Calories Are King, Macros Are Queen

 A 3 min read
​
​When we diet everything is about CALORIES and energy balance. Energy balance is the relationship between energy in (food & drink consumed) and energy out (calories being used daily). To lose weight we need to be in a negative energy balance.
​What is a negative energy balance? 
A negative energy balance is when you consume less calories than you use daily.

Whether you do Weight Watchers, Keto, Atkins or PLT etc it’s always CALORIES. The other dietary systems just hide the numbers from you but you are still tracking and controlling your calorie intake.

After calories, it’s MACROS which are important. Overlaying macros into the diet equation gives you a ‘better’ ‘healthier’ plate of food; macros help tailor your diet in a way that benefits your body more in daily life and as we diet helps the process.

However, not all macros are created equal...

PROTEIN
This is the most important macro when dieting. It helps you stay full which avoids hunger, helps with diet fatigue and adherence. If you are fuller you are less likely to have BLTs and snack on chips etc. It also helps you retain skeletal muscle as you cut/lose weight.
Often in maintenance, our clients will be set only a protein target their personal PLT coach will ask them to eat intuitively afterwards.
The process of conversion of protein to fat is challenging for the body and very rare.
So protein does has some magical properties**

CARBS & FATS are somewhat interchangeable if losing weight is your goal.
We each have a personal dietary style that will favor one of these 2 macros over over the other.
We also find that when a person is overweight, they are likely more insulin resistant which often requires a lower carb/higher fat set-up.
The process of conversion of carbs to fat by the body isn’t easy either and your body generally won’t choose that option as fat storage, despite the interwebs scary comments!
When you eat more calories than your body requires, your body will rarely choose to convert carbs to fat, despite many interweb posts.. When we eat more calories than our body requires, the body will generally store FAT as FAT as there’s no conversion!

** So if you are very very hungry and need to go over your plan, protein should be your choice as it will do very little damage to your goal.

Ensure you hit your protein every day, after which, eating to your calorie requirement will ensure you have great success

Tks
​Paul