Mastering Keto: Measuring Your Macros Right

To measure keto macros, it's important to understand what macros are. Macros, or macronutrients, refer to the amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fat in food. They are where all your calories come from and play a role in supporting health and fitness goals.

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that aims to promote ketosis, a metabolic state where the body burns fat for energy instead of sugars. To achieve this, the typical macro ratio for keto is:

5% of calories from carbohydrates

25% of calories from protein

70% of calories from fat

To calculate your specific keto macros, you can use a keto macro calculator, which will take into account your fitness goals, calorie intake, body fat percentage, and activity level. These calculators will help determine how many grams of carbs, protein, and fat you should consume daily to reach your desired goals.

While keto focuses heavily on carb restriction, it's also important to monitor your protein and fat intake to ensure they align with your goals.

Understanding keto macros

Macros, or macronutrients, are the nutritional building blocks of the food we eat. They include carbohydrates, protein, and fat. All of our calories come from these macronutrients, and they each play a unique role in supporting our health and fitness goals.

Keto Macros

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that aims to get the body into a state of ketosis, where it burns fat for energy instead of sugars. The typical macro ratio for keto is:

• 5% of calories from carbohydrates
• 25% of calories from protein
• 70% of calories from fat

This macro range is designed to promote ketosis and trick the body into burning more fat for energy.

How to Calculate Keto Macros

To calculate your keto macros, you need to determine your calorie needs based on your fitness goals, whether you want to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your current weight. This will give you the number of calories you need each day.

For keto, it is recommended to keep your carb intake to 20-50 grams per day, as this is sufficient to promote ketosis in most people. You can then calculate your protein and fat needs based on your remaining calories.

There are also keto macro calculators available online, which can help you figure out your exact macro needs based on your personal information, such as age, gender, height, weight, and activity level. These calculators can be a helpful tool to ensure you are getting the right balance of macros to support your keto diet.

Tracking Keto Macros

Tracking your macros can be challenging, especially if you are new to the concept. There are a few ways to approach this:

• Use a keto food list, meal planner, and portioning guide to build your meals accordingly.
• Use a keto-friendly nutrition app to log your food choices and stay within your daily ranges.
• Eyeball your macros by following a typical keto plate: a palm-sized portion of meat, one or two fistfuls of vegetables, and enough fat to achieve satiety.

Calculating your calorie needs

The number of calories you need each day depends on your fitness goal. If you want to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit, whereas if you want to gain weight, you need to be in a calorie surplus.

To calculate your calorie needs, you need to find your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), which is the number of calories you burn per day. This is determined by your gender, age, height, weight, and activity level.

The Mifflin-St. Jeor equation is used to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the number of calories you burn daily from basic, life-sustaining functions. Your BMR, combined with your activity level, will determine your TDEE.

Once you know your daily energy needs, you can build your keto macro goals accordingly.

Estimating keto carb needs

Estimating your keto carb needs is arguably the most important step in mastering a ketogenic diet. The keto diet is an extremely low-carb, high-fat diet that helps people lose weight quickly and effectively. The diet limits carbohydrates and replaces them with fats, putting the body into a state of ketosis. To stay in ketosis, a person needs to consume up to 50 grams of carbs per day. However, the exact amount can vary from person to person, and it is widely accepted that nearly everyone can reach ketosis by eating moderate protein and restricting carbohydrates to 20 grams per day when starting a ketogenic diet.

Research suggests that a carb intake of less than 20 to 50 grams per day is sufficient to promote ketosis in most people. A carb intake of 20 to 25 grams per day is a good starting point. However, if sticking to that amount proves challenging, you can start at 50 grams. You can also use your total calorie intake as a gauge. Carbs provide roughly four calories per gram, so if you are in a lower calorie range—less than 2,000 calories a day—20 grams would be adequate for reaching 5% of your calories from carbs. If you are in a higher calorie range, you may need slightly more.

• Calorie range less than 2,000 calories/day: 20 grams of carbs a day or less
• Calorie range 2,000 to 2,500 calories/day: 25 to 30 grams of carbs a day or less
• Calorie range 2,500 to 3,000 calories/day: 30 to 35 grams of carbs a day or less
• Calorie range more than 3,000 calories/day: 35 to 50 grams of carbs a day or less

It is important to note that the keto diet is very restrictive, and it is recommended to consult a doctor or dietitian before starting this or any other diet.

Protein intake

Protein is an essential part of a keto diet, supporting your lean body mass and other bodily functions. While some argue that protein intake should be kept low on keto because it can be metabolised into glucose, research suggests that higher protein intake may support better appetite control and a lower body fat percentage without messing with ketosis.

Your keto protein needs can be estimated based on your activity level and fitness goals. For example, if you are aiming to maintain your weight and are sedentary, you should aim for 0.6g/pound of body weight per day. If you are aiming to lose weight and are moderately active, you should aim for 0.9g/pound of body weight per day. If you are looking to gain weight and are very active, you should aim for 1.1g/pound of body weight per day.

For example, a 150-pound individual who is moderately active and looking to lose weight would need 135 grams of protein per day. To get this amount in calories, simply multiply by four (protein provides four calories for every gram).

It's important to note that protein is a goal on keto, meaning you should strive to meet your daily protein goal, but not exceed it. Too much protein can kick you out of ketosis and is not good for your kidneys, but not enough protein can cause you to lose muscle.

Fat intake

On a keto diet, fat is your primary source of energy, and it helps you feel full and satisfied between meals. It's important to choose healthy fats, such as fatty cuts of meat, eggs, fatty fish, whole raw milk, avocados, nuts, and MCT oil. You can also cook with fats like lard, tallow, butter, coconut oil, and olive oil.

To calculate your fat intake for keto, first determine your calorie needs based on your fitness goal (weight loss, weight gain, or maintenance) and daily energy expenditure. Then, calculate your macro ratio. For keto, this typically looks like:

• 5% of calories from carbs
• 25% of calories from protein
• 70% of calories from fat

Let's say your daily calorie intake is 1800. To calculate your fat intake:

• Multiply your daily calories by the percentage of calories from fat: 1800 x 0.70 = 1260 calories from fat
• Divide the calories from fat by the number of calories per gram of fat (9): 1260 / 9 = 140 grams of fat per day

So, for this example, your fat intake would be around 140 grams per day.

It's important to note that fat is used as a lever on the keto diet. This means that you don't have to eat all the fat in your macro calculations if you're not hungry. Eat until you're satisfied, and adjust your fat intake as needed.

Frequently asked questions