You may have heard of carb cycling if you're looking into the keto diet, but what about macro cycling? Is it the same thing? Are the two diets related? How are they different?
As it turns out, macro cycling is somewhat related to carb cycling, a diet where people switch the number of carbs they eat every day in a cyclical fashion. Macro cycling is very similar, but it involves more than just carbohydrates.
People following a macro cycling diet spend a period of time, usually two weeks, eating a specific amount of carbs, protein, and fats during that time.
Want to learn more? Let’s explore the benefits of macro cycling together!
What Are Macros?
The word "macro" is short for macronutrients. These are the components of your food that signify just how good those items are for you. For example, a meal with plenty of protein and lean fat will be better for you than a sugar-filled snack. People who follow the keto diet, as well as those who exercise a lot and want to grow lean muscle mass, tend to keep an eye on their macros.
Not to be confused with micronutrients (which consist of the vitamins and minerals that round out a healthy diet), macronutrients are the main building blocks of a healthy diet. They consist of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. During your specific macro cycle, you need to eat a certain amount of each, tracking your macros (or measurements of them) every day.
When you aren't following a macro cycle, you can eat what you want, within reason, of course, without measuring your macros, or change your macros slightly in order to follow a different measurement of them. It all depends on the diet that you plan to follow.
Why Follow a Macro Cycle?
There are many reasons why you might want to follow a macro cycle. Some include:
Dieting Without Feeling Deprived
It's common for people to feel deprived of certain foods when on a diet. Either they cut back on sugar, leaving them craving sugary drinks and snacks on occasion, or they eliminate other food groups that they're used to eating.
When someone feels deprived while dieting, they're more likely to break that diet and reach for whatever snack or treat they really want. Spending a few weeks on and then off a macro cycle prevents that deprivation.
An Introduction to the Keto Diet
If you want to start the keto diet, but aren't sure that it's really for you, or think that counting macros might be a pain, then a macro cycle is a great introduction. Rather than spend weeks cutting out carbs and counting certain macros, you're only doing so for two weeks.
Once those weeks are up, you can decide to go full keto or keep doing a macro cycle, since you've already experienced some of what the diet involves.
Weight Loss
Many people want to lose weight, and some diets are more successful than others. The macro cycle has proven weight loss results, thanks to its focus on the important macros only: protein, carbs, and healthy fats.
By cutting out other foods, like snacks, for two weeks, you're giving your weight loss a jump start, especially if you pair your macro cycle with a good exercise regimen.
Determining Your Macros
Before you can begin a macro cycle, you need to determine what your macros should be. Those numbers are based on several things, including your current age and weight, your gender, height, and, most importantly, your activity level.
It starts with figuring out how many calories per day you should be eating and then breaking those calories down into macros.
Calculating Your Calories
There are many different macro calculators online to determine the number of calories you need to eat every day. In general, women aged 19 through 30 should eat around 2,000 to 2,400 calories per day, while those between 30 and 60 should have 1,800 to 2,200. Women over 60 need between 1,600 and 2,000 calories per day.
The numbers for men are a bit higher. Men between the ages of 19 and 30 need to eat 2,400 to 3,300 calories each day. Men between 30 and 60 should have 2,200 to 3,000 calories every day, while those over 60 need to consume 2,000 to 2,600 calories each day.
Note that these calorie calculations are based on several things, such as activity levels, as well as gender and age. In addition, they list how much you need to eat in order to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight, you need to lower the number of calories that you eat, as well as begin an exercise routine.
Determining Your Macros
Now that you know how many calories you should be eating every day, it's time to convert that number into macros. While you can choose whichever ratios of macros you want, you can also go with some already existing formulas.
For example, when starting a macro cycle, it's recommended that you start with something easier to handle, like a 30-30-40, which consists of 30% fat, 30% carbs, and 40% protein.
After you're a bit more experienced in counting macros, you can change your macro cycle to include other ratios. Of course, it's fine to do this off the bat if you want to lose weight or have a specific macro goal in mind.
A few other suggested ratios include 40-40-20, or 40% protein, 40% fat, and 20% carbs, as well as another 40-40-20, which includes 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat. With that said, feel free to play with the ratios to come up with one of your own.
What Are the Benefits of Macro Cycling?
Many people choose to follow a macro cycling diet because they're interested in receiving its many benefits. They put up with tracking their foods, adhering to a strict diet, and counting those macros for two weeks in a row at a time, because they realize that the diet is worth it. It can help with:
Meal Prepping and Planning
Those who really enjoy meal prepping (preparing meals or at least parts of their components) on the weekends, in order to make cooking dinner and putting together breakfasts and lunches during the week easier and less time consuming, will find that macro cycling helps the process. It provides them with a specific ratio and certain recipes to make during those weeks, cutting down on the number of potential options to go through when grocery shopping and prepping.
Providing Plenty of Carbs to Fuel Workouts
A keto diet can help with weight loss, but if athletes really want to eat the right types of foods, then a macro cycle is their best option. They need carbohydrates to fuel their workouts, and when that's balanced out with the right amounts of protein and fats, they truly get what they need to produce lean muscle mass and that boost of speed at the end of a race.
Weight Loss
If weight loss is the goal, n keeping an eye on your macros, as well as cutting out fattening foods that aren't good for you, is a great option. By counting macros for two weeks before repeating the process after a short break, you'll start on the path to losing weight.
As long as you don't go wild and eat a lot of junk food on your weeks off from the cycle and work in some exercise, you might even see the results in the mirror fairly quickly.
What About Carb Cycling?
Carb cycling is similar to macro cycling, although it works differently. Unlike the two-week period in which you count and adhere to a certain number of macros, a carb cycle lasts for a day or two at a time before you change your carb intake and cycle back on. Another difference is that you only count your carbs instead of all of your macros.
In general, carb cycling is an extension of the keto diet, where you keep a strict eye on your carbohydrate intake in the hopes of going into ketosis and then burning off belly fat for energy. A macro cycle is much more well-rounded and can operate as a standard diet alone.
Macro Cycling for the Win
When done properly, macro cycling can provide a variety of benefits with little to no discomfort. You won’t feel like you’re starving yourself, and you’ll still be fueling your body with the perfect combination of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to sustain your daily activities and workouts.
For many, macro cycling is a win-win!
Sources:
How Many Calories Per Day | Healthline
Macro Cycling: What Is It and How It Works? | Healthline
How Carb Cycling Works and How to Do It | Medical News Today
About Author: Mario Mendias
