How Many Calories Should I Eat?

1. Daily Caloric Needs Estimator 
2. Body Fat Calculator 

Macros

Intro To Macros

This is a multiple part series inside of week 2 where we go into two different ways to calculate macros.

First we'll tackle worksheets and explain the two different methods.

Then we'll take a dive into my favorite program, Cronometer-- because it will do the math for you!

Make sure you follow along in this order:

Part 1: Intro

Part 2: The Carbs First Method

Part 3: The Percentages Method

Part 4: Cronometer

Carbs First Method

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Download the worksheet here.

The percentages method takes a calorie goal and uses percentages to determine the number of calories you'll eat of each macro.

Perhaps the easiest way to explain is using a specific example.

Let's say that your daily calorie goal is 1600 calories.

Before we dive in. let's look at the percentages you'll hear surrounding a ketogenic diet.

Percentages surrounding a "ketogenic diet" range from:

• 60-80% fat
• 15-30% protein
• 5-25% carbohydrates

As you can see, these percentages are quite broad. So how do you know what the right option is for you?

Through trial-and-error. Embrace the experimentation as part of the process of learning your body's natural rhythms. View this journey as a big experiment, where failure doesn't mean "the end" and "I give up" but instead failure provides you feedback on where you need to make adjustments.

Don't discount this mindset shift. By taking the time and effort to view failure simply as a tool for learning vs. a reason to quit -- you give yourself permission to learn and grow. This mindset shift is POWERFUL and I encourage you to own it.

Remember, a ketogenic diet isn't JUST about the percentages. A real keto diet omits grains, legumes, sugar, and high-carb fruits & veggies. Revisit the training on what we don't eat and what we do eat on a keto diet.

Let's go back to that example and walk through what it looks like to calculate your macros based on the percentage method.

In our example, our calorie goal is 1600 calories per day. This person, let's call her Amy (yup...that's my cat's name!), has decided she's going to start with 60% fat, 20% protein and 20% carbohydrates.

We need to know that both protein and carbohydrate has 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram.

Now, we'll do the math.

Fat:

60% of 1600 = 960 calories

960 calories / 9 calories per gram = 106.67 grams fat

Protein:

20% of 1600 = 320 calories

320 calories / 4 calories per gram = 80 grams protein

Carbohydrates: 

20% of 1600 = 320 calories

320 calories / 4 calories per gram = 80 grams carbohydrate

We now know that Amy's macro goals are:

• 107 g fat
• 80 g protein
• 80 g carbohydrate

Let's say that Amy follows this macro breakdown for a month and is ready to make a change and decrease her carbohydrate intake to a more strict 10%.

So, what should she do with the 10%? Should she increase fat? protein?

She could increase the amount of fat she's consuming to 70% or increase the amount of protein to 30% or even split the difference and try a combination of 65% fat and 25% protein. So what's the best option?

The best option is the thing that's feasible for Amy to implement. In this situation, Amy looks at her lifestyle and decides it's easiest for her to add some fat into her day instead of trying to worry about getting more protein.

Now, we simply recalculate her numbers to eat 70% fat, 20% protein and 10 carbohydrates.

Use the example that I shared earlier to calculate out Amy's new macros and post your answers in the comments.

Have a question? Post that below as well!

Cronometer (The No Math Option)

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In this lesson, Tara takes you through exactly how to use Cronometer from a computer.

If you'd like to sign up for cronometer Gold to get extra features, you can get 10% off by clicking here.

Then, to get Tara's Recipes, add her as a friend in Cronometer with the email address tara@wholebodyliving.com.

You can find additional Cronometer tutorials on Cronometer's YouTube page.

4 Mistakes To Avoid

And What To Do Instead

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