Macros 101

“Macros” is short for macronutrients. They provide life and fuel for the body in the form of calories. There are 3 macronutrients that provide us with energy: carbohydrates, fat & protein. Carbs provide 4 calories per gram, fat - 9 calories per gram and protein - 4 calories per gram. If you’ve been following the CSE Meal Plans for a while now you will have seen our write-up on macros in the front of each book. Here you can find out more about our macro-based approach, some of the science behind it, what foods make up the different macros, etc. This is a great resource to learn a bit more about macros. But, since we are science geeks and love to dive in deep from time to time… let’s break it down a little more!

First, all diets work. Weird, right? Whenever there is a caloric deficit for a period of time, you will lose weight. The biggest (and most important) differentiator that macros brings to the table is WHERE the weight lost is coming from. The truth is, you can lose weight on a cookie diet so long as the deficit is there. But, we promise you the weight you lose on the cookie diet will not all come from fat stores. You will be sacrificing lean muscle tissue in the process which is a terrible thing to have happen! Here’s why: Muscle tissue is active tissue! Muscle requires 5.5X the daily fuel compared to the almost dormant fat stores. To put it simply, the more lean muscle tissue you have on your frame, the more calories you will burn. Maintaining a healthy amount of lean muscle tissue also revs up your metabolism. The more lean tissue you have, the higher your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) or Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). As it relates to macros and diet… this is where the magic happens!

Counting macros has been proven, time and time again, to not only be super effective in overall weight loss but in targeting FAT LOSS while maintaining lean muscle tissue. This is so important! So, why doesn’t everyone just count macros if all this is true? Because it is HARD WORK! Playing food Tetris everyday, trying to come up with meals and snacks that will help you zero out all your numbers is tough, to say the least. You would have to spend a ton of time on a macro-tracking app entering in each ingredient that you put into your mouth hoping, at the end of the day, that your numbers are balanced and you've hit each category! We’ve been there, done that! Yes, it absolutely works. Yes, it’s a lot of hard work, very time consuming and, for beginners, extremely overwhelming. Enter: Clean Simple Eats. We knew the science behind macros was real. The trick was to create a meal plan that has a perfect balance in macros, the food tastes amazing, the whole family can get in on it, every meal is interchangeable, it’s 100% sustainable long term AND… you don’t have to count a single macro! The work has been done for you. There’s no need to count macros if you are following the plan. Find your numbers using the app. Enjoy the yummy food.  Stick to the plan. That’s it! Macro counting has met its match!;)