Jerred Moon

**This is Part 2 of a 3-part series on counting macros to look good naked and break PRs in the gym:

• Part 1 –  Counting Macros & Flexible Dieting 101
• Part 2 –YOU ARE HERE – How to Count Macros The Right Way AND How to Royally Screw it Up (like I did)
• Part 3 – Pros and Cons of Counting Macros (PLUS: FAQs)

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Welcome to part two in our series on counting macros and flexible dieting!!

I ended the last article asking you a question, and that was:

Counting calories is rather arbitrary. Wouldn’t you agree?

I went on the explain that a 2,000 calorie diet could literally be made up of soda, white bread and pop tarts

However, if you are following a macro-based plan, EVEN if you wanted to have your pop tarts it would count against your allowed allotment of carbohydrate grams for the day. So if you “run out of carbs” you now have to figure out how to get the right amount of protein and fat before the day is over…

Then I challenged you to…

1. Get a Macro Plan (click here to use mine)
2. Buy a Food Scale (if you don’t have one already)
3. Download an app or get a new notebook

Today, I am assuming you…

1. Have your Macro Plan
2. Have a Food Scale
3. Have an Macro Counting App, or you are prepared to track with a notebook

Now, what I am going to do today is tell you the three ways I have screwed up counting macros over the years then tell you the “right” way to do, or my best advice.

Let’s begin!

How I Screwed Up Counting Macros, Way #1:

Eyeballing it…

The Screw Up: Guesstimating Your Macros…

When you first start counting macros, you will be tempted to “eyeball” your serving sizes as opposed to actually weighing and measuring.

That’s what I did wrong, at first. So to show you how easy weighing and measuring food actually is, I made a video which will show you how I weigh and measure making one of my favorite shakes. These basic principles apply to weighing and measuring all food. Bonus: I give you the recipe 🙂 Enjoy!

The RIGHT Way: Actually weigh and measure!! It’s easy.

How I Screwed Up Counting Macros, Way #2 & #3: 

Bad Plan + Bad Quality

The Screw Up: The Wrong Type of Macro Plan AND Low-Quality Food

Now, what you are about to see is a photo that I like to keep secret…

To me, it looks like I am having trouble smiling due to the pudginess in my face…

The picture may not look that crazy, especially if you don’t know me that well.

But just compare that face to my face in the video above…

Now, I am not trying to say I was once massively obese…I’ve been into fitness a long time, so that would be hard to do, but I have done some things wrong. When you look at this picture of me, just look at my face

Can we agree it looks swollen, pudgy, or even just big??

It’s inflamed, really. And it was THIS exact picture my wife showed me years ago that made me realizeI had no clue what I was doing…

If you have seen any recent videos or pictures of me (like the one above) you will notice the difference. At this point in my life I was working out 2 and even 3 times a day, and tracking everything that went into my mouth…

• And I was about 200 lb and my body fat percentage was well into the teens in that picture…
• Compared to about 185 lb and 8% body fat now (and I’m stronger)…

Keep in mind this is not some transformational story where I talk about how my nutrition sucked, I didn’t workout out, blah, blah, blah and I turned it all around one day

No, this is when I was training for hours every single day AND tracking everything about my nutrition

And honestly, this is the worst shape I have ever been in

I tell you all this because I just want to give a word of caution and prove my OVERALL point for doing this series:

• Knowledge is POWER.
• Knowledge is RESULTS.

So the BIG mistake(s)…

• Following a plan that was REALLY high carb, REALLY high protein and basically NO fat…
• Eating LOW-quality CRAP foods to try and “meet” my macros…

That’s what I was doing.

I was trying to “meet my macros” but I didn’t care at all about the quality or types of foods. I was just making sure “it fit my macros” and my macros were WAYYY off from a healthy diet.

So what should you eat??

None of these lists are all-inclusive, nor paleo, etc. These lists serve only to give you an idea of what kinds of foods you may or may not want to include in your diet. It’s up to you to choose the best quality foods to suit your individual needs and tastes.

The RIGHT Way: Eat Quality Food and Develop a Good Macro Plan for Your Goals!

More About My Results (if you want to know)… 

Let me preface this by saying I hate shirtless selfie pics…

I could just never get on board with plastering pictures of me with my shirt off everywhere on my siteIt just doesn’t jive with my overall mission because I want everyone at End of Three Fitness to have a well-balanced approach; i.e. look good naked AND perform AND be healthy AND mentally tough

But since you are reading this series I’ll show you a few pics, because these shirtless pics help me make a point.

Like I said, I’ve been working out my whole life, so these aren’t ridiculous transformation pics.

BUT…

On the left, I am “bulking”, I’m slower and weaker than the picture on the right. I am also about 20 lb heavier in the picture on the left.

Yes, bigger AND weaker…and slower.

All I did to start the leaning process was slightly adjust my macro plan and continued/implemented some EO3 Training.

I focused on eating higher amounts of healthy fat, I lowered my carb intake and moved my protein to a moderate level (~1 gram per lb of bodyweight).

And it’s been about 6-7 months since that picture on the right was taken…I’ll have to take another shot soon and update you on my journey as we go.

But I want to say this…

My nutrition journey has been long with a lot of learning and bumps in the road…and guess what?

I’m still not where I want to be.

But the only way to start seeing results is to start!!

So let me know if you have any questions, and I will add that to Part 3 of this series.

To becoming better!

