Calculating your calorie and macronutrient requirements is crucial if you want to hit your gym targets. Here's how
How many calories should I consume each day?
As with so many things, it depends on your goals. If you’re trying to build muscle, you need to consume more calories than you’re burning, while fat loss requires the opposite.
A simple and effective way to calculate your calorie target is to multiply your weight in kilograms by 29 for fat loss or 40 for muscle gain. Therefore, a man who weighs 80kg should aim to consume 2,320 calories a day to lose weight and 3,200 calories a day to build muscle.
How should I divide my calories between the three macronutrients – protein, fat and carbohydrates?
Protein and carbohydrates contain four calories per gram, while fat contains nine calories per gram. As a rough daily guideline, aim to consume 2g of protein and 1g of fat per kilogram of your bodyweight, then fill the remainder of your calorie allocation with carbohydrates.
For an 80kg man who’s trying to lose weight, this would equate to roughly 160g of protein, 80g of fat and 240g of carbs per day. If he’s trying to build muscle, the protein and fat would stay the same, but the carbs would rise to 460g.
Does it matter what food sources these come from?
Your diet should be based on whole foods, mainly fresh meat, fish, nuts and vegetables, which are the foods that tend to be the most nutrient-rich. It’s also worth bearing in mind that you need to consume around 25-30g of fibre a day to maintain a healthy digestive system. You can do this through both your fat and carbohydrates – by adding fibre-rich foods such as nuts to your fat quota, and veggies such as broccoli and spinach to your carb intake.
Do I need to eat more or less of certain types of foods at different times of the day?
Not really, although if you’re hitting the gym you should try to eat a meal containing 20-40g of protein roughly 90 minutes before exercising. This will spend the next four to five hours being digested and released into your body, so you won’t need to worry about eating protein immediately after training in the ‘post-workout window’, as many people do. In fact, most of the studies that highlight the benefits of consuming protein after training were done on fasted trainees. For maximum benefits, you just need to consume another 20-40g of protein later in the day at a convenient time.
Is it better to eat three big meals a day or six small ones?
A lot of nutrition experts used to recommend eating every three hours to keep your metabolism high – which is how the concept of eating six small meals a day gained traction – but recent research suggests this is incorrect. As long as you’re hitting your daily macronutrient targets, how many meals you divide them between is entirely up to you.
Struggling to hit your daily calorie quota? Get back on track with these convenient snacks:
1. Protein
A 185g can of tuna provides 23g of lean protein and 100 calories.
2. Carbs
A 50g serving of porridge oats will give you 30g of complex carbs and 190 calories.
3. Fats
A 50g portion of cashew nuts contains 22g of healthy fats and 290 calories.
As with so many things, it depends on your goals. If you’re trying to build muscle, you need to consume more calories than you’re burning, while fat loss requires the opposite.
A simple and effective way to calculate your calorie target is to multiply your weight in kilograms by 29 for fat loss or 40 for muscle gain. Therefore, a man who weighs 80kg should aim to consume 2,320 calories a day to lose weight and 3,200 calories a day to build muscle.
Protein and carbohydrates contain four calories per gram, while fat contains nine calories per gram. As a rough daily guideline, aim to consume 2g of protein and 1g of fat per kilogram of your bodyweight, then fill the remainder of your calorie allocation with carbohydrates.
For an 80kg man who’s trying to lose weight, this would equate to roughly 160g of protein, 80g of fat and 240g of carbs per day. If he’s trying to build muscle, the protein and fat would stay the same, but the carbs would rise to 460g.
Does it matter what food sources these come from?
Your diet should be based on whole foods, mainly fresh meat, fish, nuts and vegetables, which are the foods that tend to be the most nutrient-rich. It’s also worth bearing in mind that you need to consume around 25-30g of fibre a day to maintain a healthy digestive system. You can do this through both your fat and carbohydrates – by adding fibre-rich foods such as nuts to your fat quota, and veggies such as broccoli and spinach to your carb intake.
Do I need to eat more or less of certain types of foods at different times of the day?
Not really, although if you’re hitting the gym you should try to eat a meal containing 20-40g of protein roughly 90 minutes before exercising. This will spend the next four to five hours being digested and released into your body, so you won’t need to worry about eating protein immediately after training in the ‘post-workout window’, as many people do. In fact, most of the studies that highlight the benefits of consuming protein after training were done on fasted trainees. For maximum benefits, you just need to consume another 20-40g of protein later in the day at a convenient time.
Is it better to eat three big meals a day or six small ones?
A lot of nutrition experts used to recommend eating every three hours to keep your metabolism high – which is how the concept of eating six small meals a day gained traction – but recent research suggests this is incorrect. As long as you’re hitting your daily macronutrient targets, how many meals you divide them between is entirely up to you.
Struggling to hit your daily calorie quota? Get back on track with these convenient snacks:
1. Protein
A 185g can of tuna provides 23g of lean protein and 100 calories.
2. Carbs
A 50g serving of porridge oats will give you 30g of complex carbs and 190 calories.
3. Fats
A 50g portion of cashew nuts contains 22g of healthy fats and 290 calories.
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