Diet/Nutrition Archives - Slaughter Fit Warrior

Before you start embarking your fitness adventure, you have to figure out how much you have to eat in order to meet your goal. You also need to consider what bodybuilding stage you're currently in. I talked about the different stages of bodybuilding in a previous post, How to Start Bodybuilding in Your 20's. Whether you're in bulking season, shredding season, or maintenance season, there is a way for you to calculate your macros so that you can see how much you have to eat in order to build muscle, lose fat, or whatever your goal may be. What are Macros? The word "Macros" is short for macronutrients. If you ever looked at the nutrition label on a food item, the nutrients in bold are the macronutrients. They include Calories, Fat, Carbohydrates, and Protein. The rest of the nutrients, like Cholesterol, Sodium, Sugar, and other types of fats (Saturated, Trans), are called micronutrients. How Do You Calculate Your Macros? There are 2 known formulas that I follow from other bodybuilding YouTubers, and then there is another formula that I made from scratch. I will show each formula one at a time, down below. Bulking Formula The first formula I used is a formula from the Gravity Transformation YouTube channel, and here is the video showing their macro-calculating formula: How To Build Muscle (5 EASY STEPS!). Skip to 0:54 to see the formula in action. This formula is the one I use when I'm bulking, as the daily macro intakes are a lot higher when using this formula. The formula has 2 different sub-formulas, one for men and the other for women. They look like this: Body Weight (BW) in pounds, x 18 (Male) or 16 (Female) = Daily Calories intake BW in pounds = Daily Protein intake, in grams (g) BW in pounds ÷ 2 = Daily Fat intake, in grams (g) (Protein intake x 4) + (Fat intake x 9) = X Total Calories - X = Carb Calories Carb Calories ÷ 4 = Daily Carbs intake, in grams (g) Shredding Formula The second formula I used is from Christian Guzman, and here is his macro-calculating formula in action: Ultimate Diet Hack: The Easiest Way To Calculate Your Own Macros I use this formula in the shredding season, and the intakes are a lot lower this go around. This one is a little more complex, so pay close attention. Body Weight (BW) in pounds x 14-16 = Maintenance Calories 14 = Lightly active 15 = Moderately active 16 = Very active Maintenance Calories - 500 = Shredding Calories BW in pounds x 0.75-1.25 = Daily Protein intake, in grams (g) 0.75 = Higher body fat %, lower muscle mass, beginner level, overweight 1 = In shape, under 20 % body fat, visible abs 1.25 = Professional bodybuilder competing, more cardio, under 10 % body fat BW in pounds x 0.3-0.4 = Daily Fat intake, in grams (g) 0.3 = Love food rich in carbs 0.35 = Either or 0.4 = Love food rich in fat (Protein intake x 4) + (Fat intake x 9) = X Shredding Calories - X = Carb Calories Carb Calories ÷ 4 = Daily Carbs intake, in grams (g) Maintenance Formula Finally, we have the maintenance formula. To my knowledge, I could not find any formulas on how to calculate your macros for maintenance season, so I came up with the formula myself. (I made it from scratch!) This formula can be a little bit tricky, so get the gum out of your ears and listen good. Bulking Calories - Shredding Calories = X X ÷ 2 = Y Shredding Calories + Y = Maintenance Calories OR Bulking Calories - Y = Maintenance Calories Daily Protein intake in grams (g) = BW in pounds Bulking Fat intake - Shredding Fat intake = X X x 2 = Maintenance Fat intake, in grams (g) (Maintenance Protein intake x 4) + (Maintenance Fat x 9) = X Maintenance Calories - X = Carb Calories Carb Calories ÷ 4 = Maintenance Carbs intake, in grams (g) How Many of My Macros Do I Need? Every person is different, so some people might need more or less macros than others. Some people might love carbs and would want to eat more of them. Others prefer high-fat-low-carb diets. Personally, I am a carbs guy. I love eating carbs, like the breads and the oats. If it's shredding season, use the range I provided in the shredding formula to determine whether you should follow a high fat-low-carb diet, or a low fat-high carb diet. Again, every person is different, so the diet which you follow is based on preference. Don't Forget About Serving Size Remember, on a nutrition label, it will show you the serving size in grams (g) and how many servings per container. When there is the word "about" present, then there is no guarantee that the serving size is 100% accurate, as it is an estimate. I would strongly advise you to have measuring containers in your arsenal so that you can accurately measure the size of your servings which you are taking in. To accurately measure serving sizes, you will need: MEASURING CUPS (MEASURES IN CUPS AND IN FLUID OUNCES) MEASURING SPOONS (TABLESPOON, TEASPOON, etc.) SCALE (MEASURES ALL METRIC UNITS) If you feel you can fit more than one serving of a food item into your diet to meet your target macros, then go for it. Just remember to not go too high or too low. You want to be just right, or as close as you can to your targets. What if You Meet All Your Target Macros for the Day, and You're Still Hungry? I have run into this situation numerous times. If you meet all your target macros for the day, yet you're still hungry, I would recommend you have a small, light snack with low calories, like sugar-free Jell-O. Those are basically freebies. What if You're Under Your Target Macros for the Day, and You're Full? This is another situation I've run into before. Chances are you might encounter this as well. If you're full, yet you haven't met all your target macros for the day, I would recommend you stop eating for the day. If you feel that you can't eat anymore, listen to your body. Don't force yourself to eat anymore than you feel comfortable eating. Don't make yourself sick. Make a Food Chart I don't just recommend this, I say DO this. Once you have finished calculating your macros in all areas (Calories, Fat, Carbs, and Protein), and mapped out which foods will meet your targets for each day, write them down on a chart and put it on your wall. Check off each food item as you eat them throughout the day. And then before you go to bed, erase each check you wrote so that you can start all over again the next day. (Yes, write in pencil!) Other Things to Remember With each of the 3 different formulas, they need to be in sync with the correct bodybuilding stages in order for you to get the best results at the right time. Here are when each bodybuilding stage takes place: BULKING: OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, JANUARY SHREDDING: FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL, MAY MAINTENANCE: JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER Keep these in mind as you're working on the formulas for each stage of bodybuilding. For example, if it's February and you're working on the Maintenance formula, hold onto that formula, so that you can put it into action come June. Savvy? Closing Words I hope you learned a lot in today's post about how to calculate your macros! Remember, diet takes up about 80% of a good looking physique. It all starts with calculating your macros so that you will know how much you need to eat in order to meet your goal. Now, go take the formulas I showed you and start calculating your macros for the months to come! Let me know in the comments if something doesn't quite make sense or if you're stumped and I will do my best to help you out! Ready? LET'S GO INTO BATTLE! Slaughter Fit Warrior