Macros vs Calories + Tracking Food

Macronutrients Vs Calories 

This is an ever-evolving and potentially controversial conversation when it comes to tracking nutrition and working towards compositional goals.

Calories tell us the overall energy consumed, while macronutrients are a breakdown of where those nutrients sit in categories based on the energetic impact they have. 

Calories are widely understood and more common across the general population, while macronutrients are more specific and enforce balance within a diet.

For instance, it’s very easy to meet your daily calorie requirements with 90% carbohydrates, but this person would be lacking the hormonal benefit of consuming enough fats over time, and the impact protein has on muscle lean muscle retention. 

There is a lot more to nutrition and our health than just composition and goals similar – but I acknowledge that when talking to clients or Fitness students, the practical application of nutrition is going to be less around general health and disease prevention – and more composition goals.

Let’s explore the 4 macronutrients: 

• Carbohydrates 
• Fats/Lipids
• Protein 

(**Alcohol is a Macronutrient although because it is not encouraged it is often left out, and rarely proactively tracked) 

Carbohydrate is our body’s main source of fuel – for building muscle, brain function, organ function, and basic survival. 

We have:

• Simple Carbohydrates (sugar) 
• Complex carbohydrates (fibre + starches)

The Australian guideline for healthy eating recommends eating plenty of vegetables, legumes, beans, fruit, and grains for carbohydrate intake, but naturally, for balance, this will also include processed foods and sweets. Carbohydrates increase our blood sugars, which initiates insulin release to regulate this increase – this negative feedback loop contributes to why carbs don’t fill us up for long. 

Fats play a number of essential roles in our body function including – the development and maintenance of cell membranes & nerve tissue, and regulating our endocrine system (hormones, including reproductive, cortisol, thyroid, etc). Fat is also a source of energy and fat in our diet helps us absorb other nutrients and vitamins consumed efficiently. 

You will commonly find a high-fat content in nuts, seeds, dairy products, fish, fatty cuts of red meat, oils – and then processed foods like deep-fried items and baked goods/pastries. 

Protein has a few roles in the body: 

1. It helps grow and repair muscle in the body 
2. Keeps us fuller for longer 
3. Maintains metabolism 
4. Oxygenates the body 

We know muscle burns fat more than fat burns fat – so consuming protein and maintaining a healthy amount of lean muscle in the body will manage our metabolism and structural framework.

We can find higher protein in food such as meats, poultry, seafood, most dairy, and eggs. 

Whether you follow Calories or Macros when it comes to values and nutrition, they are both relative 

For every gram of carbohydrates= 4 calories 

For every gram of protein = 4 calories 

For every gram of fat = 9 calories 

For every ml of alcohol = 7 calories 

These make up the total calories for the food or diet. 

For example, when you look at the back of a packet for food of 4g fat, 25g carbs, and 11g protein – you could calculate the total calories of that item.

You’ll also notice the value of calories in a gram of fat compared to carbohydrate is significantly higher, so when you consider the impact of diets like Keto, or small changes like halving your oil usage when cooking, it can have a significant impact on your overall energy intake. 

Across our food packages, advertisements, recipe books, and other food-related media you will see the kilojoule recommendation for the average healthy adult as 8,700kj per day = 2079 calories per day. 

The Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) is a guideline macro split for the healthy adult which is: 

Protein – 15-25%

Fats – 20-35%

Carbs – 45-65%

Based on personal goals and circumstances, this can be subject to change, but it’s a great marker to begin with in navigating the macro and calorie space. 

So why do people track?

People track for many reasons such as understanding the nutritional value of their food or intolerances and medical reasons but the most common reason for tracking is managing energy consumption, mostly for compositional goals (ie. lose weight, maintain or gain weight). 

Weight loss 

• Requires a deficit 
• To lose weight you need to be consuming less energy than you are using 

Muscle gain 

• Requires a surplus 
• To Gain muscle/weight you need to be consuming more energy than you are using
• We need more food for the energy to train at the intensity muscle gain demands / If our muscles aren’t repairing, they will not grow 

Maintenance 

• To maintain your weight – you should be consuming the same amount of energy you burn 

Let’s talk about Deficit…… 

The first element is to understand how we achieve a deficit – your daily energy expenditure comes from these 3 components – 

Basal Metabolic Rate – 65% 

Thermic Effect of Food – 25% 

Physical activity – 10% 

In considering this – the most impactful way of managing our energy in vs. energy out is through nutrition and energy consumption, rather than exercise. 

Again, we know to lose weight you need to be consuming less energy than you are using. 

There are many diets such as Keto, Atkins, Medditiarian, and Low-Carb diets that can achieve this due to consuming less calories in certain themes, but unless you have health complexities is there a need to revamp your entire diet to achieve a deficit? NO. 

