Math In My Diet?

What do you mean Math In My Diet!?!

I get asked OFTEN “how much food should I eat?”. My answer is always the same. It depends who you are, your level of activity and your goals. THERE IS NO ONE SIZE FIT ALL. What worked for your sister in law twice removed will not necessarily work for you!

Let's start off by explaining this a bit.The is based on the concept of a macronutrient. A macronutrient is something that your body needs in large doses. I believe there are FOUR categories of MACROnutrient. 

1. Carbohydrate
   
2. Protein
   
3. Fat
   
4. Water
   

I chose to consider water as a macronutrient because we NEED water, after all our body is mainly made up of it!

Protein is what allows your muscle to build. How they do this is by breaking down into what we call amino acids (more on that some other time). Amino acids are the building blocks of muscle. Why is it so important? As we exercise our muscles break down to create new muscles, without the right amount of protein we are basically starving our muscles from the nutrient it needs to heal. NO PROTEIN, NO MUSCLE. 

0.8 to 2 grams per kilogram of body weight

Carbohydrates, they taste soooo good! Carbohydrates are things like pasta and bread, fruit and vegetables. There are GOOD and BAD carbs. Without getting too much into it, complex carbs are slow digesting also making you feel full for longer and maximize the nutrients we can get out of it. Healthy carbs (fruits and VEGGIES) also tend to give us more micronutrients, which we will talk about in a later post. 

3 to 8 grams per kilogram of body weight 

Fat, the flavor of food! Just like carbohydrates there are good and bad fats! Bad fats are things that are deep fried foods or foods heavily dosed in some processed blend. A good fat is something like an avocado or extra virgin olive oil! They are used as a source of energy for the body and provide nutrients to a list of areas. 

0.5 to 1 grams per kilogram of body weight

All in all, you need to figure out what works best for your body and lifestyle! I find that meal prepping for 2\3 days at a time works best for me because I get bored of food easily. Being the organized person I am, I like to track my meals a few days in advance to make sure I am eating enough :)

Take everything above with a grain of salt. These are basic calculations but does not necessarily means it is great for you! Consult your medical doctor or nutritionist for more information :)

Yours truly, 

Meg