How to Choose Macros: Carbs (Part II)

Welcome to Part II. Here we will discuss how to choose the amount of fat to include in your diet. To recap, we learned in Part I that a flexible diet allows people to eat any foods they want and still achieve their physique goals as long as these foods meet their macronutrient goal for that day. A macronutrient that has received a bad rep over the past few decades but is very important to eat is—you’ve guessed it—fat!

Fat is important to include in a diet because it is needed to produce the very important hormone, testosterone. After fat is ingested, it is broken down into fatty acids. Fatty acids are used to make cholesterol which is used to make testosterone. To simplify, if fat intake is very low, testosterone will be very low. Whether you are a male or a female trying to lose bodyfat or gain muscle mass, having low testosterone levels are not ideal. This is because it increases basal (resting) metabolic rate and increases in muscle protein synthesis resulting in increased muscle mass.

Right now you are probably thinking that loading up on fat is key. Before you add half a pound of bacon to your daily breakfast, I should tell you that too much fat intake can lead to increased bodyfat. The reason why is because fat is easily converted into bodyfat. It does not take much energy for your body to make the conversion.

“So to avoid bodyfat gains and still keep testosterone at a normal level, fat intake should be moderate.”

Daily total fat intake is typically determined by a percentage of total calories derived from fat. For example, let’s say a person eats 2500 calories a day. If the target fat intake is 25% then the following applies:

2500cals x 25% = 625cals from fat, 625cals ÷ 9 = 69grams of fat

As you can see, the process begins with a daily calorie goal. You can determine what caloric intake is best for you based on your goal here.

I recommend keeping fat intake around 17% - 30%. Next, when choosing the percentage of calories derived from fat one should consider their own body type. If you are an ectomorph and do not gain bodyfat easily I recommend staying closer in the 17%- 21% range. Contrastingly, if you are an endomorph and store fat easily then I suggest you aim for the 26-30% range since doing so will lower carbs (which endomorphs are typically sensitive to). Mesomorphs fall in the mid range.

You are now equipped with a game plan on how to choose the amount of fat and protein to eat. The only macro left is carbs. To ensure you know when Part III will be posted, be sure to subscribe below.

Photo Credit: 1, 2

#nutrition