***Please consult your physician before starting any diet or exercise routine. ***

 

THE DEFINITIVE MACRO GUIDE 

 

You’re probably asking why you need this article when there are calorie/ Macro calculators. The fact is, most of them are off by A LOT! The Definitive Macro Guide is much more accurate allowing you to get that much closer to your goal faster.

I wanted to give you the best chance possible at success by giving you the right numbers based on your sex, weight, age and activity level.

Let’s get started:

First you need to find out what your BMR is (Basal Metabolic Rate). Basically, this is how many calories your body burns at complete rest.

The quick way is to multiply your current weight (in pounds) by 10 if you’re a woman or 11 if you’re a man.The more accurate way is to use the formula in the table below, which factors in your age in addition to your sex.

For your convenience, I’ve added a full chart with the equations.

 

	BMR ( Basal metabolic rate) Calculations
Age	Men
18 to 30	[15.3 x weight (in kilograms)] + 679
30 to 60	[11.6 x weight (in kilograms)] + 879
Older than 60	[13.5 x weight (in kilograms)] + 487
*	Women
18 to 30	[14.7 x weight (in kilograms)] + 496
30 to 60	[8.7 x weight (in kilograms)] + 829
Older than 60	[10.5 x weight (in kilograms)] + 596

EXAMPLE: A 40-year-old woman who weighs 150 pounds with a light activity level will calculate her BMR as shown below.

150 pounds ÷ 2.2046 = 68.03 kilograms

68.03 kilograms x 8.7 = 591.861 calories

591.861 calories + 829 calories = 1,420.861 calories

 

So, the women’s BMR or the number of calories that her body needs at complete rest to function properly is about 1,420 calories.

If you figure out her BMR by using the shorter method, her basic needs are 1,500 cals per day (150 pounds x 10 = 1,500) obviously, this is a little higher than the full and more detailed calculation I am giving you. That’s an extra 560 Calories per week!

Now that we’ve figured out your BMR let’s find out what your activity level is.

It is very important that you are very truthful with how you answer this next part. If you are not truthful, it will skew the number quite a bit.

 Find the description that best describes your lifestyle in the following table.

If, Throughout Most of Your Day, Your Activities Include	Your Activity Level Is	Your Activity Factor Is
Sitting or standing; driving; painting; doing laboratory work; sewing, ironing, or cooking; playing cards or a musical instrument; sleeping or lying down; reading; typing	Very light	0.2
Doing garage, electrical, carpentry, or restaurant work; house-cleaning; caring for children; playing golf; sailing; light exercise, such as walking, for no more than 2 miles	Light	0.3
Heavy gardening or housework, cycling, playing tennis, skiing, or dancing; very little sitting	Moderate	0.4
Heavy manual labor such as construction work or digging; playing sports such as basketball, football, or soccer; climbing	Heavy	0.5

Now multiply your BMR by the activity level.

Using the woman’s example from earlier, she will multiply her BMR of 1,420 by 0.3 because her activity level is light. This tells us that she needs an extra 426 calories for her activity level.

1,420 x 0.3 = 426 calories

1,420 + 426 = 1846

Now we will determine the number of calories she needs for digestion and absorption of nutrients.

YES! eating food burns calories. Crazy, right?! Digesting food and absorbing nutrients uses about 10 percent of your daily energy needs.

Here’s how you do it:

BMR + Activity level = 1,846.

1846 x 10% = 184.6.

1846 + 184.6 = 2,030.6 total calories.

This is how many calories she needs to maintain her current weight of 150 pounds.

 

 

So how do you lose/gain weight?

Easy! Just subtract/add 300-600 from the final number. Start with 300 and keep track of your body weight every morning after you go to the bathroom and at the end of the week. As a general rule you shouldn’t lose or gain more than 1% of your total body weight per week. This will ensure you’re losing mostly fat and preserving the most amount of muscle possible if you are cutting and it will keep you from gaining too much fat while in a bulk (Gaining weight). If you lose weight too fast it can have a negative effect on your metabolism. This is one of the main reason why people gain back all and more weight after they are no longer in a caloric deficit. I recommend maintaining your new weight as long as it took you to cut. This will level off your metabolism.

If you are losing/gaining too much, too fast, simply add/subtract some calories. I would start with 100 cals at a time and go from there.

Example for cut:

2030 – 300 = 1730 per day

Example for Bulk:

2030 + 300 = 2330 per day

 

Now you’re saying “How do I know how many Carbs, Protein and fats to eat Smarty pants?!?!?”

Don’t worry. I got you covered!

These percentages have worked great for my clients and myself and are a great place to start.

40% Carbs

35% Protein

25% Fat

Don’t forget that Protein and Carbs have 4 calories per gram

Fat has 9 calories per gram.

 

Example for 2330.6 total cals :

40%Carbs: 932.24 cals ÷ 4 = 233.06 grams

35%Protein: 815.71 cals ÷ 4 = 203.92 grams

25%Fat: 582.65 cals ÷ 9 = 64.73 grams

 

Easy, right?

You can absolutely change these percentages to work for you.

A lower carb/higher fat split would look like this.

35% Carbs

35% Protein

30% Fat

Now that you have your total grams per day for Protein, Carbs and Fat, just divide those numbers by how many meals you eat per day.

Example:

Carbs 233 ÷ 5 = 46.6 per meal

Pro  203 ÷ 5 = 40.6 per meal

Fat  64 ÷ 5 = 12.8 per meal

I recommend eating 4-5 whole meals per day. Eating a meal every 3 hours is a good place to start. This will also keep you anabolic allowing you to keep all that muscle you worked so hard for.

** Side Note**

It is essential to monitor your weight every morning after you go to the bathroom. This will allow you to see if you need to make any changes to the caloric split. Of course, your body weight will fluctuate from day to day but if it is going in the right direction over the course of the week I wouldn’t worry.

I recommend that you add The Definitive Macro Guide to your favorites so you will always have the calculations.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Always remember,

THE ONLY THING STOPPING YOU IS YOU!!!

 

-Jack DiBenedetto

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