Count Your Macros

Count Your Macros

I know you're probably reading the title like this......

Macro's or macronutrients are nutrients that provide energy/calories, in large quantities hence the 'macro'. There are three macronutrient groups that the body needs to function properly. These are protein, fats & carbohydrates. 

So, how do we know how much we need to eat? 

Depending on your goals, will determine how many calories of each of the groups you need to eat. Firstly, you need to figure out your basal metabolic rate (BMR) this is number of calories your body needs just to complete its basic functions e.g breathing & brain function if you were to live as a couch potato.  From this you can either add calories if your gaining or decrease your calories if you wish to lose, as we all know managing our weight is basic maths. Here's a link where you can find your BMR http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm

My BMR is 1612 if I were to live as a couch potato, because I want to lose fat I usually eat 1400 calories a day. This number of calories is enough for me I usually feel nice & full at meal times, however, sometimes I do go over this depending on what I've trained, if it's leg day I'll go over because I know I'll need extra protein for my muscles to recover & repair, some days you're more hungry than others & obviously I go over it on treat days too! When I do go over my calorie allowance it's usually not by that much & I probably end up eating my BMR, and most people reading this probably think that 1400 calories isn't a lot of food, but when you eat clean, you can usually eat a lot more food. You can also find macro proportions based on your somatotype, I'm an endomorph so I basically need to manage my fat & carb intake.

My calorie allowance is made up into percentages of the 3 food groups 45% protein, 35% carbs & 20% fats.  I sometimes play around with the percentages as my goal is fat loss, so I have tried increasing my fats & lowering my carbs, although don't lower your carbs too low otherwise you get grumpy, & no one will like you. 

This is why I find my fitness pal an extremely useful tool, as you can set your daily calorie intake & set your percentages. Then your off ready to record your food diary, I enter everything I eat into it. I'm usually like this at every meal time...

Know Your Shapes

Know Your Shapes 

Are you an apple, pear, hourglass, banana, rectangle, triangle, or a footlong? 

Do you have a spare tyre, rubber ring, tree trunks, bingo wings, pooch or are you bow legged? 

These are some names that women & the media use to define & stereotype women's body shapes & parts, these multiple names that are given to our bodies, some of them actually belong to the same group of body shapes, we as women just call them a million different things as what they look like, who knows why?
These names all stem from the original works of William Sheldon (1940) on the somatotype's people's body shapes, there are three categories which you can fall into. 
Mesomorph, ectomorph & endomorph, from this you can see what shape your body falls into & now you can find workouts & exercises plans for your goals based on your body type. 

Mesomorph

Mesomorph's are naturally gifted athletes, they can gain muscle & fat easily, they can also lose it easily. Naturally lean & muscular with wider shoulders than hips. They have an efficient metabolism.

Ectomorph 

Ectomorph's are life's natural skinny bitches, lovely long limbs, small shoulders, low body fat percentage & a fast metabolism; which means they can get away with eating what they like. 

Endomorph 

Endomorph's have high muscle & fat mass, meaning they are solidly built short & stocky but struggle to lose fat. They also have sluggish metabolisms, which they should watch what they eat, & if they go off track they'll find they gain fat easily. 

Unfortunately, I'm in the endomorph group, which means you must sweat like a pig & work like a horse, if you want to look like a fox! I have lost a lot of fat, but it's always easier to lose excess fat in the beginning of any lifestyle change. Now, I wish to progress my body & shape further become fitter & more toned, I'm now struggling with losing fat, this is where my hard work begins. 

As now I have to compete against my own body, as everyone a has a natural fat storage level, I have plateaued around the same weight for a while now because I think my body has reached its natural fat storage level, but because I want to lose more fat I need to make sure I eat right & exercise well to be able to achieve this. 

I have done some research for myself using my somatotype to find eating plans & exercise ideas which have helped, I'm naturally not going to be great at cardio, however, my short yet stocky build means I can lift heavy, which is great because being able to lift will help burn the fat so I will get leaner & more toned whilst keeping my endomorphic softness & curves. 

So my lovely audience, I ask you to take the brave step & look in the mirror & really look to see what shape you see. Take your measurements as this is also a good indication of what shape you have. You can put your measurements into a website (see the link) & it can tell you what shape you are. Once you have your shape, do some research about foods & exercise for the body shape you'll probably be surprised on what is good for you! http://www.calculator.net/body-type-calculator.html

The other night I completed a questionnaire online on body shapes, which told me I was more endomorphic but I was also mesomorphic, it was quite fun filling it in, apart from when I asked my parents whether my forearms where big, average or small, my dad who thought he was being hilarious kindly replied that they were big like Popeye's, I replied that I would get anchors tattooed on them so I looked the part! (I always thought I had average forearms & I do love eating spinach). Here's the link if you fancy doing it. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker3.htm