Jerred

**This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on counting macros to look good naked and break PRs in the gym:

• Part 1 – YOU ARE HERE – Counting Macros & Flexible Dieting 101
• Part 2 – How to Count Macros The Right Way AND How to Royally Screw it Up (like I did)
• Part 3 – Pros and Cons of Counting Macros (PLUS: FAQs)

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Have you heard of “flexible dieting”, or maybe you have heard someone say “that does/doesn’t fit my macros?”

It’s simply tracking and counting macronutrients, and this “dieting” strategy is gaining a phenomenal amount of popularity.

I can assure you this is not a fad, or something new. My first bout with tracking macros goes back to around 2003-2004.

It has a lot of appeal because you can really shape your body composition while having a ton of independence and flexibility. And, if you have a good macro plan, you can still meet your performance goals in the process.

Sounds like a winner, right?

The best part is the customization to the individual, so there is no hype, gimmicks or marketing that makes this THE DIET. It’s your plan, your macros and your goals.

It’s a great technique.

I may nerd out a little bit here because a little-known fact about my background is that my first two years of college were spent as a Food and Nutrition Science major, so I love getting into the numbers 🙂

Let’s so do this!

What are Macros?

We have to start at the most basic level.

What are macronutrients?

• Defined: a type of food (e.g., fat, protein, carbohydrate) required in large amounts in the human diet.

Macronutrients are the basic building blocks for energy, and we will refer to them as Macros.

You may be asking, since there are macronutrients, are there micronutrients?

Yes. Micronutrients are vitally important in your diet; things like vitamins and minerals, but they aid in health and are co-factors to us using macronutrients. However, they do not contain calories and are rarely tracked (even though they should be).

Back to macros. What are they?

Macronutrients are:

• Carbohydrates
• Fats
• Protein
• Alcohol

You’ve likely heard of all these macros. Here is what you need to know, numbers-wise:

Carbohydrates

• 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories

Fats

• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Protein

• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories

Alcohol

• 1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories

I won’t cover alcohol much further because I really don’t feel it should be a part of your macro strategy to aid in performance and body composition :), but to each their own.

So that is macros 101. Macros provide us with energy, they are in the food we eat and they all contain a certain amount of calories per gram consumed.

You now have the foundational knowledge to get started.

How to get started with counting Macros?

There are three main things you will need to get started with counting macros.

1. A macro-breakdown, or macro plan, customized for you and your goals (provided in this article).
2. Food Scale
3. Something to Track your macros

Let’s talk about each of these a little bit more.

1.) A Macro Plan.

I have created two calculators, one for low carb and one which follows a Zone diet breakdown (percentages) you can use as a starting point to having a macro plan, use the button below:

Barbell Macro Calculator(s)

**Right out of the gate, I will say if leaning, cutting or losing weight is your goal – go low carb. I will say the low carb calculator I created is something I have used…not based off of some formula I was given or googled. It is low carb, moderate protein and high fat. Having said that, your diet must be healthy and the fats you consumes MUST be healthy. If not, don’t use my calculators. 

If you are more performance driven, use the zone breakdown.

Both strategies will help you meet your goals. Period. However, the Zone breakdown will have higher carbohydrates for those who move a barbell around regularly.

If you don’t have a macro plan, everything else is useless. You don’t have to use mine, but you have to have one.

If you don’t there is no macro-goal each day, and really nothing for you to follow. You’d just be tracking macros for the hell of it.

Have a plan!

2.) A Food Scale.

This is pretty simple and where a lot of people get intimidated.

What!? I have to weigh and measure food!?

Yes. Yes, you do.

But it is easy. You can grab an accurate digital scale on Amazon for cheap — This is the one I use.

I’ll break this down in EPIC detail later in this series, but just know you need one, it’s very easy to use and you can do it!

3.) Tracking food.

You can use a notebook, excel spreadsheet, or smartphone app.

Really, do whatever works best for you.

With all the apps out there these days, with extensive food databases and daily tracking functionality, it’s pretty easy to track your macros.

Here are two apps I have used:

– My Macros+
– My Fitness Pal

The BIG idea

Now, you know what macros are, and how to track them, so why does this work?

Counting calories is rather arbitrary. Wouldn’t you agree?

A 2,000 calorie diet could literally be made up of soda, white bread and pop tarts

Calories are calories.

However, if you are following a macro-based plan, EVEN if you wanted to have your pop tarts it would count against your allowed allotment of carbohydrate grams for the day. So if you “run out of carbs” you now have to figure out how to get the right amount of protein and fat before the day is over (things we cover later in this series).

This is where the flexibility and independence come in 🙂

Counting macros essentially forces you to make better decisions based off of a plan which was designed for you. If you need to limit carbs, it will make sure you do that. If you need more protein it will make sure you do that. If you need more healthy fats, it will make sure you do that.

As opposed togo eat 1,500 calories to lose weight.

All calories are not created equal and quality does matter.

Now, counting macros is not magical, nor easy.

It takes work, and can be screwed up pretty badly. And that is what I am going to cover in Part Two of this series.

So in my next article we will dive deep in “How to Count Macros The Right Way AND How to Royally Screw it Up (like I did)”, where you know exactly how to accomplish your goals while following a macro plan.

You action steps for today:

1. Get a Macro Plan (click here to use mine)
2. Buy a Food Scale (if you don’t have one already)
3. Download an app or get a new notebook
4. Let me know what questions you have!! In part-3 of this series I will cover any and every question I get about counting macros and flexible dieting.

Barbell Macro Calculator(s)

To becoming better!

-Jerred