FIRST, WE DETERMINE YOUR CALORIE NEEDS
We’ve taken several things into consideration to calculate your personalized macronutrient targets, and it all starts by calculating your calorie needs first.
For starters, using your height, weight, age, and sex, we determine your RMR (resting metabolic rate), which is the amount of energy (measured in calories) that your body uses to perform basic functions like breathing and maintaining body temperature, while at rest.
Next, we consider your activity levels as collected from multiple sources:
- Self-reported activity levels from your intake questionnaire
- Weekly recorded exercise activity in the CSF app (frequency, intensity, time and type)
- If applicable, activity/ daily step-counts as reported through connected activity trackers (Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, etc.)
Then, we use your body fat percentage to determine your lean body mass (LBM). This is the total weight of your body minus your body fat, which includes the weight of your bones, muscles, organs, and other non-fat tissue.
From all of this, we calculated your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), or the total number of calories needed to maintain your weight.
Last, but not least, we’ve set your calorie target, based on the primary goal that you provided in your intake questionnaire:
- Performance – Improve Endurance
- Performance – Increase Strength
- Metabolic Health – Reset Metabolism
- Metabolic Health – Improve Blood Labs
- Body Composition – Fat Loss
- Body Composition – Muscle Gain
SECOND, WE DETERMINE MACROS
Like your calories, your macro goals are personalized to you based on your primary goal, individual activity levels, and most importantly, your body fat percentage.
All of this will ensure adequate energy levels, minimize hunger, and allow for optimal performance, recovery and muscle building.
Once we have your calories set, we convert them to macros, starting with protein. If you don’t consume enough protein, it may be difficult to lose body fat or build muscle. Therefore, your protein is set within the optimal intake range, no matter the goal.
Then, the remaining calories are divided between carbs and fats based on activity levels and body fat percentage.
If you have a “low body fat percentage” (women less than 20% and men less than 13%), your calories from carbs are generally HIGHER than your calories from fats.
If you have an “average body fat percentage” (women between 20-31% and men between 13-24%), your calories from carbs and fats are distributed fairly EVEN.
Finally, if you have a “high body fat percentage” (women over 32% and men over 25%), your calories from carbs are generally LOWER than your calories from fats.
As you can see, the process of determining your macros is highly personalized and tailored to your specific goals, activity levels, and body composition. Since 2016, we’ve helped HUNDREDS of clients, using this exact method, achieve remarkable results! We’re quite confident that you will too.