#6. Deciding on your macro split Monday, August 3, 2020 Last week we talked about ideal kcal targets. Big subject. This week, we'll talk about macros: carbs, fats, and proteins specifically (let's leave alcohol alone for now; it's the black sheep of the macro flock). In just a minute, we'll talk about the normal flock (again: carbs, fats, and proteins). Then, in a lot of minutes (i.e., future weeks), we'll talk about those substrates in detail. Each will have its very own, all-to-itself blog post. But for now, our conversation is about reasonable substrate compositions. However, "reasonable" is going to vary from body to body, preference to preference, and maybe even month to month, as bodies and their preferences change over time. After estimating your daily caloric goal, you can start distributing those kcals, allocating them to the three substrate baskets: carbohydrate, fat, and protein. Last week, we used an example to walk through the kcal math. A pretty big example. It was a long walk. So this week, let's take a much shorter stroll through a much shorter example: Maple Steedrider (we're still in the habit of naming our examples) slogged her way through Blog 5. In doing so, she calculated her daily kcal total to be exactly (and I mean exactly) 1,800. That's her daily budget. Every penny. With that budget in mind, she can start portioning out its kcals into the three substrate baskets. "Don't put all your eggs in one basket!" is A) a difficult-to-endure cliche, and B) great advice for this situation. A diet of nothing but fat? Probably accelerating cardiovascular disease (not to mention the inevitable kwashiorkor). Nothing but carbs? That pancreas will bear quite a burden, and the result of that burden is diabetes. Nothing but protein? Aside from the thirty minutes it'll take to discharge a baseball-firm, baseball-sized lump of poop every fourth day, you will surely horrify your oncologist. A healthy diet is one of well-distributed eggs. (Notice I didn't say evenly distributed eggs.) For the sake of the example, let's say Maple Steedrider has decided to adopt a lower-fat diet (50% carbohydrate, 30% protein, 20% fat), assuming "heart health" will pay its greatest dividends with this type of investment portfolio. We would call this diet a "50/30/20" macro split. Now that she knows her target percentages, let's calculate: Carbohydrate. 50% of 1,800 kcals is 900 kcals... obviously. There are 4 kcals in every gram of carbohydrate. So divide 900 by 4 and we get 225 grams. Ms. Steedrider will attempt to eat 225 grams of carbohydrate every day. A note of some importance: you only have to count "net carbohydrate" here. Don't count fiber, as you don't digest and use it. You just poop it, with or without the baseballed meat-rock. Net carbs are the kcals that actually enter your circulation and cells. Those are the carbohydrates you burn or, failing that, store. Protein. 30% of 1,800 kcals is 540 kcals, i.e., 1,800 x 0.3 = 540. Like carbohydrate, protein has 4 kcals per gram. Divide 540 kcals by 4 and we get 135 grams. The Lady of the Steed will aim for 135 grams of protein per day. Fat. 20% of 1,800 kcals is 360 kcals, i.e., 1,800 x 0.2 = 360. Fat has 9 kcals per gram. Not 4, like carbs and protein, but 9. It's the only substrate with 9 (alcohol has 7). So 360 kcal divided by 9 = 40 grams. Madam Horsemanship's daily fat target is 40 grams. That's it for our example. You now know how to calculate macro splits... which makes it tip time: Tip 1) If you're an athlete who breaks down a lot of tissue with your exercise, and your ongoing exercise performance insists your mouth play home to a lot of carbohydrate, it is reasonable to adopt a 50/30/20 split (50% carb, 30% protein, 20% fat) or a 40/40/20 split (40% carb and protein, 20% fat). These are common macro basket portfolios. Tip 2) Would you rather your body became much more nimble at fat metabolism, literally accelerating the maximum rate at which it can burn fat? If so, a good macro split to try is: 5/25/70 (5% carbohydrate, 25% protein, 70% fat). This is typical of ketogenic dieting, which will be the topic of several future blogs. For now, just realize that it does take some weeks for a body to adjust its metabolic tuning to the new substrate orchestra. It'll feel off key (heavy and lethargic) for a bit. Then, after a brief period of adaptation, those notes will sound sprightly again (you'll have your energy back, and perhaps an even better version of it). Tip 3) Try creativity. Tinker with your macro calibration and keep a journal of your body's responses. August can be carby, September can be fatty. And so on. Every body is an individual, and clinical studies only characterize populations, not individuals. What experimental research offers is a really good guess at how your body will respond, but it's not a perfect oracle, because, again, you're an individual. So if a standard macro split doesn't appeal to you, it's okay to be artistic. But however you decide to distribute your macros, just make sure you give your body enough time to adjust. That's all for today. I hope you're Mondaying thrivingly.