Boiled chicken, broccoli, and rice, 5 times per day. One cheat day per week. Repeat.
That’s the common trope we think of when we think of old-school “clean eating” bodybuilding diets.
And for a long time, that was seen as the only way of achieving the body composition that you wanted.
That also bled into the athletic world, where eating in this overly-restrictive way became the norm at the top levels of sport.
But most of us now know that it’s not the only way, and that it isn’t sustainable for the average person.
Even bodybuilders back in the day knew there must be a better way, and came up with an alternative “If it fits your macros” (IIFYM) approach.
The idea was that as long as the foods you were eating allowed you to hit specific amounts of the three main macronutrients (protein, fats, and carbohydrates), what those macronutrients came from didn’t matter so much.
On one hand, this was a positive change because it allowed for more flexibility in food choices.
On the other hand, for many, it became a game of how much junk food one could eat whilst still hitting their ‘macros’.
As you can imagine, this would have meant lower intakes of micronutrient-rich foods like fruits and vegetables, leading to health and performance detriments, in spite of the continued physique improvements.
As athletes, we can take 3 learnings from this:
1. Hitting our macronutrient targets is a key driver of improvements in physique and performance.
2. We can have flexibility in our food choices, allowing us to enjoy the overall nutrition plan, and improve adherence as a result.
3. We still need to include plenty of healthy foods within our diet in order to optimise health and therefore, physique and performance.
Do I Really Need to Get So Specific about my macronutrient (PROTEIN, FAt, CArbohydrate) intake?
How specific you need to get with macronutrient intake will depend on your current level of nutrition.
For example, if your diet is currently at what you would consider 1/10, your priority might simply be getting yourself to eat regular meals, include more vegetables, and perhaps looking a bit more closely at your total calorie intake (which you can calculate here).
But for someone who already has those things in a good place, getting more accurate with your macro intake can take things to the next level.
How specific you will need to be will also depend on how ambitious your goals are.
For example, if you’re just hoping to drop a few kg of bodyfat, feel a bit healthier, and be able to run about the park, you’re not going to need to be as specific as a high-level GAA athlete, marathon runner, or someone hoping to get 6-pack abs.
In the second category, which many of the athletes I work with fall into, getting specific with these intakes is crucially important.
That will require that you track your food intake on a daily basis, at least for a few weeks, in order to assess your current intake, and adjust to a more suitable intake, based on the calculations we’ll get into next.
This tracking process can be done through an app like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer, for example.
It is also important to keep in mind that the total number of calories you consume daily is made up of the macronutrients you consume.
That is to say that altering your macronutrient intake will automatically alter the number of calories you’re taking in.
In the same way, altering your calorie intake will require that you alter your macronutrient intake.
I.e. Total calorie intake = Calories from protein + Calories from fat + Calories from carbohydrate.
Macro #1: Protein
When we eat protein-rich foods, the protein is broken down into smaller particles, known as amino acids.
These amino acids are the building blocks of protein structures such as muscle tissue, but also things like hair and nails.
(They are also used in the creation of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which are also crucially important when it comes to optimising physical and mental performance.)
Our muscles are constantly in a state of flux, meaning that they are being broken down and built back up simultaneously.
In order to ensure that the “building up” of new muscle (A.k.a Muscle Protein Synthesis) equals or exceeds the breakdown, it is important to supply the body with sufficient amino acids, by eating enough protein, and doing so on a frequent basis.
As you may have guessed, resistance training (i.e. lifting weights) also increases this muscle protein synthesis.
Generally, the amount of protein you require will vary based on your goals, how much training you are doing, and how much muscle mass you have (which roughly correlates with your body weight.)
For most athletes, a recommendation of 2g per kg of body weight is a good target to aim for, in order to preserve/build muscle.
To put that in context, a few common examples of protein-rich foods include:
Medium Chicken Breast: 30-40g of protein
4 eggs: 24g of protein
1 Scoop whey protein: 20-25g of protein
Medium steak: 60-80g of protein
Salmon Fillet: 30-40g of protein
Pot of greek yoghurt: 20g of protein
To give an example calculation, for an athlete weighing 80kg, this will be:
80 x 2 = 160g of protein per day
In order to calculate our fat and carbohydrate targets, we must also calculate how many calories will be taken up by protein.
Let’s say this 80kg athlete had an estimated calorie requirement of 3000 kcal.
Given that protein contains 4 kcal per gram, we can say that this athlete is getting 640 kcal (that’s 160 x 4) out of their 3000 kcal daily total from protein.
That leaves 2360 kcal (that’s 3000-640) to be split between fat and carbohydrates.
Macro #2: Fat
When we eat foods containing dietary fat, the fat is broken down into fatty acids, which can be used for energy, or stored in adipose tissue for later use.
It is also used in the absorption of certain vitamins, hormonal regulation, maintenance of cell structures, and other biological processes.
As with our muscle protein, our body fat is continuously in flux, with fatty acids continuously being both released to be burned as energy, and being stored.
The balance of how much is released and burned vs. how much is stored is ultimately what determines how much body fat is gained overall.