Your body doesn’t know if it’s a donut or an apple from a calorie standpoint – but it does in how it utilises that energy and how it impacts your body’s overall function (and the nutrients it provides).

But for fat loss/gain = no, calories are calories and how you use them is up to you, and reframe the ideas often fed to us that there’s ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food when it comes to weight loss, here is simply high nutrient foods, low nutrient foods, and then everything in between.

Tracking is a very very powerful tool around Nutrition – but it can be a slippery slope, and the best way to think about Tracking is – instead of control, consider it a tool in knowledge 

I believe the most healthy way to approach tracking is TEMPORARY, and you are doing it to gain insight, learn about what you are eating, and develop a new skill. I would always encourage clients or people around me to track their food consistently and quite rigidly for 2 weeks…

Let me explain why 

1. You understand where each thing you eat falls in the category of macros 
   For example – when you drink a boost juice and realise it has 50+ grams of sugar, or that many low-fat options then have high carbohydrate
2. You understand where in those macros you are sitting each day
   For example, you often feel hungry – and then this causes you to realise you are significantly under-eating protein 

3. You start finding things you could increase/decrease for your own benefit – whether that be goals, hunger, energy

4. And you may find items you could substitute 

5. You will also notice the value of some things you thought insignificant

• Such as how much oil you use to cook and the amount of fat that contributes to your day 
• The caloric value of nibbles here and there of your kids or partner’s food 
• That bickie you have with your coffee each morning 
• The sugars you put in your coffee 

** Now all of these things may not be cause to change, but the most power you can have is knowledge around what you are putting in your body and the value it has 

6. You begin to understand what a serve looks like – for example, half an avocado maybe 50-60g and roughly 10g of fat 

7. You may notice a palm size amount of rice is enough to fill you and that is 100g cooked 

All of these examples are to give you the skill to be able to mentally track and understand what you’re consuming WITHOUT physically tracking.

This is ultimately the best skill you can develop and it comes with just a little practice.

I understand tracking is hard work, time consuming, effort, requires measuring and weighing and attention to detail, but the goal is to introduce it knowing you will not have to do it forever or even long term.

As mentioned, tracking is a slippery slope and despite its glaring benefits – tracking just isn’t for some people, or can be more harmful than good for some people. For example – someone with a particularly troubled relationship with food.

So there are some other ways without rigidly tracking that can help create the same awareness 

Substitutes for food tracking 

Photos for reference 

• taking photos of your food and recognising what made you full, what didn’t, the ratio on your plate – or providing the photos to your PT for some suggestions and guidance 

Using food items to identify servings – tracking food items through the servings you eat 

• You know 1x banana with your oats is a good amount of energy for the day, and you know the value of that item 
• You know 1x steak or 1x piece of salmon is enough protein for your dinner and contributes to your fat intake for that day 

Single-serving snack/packaging 

• Buying single serves packs of popcorn, protein bars, yoghurts, chips 
• Easy quick snacks and items that you know the value of single serve – no estimating or measuring needed 

Ratios on a plate 

• being able to look at your plate and distinctly see % of each macro or it balancing throughout the day 

If you don’t want to track everything you eat – prioritise protein 

• If you’re getting sufficient protein in each meal, this will manage your hunger and generally cause your body to want to snack less / sustain you over longer periods of time 

Write down everything you eat in your notes app 

• either to reflect on after 
• watch for patterns – this could be on days you exercise, days you felt more full or hungry what you consumed, days you got your period, etc 
• to show your PT for guidance 

Consider meals you value a lot and meals you value very little 

• for example, in a day track how much that meal means to you for joy, for energy, for social benefit 

Overall, the mission of understanding the art of tracking is for knowledge and giving yourself or your clients control within their nutritional journey – but the ability to prioritise and choose. 

Understanding how to get from A to B with nutritional goals, while understanding we’re human and this cannot be our only focus.

Please acknowledge the scope of practise as a fitness professional in providing additional value with nutrition guidance – unless a nutritionist or dietician, explicit quantities (specific macros, calories, or food plans to follow) cannot be delegated or provided and is out of scope, but the understanding around tracking, and knowledge around these tools are within scope. 

If there is anything you are unsure of or not confident in discussing – refer to a nutritionist or dietician.

• Bio

Renee Curran

Renee has been a PT since 2015 (9 years), and has worked for herself, Fitness First, YMCA, F45 and her longest stint - Vision Personal Training. Her coaching specialties are with beginners, weight loss clients and Powerlifting. More recently Renee has obtained her Diploma in Nutrition and further studying Bachelor of Nutrition & Dietetics which she will complete in 2025.