Macronutrients
Do you find yourself feeling hungry or weak as you are tracking your calories to lose weight? Or are you struggling with consistently being on target with your calories to lose weight? Now may be the time to start tracking your macronutrients while tracking your calories.
Calorie deficiency is what is required to lose fat. That said, not all calories are equal. The calories from macronutrients have different effects in your body. Macronutrients are the nutrients that our bodies require for development and growth - fat, protein and carbohydrates.
Fats help to maintain cell membrane integrity, make certain hormones that are beneficial in brain functions and curb your hunger between meals. Unsaturated fats are the healthy fats that should be included in your eating each day. The downside to fats is that it has 9 calories per gram which is the highest number of calories versus other macronutrients. This means you may need to limit these if you are having issues staying under your daily number of calories to lose weight.
Proteins spare muscle loss and have the highest thermic effect causing your body to burn more calories to digest them compared to fats and carbs. There are 4 calories per gram of proteins that you eat. So a 4 ounce serving of a chicken breast has 35 grams of protein and only 4 grams of fat. That equals 176 calories for the serving.
Carbohydrates do provide a quick energy boost; however, they burn up quickly and can lead to a "crash" in your energy afterwards. Carbs only have 4 calories per gram like proteins. But be aware that when you combine carbs with fats it can stimulate your brain to crave them more. Fried carbs like doughnuts, pizzas, cookies, potatoes (chips/fries) are very high in calories and can ruin your eating plan. There are 190 calories in 1 Krispy Kreme doughnut. Who has ever eaten just one and stopped?!
Tracking your macronutrients can be easy to do by looking on nutrition labels, doing a search online or using a meal tracking app on your mobile device. The important thing is to use this as a tool to help you maintain your calories to lose weight. You are doing the work and God will bring the results.
We have created an entire list of foods that we recommend that breaks out the macronutrients and calories from each. Become a SanctiFit Member today and get access to this and many more resources in our Pantry area. We hope that you will join us and get into the details of living a completely healthy life!
