Calculating Your Macros, Like a Boss!!
The first thing you need do is figure out your macros. Macros make up your fat, protein, and carb intake.
Take a deep breath and never fear, LoveAtFirstSpice.com is here to help with this daunting task!
In this article, I will walk you through step-by-step with pictures of how my keto calculator is set up. Don’t worry, no one will see your stats unless you share them, but for demonstration purposes, I’m putting it out there that I weigh 190 lbs(185 now but took me a bit to post this)., and I am a shorty coming in at 5’4. (You’re welcome!)
I want to walk you through how I set up my calculator, which is how I recommend all my friends set theirs up too. You can open a second tab and follow along on your own Keto Calculator.
Take a deep breath and never fear, LoveAtFirstSpice.com is here to help with this daunting task!
In this article, I will walk you through step-by-step with pictures of how my keto calculator is set up. Don’t worry, no one will see your stats unless you share them, but for demonstration purposes, I’m putting it out there that I weigh 190 lbs(185 now but took me a bit to post this)., and I am a shorty coming in at 5’4. (You’re welcome!)
I want to walk you through how I set up my calculator, which is how I recommend all my friends set theirs up too. You can open a second tab and follow along on your own Keto Calculator.
This next section can be a little confusing. The calculator wants you to determine how much Energy Expenditure you have. So please read/listen carefully: No matter what your Energy Expenditure actually is, set it to Sedentary, and here’s why: at the end of filling out this calculator you will get a graph. This graph lets you see what your weight will be at any point in the next year based on the stats you give it. With the Keto diet, you don’t need to workout or overwhelm yourself trying to reach unreachable goals. Start small, and this way anything you do over Sedentary will just be an extra bonus.
How much body fat do you have? You can figure the exact number out by getting a scale that tells you weight and body fat. I love my Tanita scale but my bf loves his Aria scale. His scale will connect through wifi and upload his stats directly to MyFitnessPal (We will talk more about this app in a later article).
Net Carb Vs. Carb
Not all carbs are created equal, but on top of that there is a huge difference between net carbs and actual carbs.
A net carb is when you take the total amount of carbs and subtract the total amount of fiber. Below is a picture of Trader Joe’s Parsnip Chips Nutrition Label. You will notice that for 12 parsnip chips there are 3 total carbs but there is 1 gram of fiber.
3 Carbs -1 Fiber = 2 Net Carbs
3 Carbs -1 Fiber = 2 Net Carbs
The amount of carbs you eat can effect if you put your body into Ketosis. A normal carb-eating person’s body will burn sugar and carbs for energy. When you eat very few carbs, you put your body into Ketosis, which is when you burn fat for energy. To do this you need to eat 50 net carbs or less daily. If you are currently a carb-a-holic try 30-40 net carbs and then go lower if/when you can. I jumped in cold turkey and started at 25 net carbs. Lately I have been doing 15 total carbs on good days…. I have found that the more I limit my carbs the better I feel and the quicker I lose weight.
I should revisit this and raise my protein intake as I have upped my fitness. You can pick a number for now between what it suggests based on the information you have provided so far.
Start at a smaller deficit and work your way up. You simply will not know how your body will react until you try to play with your carbs, calories, and fat. I chose to do 1000 calories a day but I am also pretty short, and wasn’t super-active at first due to my knee injury. You don’t have to be so extreme-start with what feels right and adjust later on.
Based on what you have entered you should get a personal results on your macros; mine looks like this.
Your next step is to enter either today’s date or the date you think you are going to start. I love this part! According to this chart if I started July 15th at the weight and height I am right now, and was totally sedentary than I would weigh 154.74 in 6 months!
Play around with your calories, fat, and protein intake to see how the chart changes. I hope this is encouraging for you-it has helped motivate me when I was feeling discouraged.
I bet before this article, Macro calculating sounded daunting and overwhelming, but with this FREE online Keto Calculator you simply enter your information and bam! This diet just became easier than any other lifestyle/diet change EVER!
