Having a solid nutrition plan in place is very important for health and achieving your fitness goals. Let us look at some of the basics first.
Calories
A calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by one degree Celsius. I want you to think of calories as energy. With all the movement and exercise we do every day we need energy, just from the right sources.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are basically sugar. Some are complex like starches, and some are simple like glucose but at the end of the day they are sugars. Carbohydrates are important for our energy levels; we just have to get them in the right amount and from the right sources. 1 gram of carbohydrates has 4 calories.
Protein
Protein is an essential nutrient we need in our bodies to build tissue, muscle and can be used for energy if needed. Protein consists of amino acids. There are complete and incomplete proteins. Complete have all the amino acids we need in our bodies, incomplete do not. Protein is very important to repair and build our muscles. 1 gram of Protein has 4 calories.
Fat
Fat is an essential nutrient for our bodies to function. It is a great source of energy. Our body uses fat to store energy, insulate us from drastic heat loss and surrounds our organs to protect them. 1 gram of fat has 9 calories.
Macros
Macros are protein, fat, and carbohydrates. These are the 3 categories we will focus on when determining what foods to eat and what amount of calories our bodies need.
I cannot stress enough the importance of having a well-balanced diet. Our bodies need the right combination of macros to perform every day. Every task we do takes energy, we need to keep our body supplied with energy. Learn how to track calories and macros in the foods you eat to ensure you are getting what your body needs and not too much.
If you are trying to lose weight you want to create a caloric deficit.
Burn more calories than you take in. If you are trying to gain weight ingest more calories than you burn. If you are trying to maintain weight, try and ingest and burn roughly the same number of calories. If you are trying to build muscle, make sure you take in enough protein and calories to support muscle growth.