This is almost completely a result of how much energy (calories) you take in vs. how much energy you have expended/burned over time.
In calculating how much fat you should be aiming to consume, it’s important to consume enough to cover the previously mentioned biological processes.
Fat also contributes to the overall enjoyability of the diet, which is important when considering the sustainability of the diet.
It’s also important to remember that the more fat you consume, the fewer carbohydrates you’ll be able to consume whilst staying within your calorie target.
Given the importance of carbohydrates for athletic performance, you may not want to have to reduce your intake of them, so controlling fat intake is also important for this reason.
With all these things taken into account, starting somewhere in the range of 0.8-1.2g per kg body weight would likely be close to optimal.
You could go towards the higher or lower end of that range based on preference, but for those on relatively lower calories (in a fat-loss phase for example), it would likely be better to edge towards the lower end, in order to allow room for enough carbohydrates and protein to be consumed, within your caloric target.
On the other hand, those who are aiming to increase caloric intake may want to go towards the higher end in order to make it easy to hit those higher calorie targets.
To put that in context, a few common examples of fat-rich foods include:
30g cashew nuts: 12g of fat
30g Dark Chocolate: 10g of fat
1 egg: 5g of fat
1 fillet of salmon: 20g of fat
1 tablespoon olive oil: 14g of fat
In the example of our 80kg athlete, this will be:
80 x 0.8 = 64g of protein per day on the lower end and 80 x 1.2 = 96g of fat on the higher end.
In this case, we can take the middle ground, and choose a target of 80g of fat per day.
In order to calculate our carbohydrate intake, we then need to calculate how many calories remain once protein and fat have been accounted for.
Given that fat contains 9 kcal per gram, we can say that fat will contribute 720 kcal ( that’s 80 x 9) to our example athlete’s overall diet.
This means that protein and fat will contribute 1360 kcal (that’s 640+720) out of the 3000 kcal this 80kg athlete needs, leaving 1640 kcal (that’s 3000-1360) for carbohydrates.
Macro #3: Carbohydrates
When we eat carbohydrate-rich foods, the carbohydrates are broken down into glucose (sugar).
This is true whether this carbohydrate comes from sweet potatoes, a banana, or a piece of chocolate.
This glucose is then circulated around the body, where it is either used to produce energy, or it is stored as glycogen, for when it’s needed (in high-intensity training, for example).
In rare cases, where an extreme amount of carbohydrates are ingested, the glucose can be converted and stored as fat.
Given the high glycolytic (glucose-dependent) demands of sports and athletic endeavours, where there is a lot of intermittent high-intensity running, for example, it is important to have high levels of glycogen stored in the muscles, in order to optimise fuelling for performance.
There can also be benefits to increasing levels of blood glucose immediately before and during training and sporting matches.
This all means that you need plenty of carbohydrates in order to get the most out of your athletic performance.
In terms of calculating your recommended intake, we have done most of the work by calculating how many calories are left after calculating your protein and fat targets.
For the 80kg GAA athlete we’ve been using in this article, we calculated that there is 1640 kcal left for carbohydrates.
Given that carbohydrates provide around 4 kcal per gram, this 1640 kcal is equal to about 410g (that’s 1640 ÷ 4) of carbohydrate.
However, based on the research, we also know that somewhere in the region of 3.5-6.5 g of carbohydrate per day is likely to be optimal for high-intensity sports.
For our 80kg athlete, this range is 280-520g.
In this case, our target falls within this range, so we’ll stick with it as a starting point.
However, there may be cases where the above calculations give you recommendations outside of this range, so you may need to manipulate other macros to get closer to this range.
For example, you may choose to decrease your fat intake target to allow you to consume more carbohydrates whilst staying within your calorie target.
To put the amounts into context, a few common examples of carbohydrate-rich foods include:
100g rice (raw weight): 75g of carbohydrates
400g potatoes: 68g of carbohydrates
100g pasta (raw weight): 75g of carbohydrates
2 slices of bread: 25g of carbohydrates
1 sports drink: 32g of carbohydrates
3 rice cakes: 20g of carbohydrates
1 large sweet potato: 30-40g of carbohydrates
Summary of Calculations
For our 80kg athlete (for whom we calculated a target of 3000kcal/day):
Protein: 2g per kg bodyweight = 2 x 80 = 160g/day
Fat: 0.8-1.2g per kg bodyweight = 0.8-1.2 x 80 = 64-96g/day = 80g/day as a middle ground
Carbohydrate: The rest of the calories = 1640 kcal / 4 = 410g/day (which also suits our recommended range of 3.5-6.5 g per kg bodyweight = 3.5-6.5 x 80 = 280-520g/day).
Using the article on calculating your recommended calorie intake targets (HERE), you can now go ahead and calculate your own macronutrient requirements to optimise your performance and body composition for you as an everyday athlete.
Article Written By Conor O’Neill
Conor O’Neill is a Nutritionist, Strength & Conditioning coach, Psychologist, and Author.
He has helped 1000+ everyday athletes to pursue excellence in their physique and performance through optimising their nutrition, training, and psychology.
You can find out more about The Everyday Athlete Program by going to everydayathleteprogram.com/coaching.
