We’ve all said it and we’ve all heard it – “I hit my macros PERFECTLY today!”
The truth is… unfortunately it’s impossible to hit your macros to a T. This is because nutrient information panels are created based on averages of averages for certain foods and their respective macronutrient, micronutrient, and total energy content. Therefore, to most people’s surprise, the macros and calories listed on a back of a packet can actually deviate by a whooping 20% compared to their true amount! For example, if a pizza is said to have 125g of carbs, it could actually have between 100-150g of carbs. That equates to a 100-calorie difference to what you expected when you ate it! Not to mention inaccuracies in fat and protein content… which would also further skew the total calories.
Honestly, the only way to truly hit your macros would be to consume a diet of table sugar, oil, and egg white powder – safe to say ain’t nobody up for that!
Now, the point of this post is not to frighten people or increase skepticism and anxiety among health and fitness folk. Rather, we are simply aiming to inform you, and provide recommendations to hit your macros as accurately as possible, in a nutritional world full of inaccuracies.
- Consume more fresh produce and single-ingredient items. This will not only increase the nutrient quality of your diet, but also items with less ingredients means less averages of averages, hence a higher degree of accuracy for macros and calories
- If you live in Australia, type in the word “nuttab” after you enter an item into My Fitness Pal, e.g. “carrot nuttab”. This will give you information from the Australian food database. Alternatively, if you live in the USA, you can type in “carrot USDA”.
- Weigh your food and account for the total number of grams you consume, opposed to consuming the “recommended serving size”. Bread is a primary example of each slice being a different weight/energy density!
- Be consistent and use the same entry for singular items. If two brands of oats say they have different amounts of carbs, just stick with one entry regardless of the brand you buy. They’re just oats... and probably all come from the same farm anyway!