and everyone will swear their way is the best way. Everyone has different preferences, so the best thing to do is explore what works for you.
Just because your favorite celebrity does keto or the best-looking person at your gym carb cycles doesn’t mean that is what you need to do. You must put in some time and effort to find out what works for your body. Figure out what diet style works for you, don’t take someone else’s diet.
How to Calculate Macros to Lose Weight Fast
You first need to know that your body adapts better than just about anything else alive. It doesn’t care if you want to look great for the beach vacation you are taking next month. It just knows it’s starving and wants to hold onto the fat as long as possible.
The good news is that you can trick it into not working so hard to hold the fat. Do this by alternating between two weeks of restricting calories and one week of maintenance calories (calorie cycling).
The maintenance week will give your body a hormone reset, so your metabolism doesn’t slow down, and hunger hormones stay under control.
Find Your Maintenance
If you don’t already know how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight, you can use our calorie calculator to get a pretty good estimate. Of course, this is just a starting point and won’t be exact, but it gives you a number to work with.
You will know after the first week if you are dropping weight too fast or not losing it fast enough, so don’t stress the number. And remember, counting macros is not the end goal; this is just to get started.
Find the Percentages You Prefer
Everyone responds differently to food, but there are a few ways you can figure out what will most likely work for you.
What should my macros be to lose weight fast?
Keep reading below!
Fast Metabolism
If you have a fast metabolism and lose weight by walking from your car to your front door (why are you here?), you will benefit more from higher carbs.
For example, get 25% of your calories from protein, 55% from carbs, and 20% from fats. If you are trying to build or retain muscle mass manipulate those numbers to get more protein in but try to lower fats before lowering carbs.
Here is what that might look like:
2,340 calories x .25 = 585 calories from protein
585 / 4 (calories per gram of protein) = 146 grams of protein
2,340 x .55 = 1287 calories from carb
1287 / 4 (calories per gram of carb) = 321 grams of carbs
2,340 x .20 = 468 calories of fat
468 / 9 (calories per gram of carb) = 52 grams of fat
Average Metabolism
You most likely fall into this category if you tend to put in some work to lose weight but still find it doable. You will benefit more from something like 30% of your calories from protein, 40% from carbs, and 30% from fats. Or, if you are trying to gain or maintain muscle, drop fats by ten and raise proteins equally.
Slow Metabolism
If you gain weight from thinking about food, you probably should start here. You likely have low insulin sensitivity, so more of your calories should come from fats.
The percentages would look something like this: 20% of your calories from protein, 25% from carbs, and 55% from fats. If you are trying to gain or maintain muscle mass, lower the carbs before lowering the fats if you can. Just don’t drop them so low you can’t get enough fiber in (we will get to that. Did you think you could just get some percentages and be done?).
If you want an easy way to track while figuring this out: What is the Best Macro Calculator App?
Still Not Sure How to Calculate Your Macros?
Are you debating whether you fall between average and slow metabolism, assume you have a slow one for now. Most people are better at maintaining a higher fat, lower carb diet. Just don’t hold yourself to one that isn’t working.
Remember, the goal is to learn what works for your body. You have the potential to understand your body better than anyone else ever can, so stop listening to all these different diet ideas. Instead, learn firsthand precisely what makes you gain and lose weight.
Check in with yourself and be realistic; keep a journal if you need to. Are the percentages working at the end of the week, or do they need to be adjusted? Did eating carbs make you feel bloated? Try bringing up your fats and lowering carbs.
How to Apply all of This
The foods that make up the percentages are just as important, maybe even more so! With those numbers, you should be getting 30-40 grams of fiber a day. And not with some fiber bars or Metamucil. Eat real food!
There is nothing wrong with convenient foods as long as they aren’t a crutch or you aren’t using them to cheat the system and get your carbs from snack foods.
You can destroy a fantastic nutrition plan by trying to find ways around it that still hit your macros! Eating this way can leave you crashing, bloated, and with subpar results. Will it work? Yes. Will it work as well as it could? Absolutely not.
Now, you still need to eat foods you enjoy. I recommend the 80/20 rule under normal circumstances. Still, you are trying to calculate your macros for fast weight loss, not just for weight loss. So use those maintenance weeks to get in the foods you enjoy.
Use this guide to eat healthy on a budget!
Fiber
Don’t skip over this nutrient! It is crucial in weight loss. Eat the fiber.
Okay, I feel like you get the point.
You will probably find that the days you work “fun” foods into your diet, you won’t feel as good no matter how great they taste. That is because they lack the nutrients your body needs… like fiber.
Eat Smart
If you are trying to lose weight quickly, you need to forget about that fun food for now. Processed foods are cheaply made and leave you hungrier, making losing weight more difficult. Instead, focus on two cups, or two fistfuls, of veggies with every meal. Shoot for most of them being greens.
Yeah, yeah. You don’t like veggies because they don’t taste good. Throw in a bit of butter or olive oil, add in your favorite spices and some green flakies, and voila, they taste better. Besides, if losing weight was fun, everyone would be doing it.
If you stick to whole foods and pay attention to your body’s response, you will learn how to lose weight. You will also learn which foods make you tired, bloated, gassy, and uncomfortable.
This is essentially what good bodybuilding diet coaches do for their clients. They manipulate macros for them, deliver the diet plan, get feedback, watch how your body responds, and manipulate the diet as needed.
Did This Help You Calculate Macros to Lose Weight Fast?
I know this probably wasn’t the answer you wanted. It requires some work, but trust me, going through this process will do more for you than any diet plan.
It will take a little time, but once you know your body losing, maintaining, and gaining weight will take so much less effort, you will wonder why you couldn’t do it before!
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