Another classic in the “how do I hack my eating” – the term Macros is getting a lot of play in the diet world again so I wanted a record of it on my site.

Perhaps you have heard of Macros and are interested or confused or just looking to get more information of what’s out there so you can make better decisions.

Well…It’s not new.  It’s basically been around since the very first dieting or changes in diet – like 100 years or so.

So why now?  Didn’t macros just die like a decade ago with all the new stuff:  the keto’s, the intermittent fasting’s and the reactive foods ideas?  

The short answer is they never went anywhere.  Macros are science. It’s the definition of your food.

“Macros” stands for macronutrients.

Macronutrients are Carbs, Fats and Protein.  Sometimes water will be grouped up in there.   That’s it.

See you already know this stuff.

Micronutrients are vitamins and coenzymes and BCAAS and many of the extras in supplements etc.    They are not a part of this. This is macros baby.

Macros work differently depending on the ratio you organize them in your daily diet.   No matter what diet you do you are jacking with macros. You like keto? That’s a high fat, low carb diet Holmes.  Keto is macros. They all are.

Are you fat?   Well I’m guessing your macro ratio is pretty high fat and high carbs.  That’s the combo that creates that.

Want to get jacked?  PROTEIN (monster voice) More PROTEIN.

It’s this easy- Change your ratio, change your body or performance or brain chemistry or life.

“Macros” as the term, is all about nailing your ratios of how much of each category leads you to your results.

So you track them.    You measure and calculate and plan and dial in your exact levels to get the results you want.    Maybe you need more carbs because you work out like a beast and have been really low because you’re following a keto plan.   Maybe your protein is way lower than it should be and you can’t put on the muscle you are working so hard for.

Maybe all your carbs come from sugar and your turning into a type 2 diabetic.

So what is it and why does it seem so difficult.     Because it’s not hard. It’s not – there’s an ap, My Fitness Plan, for one – that makes it so simple it even becomes fun.   A little fun. Ok, not fun but doable.

Track it, plan it and change it.  Get what you want. Science. Energy.  Science energy. Proteins, carbohydrates fats, more energy than your body has room for  Run faster, lift more, impress your friends!

Does it work?

Yes, it works.  That being said – damn near EVERY diet plan and program work.  The problem isn’t finding a plan that works. The problem is time.   

Jeff Olsen from the greatest book of all time “the Slight Edge” explains it best…time is the missing ingredient.   Everything in life is based about the decisions you make each and every day and compounded over time-

weeks, months and years – doing anything, over time, gives you incredible results.

So yes, it works over time.  

Eating better foods over time makes you lose fat.     

Eating more food combined with increased activity, especially muscles, gets you jacked and tan.

Eating precisely to maximize performance works to increase your productivity and ability.

It’s a good plan.

Every bodybuilder on the planet becomes an absolute expert on manipulating and controlling macros – they have to, because that’s the ONLY way to become shredded!

Oh wow, Chad, so you love this style of eating?  You love “marcos?”

Not so fast….

Here’s my take.  Love me or hate me for it, please start a debate in the comments section, I could use the traffic.   

Me?  I don’t like Macros.  And I’ll say it in the exact voice and hand gesture as Sam I Am up there in the picture.  I DO NOT LIKE MaCROS. I would not eat them with a fox, I will not eat them in a box.

My problem?

It’s just so…so Bro.

Recall I’m a crossfitter.  I love the whole cornucopia of workouts and experiments and plans that accompanies crossfit.  I like the fast forward evolution. I love the silliness of it all too. The silly socks and crazy patterned shorts and yelling out a scream like I’m at a college football game just to be funny.   Most gyms frown on that type of behavior and my gym giggles like the rest of us.

Crossfit has a very distinct “lifestyle.”   Much like other high school style “cliques” such as Goth, rockers, and Jocks you can sense a crossfitter from a mile away.   

My point is, crossfitters stole and 100% adopted “macros” from bodybuilders as an eating plan of choice about 5 years ago and well…collectively they got RIPPED.   A no brainer..the eating plan of bodybuilders made crossfitters look more like bodybuilders. Yep, science. It works.

But I wanted to puke every time I heard my fellow crossfitter buddies talking about their macros and how the hit their mark and were on point today.  And when I had an off workout or a slight headache immediately asked me, “Where you at?” as in “where are you currently sitting on your macro ratios today?”

I HATED it. Ok not hated but just got sick of it.

Macros is an eye rolling, meh, birthday gift of socks type of excitement for me.   It’s boring.

But…it works.

But it’s vanilla.   It takes a conscientious effort and you have to pay attention.  

IT SHOULD BE MY DREAM LIFESTYLE OF EATING… I constantly harp on this page about paying better attention to yourself, to make yourself better.  Awareness, track it, pay attention, experiment… And Personally, I do. In almost every category in life…Except food.

MY Problem with Macros…I just want someone to do it all for me.   Just get it all together and I’ll eat whatever when you tell me to.  It just seems so cyborg and disconnected. For me personally, It’s just such a disconnect from food.     I want my food to be more than just the components of nutrition. I want more than the macros.

So…as I’ll preach with workouts, lifestyle, clothing, music, life…food included.

Heck, what this entire website is built to personify:

Whatever you’re looking into –   It has to work for YOU or it just doesn’t work.

This style of eating takes work and takes a conscious effort, something we, as Amercians, typically lack the patience for.  It might be YOUR absolute BEST plan and it is well worth the time and effort to play with.

I have played with it.  I have the ap and have tracked my calories of each macro and see results.

It should be my dream system, it’s just not.    but…Now you know what it’s all about, so you can make an educated decision and hey man, if it fits for you, I’ll be seeing you and those rock chiseled abs at a beach sometime soon!