What Are Macros? How to Start Tracking Them as a Beginner

Macros, short for macronutrients, are the three nutrients your body needs in large amounts: protein, carbohydrates and fat. To start tracking them, log what you eat as you go, weigh what you can, and focus on just two numbers at first: protein and fibre.

That's honestly it for day one. Everything else in this post is here to help you understand what you're looking at, so the numbers stop feeling like a foreign language. You don't need to memorize any of it.

If you already know the basics and want the performance side of things, my post on [high protein macros for performance](/blog/macros-101-high-protein-performance) goes deeper. This one is for the very beginning.

What are macros, in plain words?

Almost every calorie you eat comes from protein, carbs or fat, with alcohol as a fourth. Calories tell you how much energy a food has. Macros tell you where that energy came from.

| Macro | Calories per gram | Its main job | |---|---|---| | Protein | 4 | Builds and repairs muscle. Also supports bones, skin, hair and your immune system. The most filling of the three. | | Carbohydrates | 4 | Your body's preferred fuel for training and for your brain. Fibre is a type of carb. | | Fat | 9 | Supports hormones and helps you absorb vitamins A, D, E and K. More than double the calories per gram, so it adds up fast. | | Alcohol | 7 | Not a nutrient you need, but it still counts toward your calories. |

Here's how they add up. 100 g of cooked chicken breast has about 31 g protein and 3.6 g fat. 31 × 4 = 124 calories from protein, and 3.6 × 9 = 32 calories from fat. That's about 156 calories, close to the 165 you'll see listed. Labels round their numbers, so the math is always a little off, and that's completely normal.

One more thing worth knowing: vitamins and minerals are micronutrients, and tracking macros doesn't track them. Two days with the same macros can look very different for your health. That's why we build most meals from whole foods.

Is this food a protein, a carb or a fat?

This is where most people get tripped up. A food isn't a protein source just because it contains protein. It's a protein source when most of its calories come from protein.

Three quick steps:

1. Find the grams of protein, carbs and fat for one serving.
2. Turn them into calories: protein × 4, carbs × 4, fat × 9.
3. The biggest number wins. That's what the food counts as.

For protein there's a shortcut I use with everyone I coach, the 10 per 100 rule: about 10 g of protein or more for every 100 calories. Add a zero to the protein grams. If the calories are at or below that number, it counts as your protein. 20 g of protein in 180 calories? 200 is bigger than 180, so yes. It's a coaching rule of thumb, not an official standard, but it works.

| Food | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Counts as | |---|---|---|---|---| | Chicken breast, 100 g cooked | 31 g | 0 g | 3.6 g | Protein | | Plain 0% Greek yogurt, 3/4 cup | 17 g | 6 g | 0 g | Protein | | Firm tofu, 100 g | 17 g | 3 g | 9 g | Protein | | Whole egg, 1 large | 6 g | 0.4 g | 5 g | Fat plus protein | | Cooked lentils, 1 cup | 18 g | 40 g | 0.8 g | Carb with bonus protein | | Cheddar, 1 oz | 7 g | 0.4 g | 9 g | Fat | | Peanut butter, 2 tbsp | 7 g | 7 g | 16 g | Fat |

Values are approximate and brands vary, so check your own label.

Which foods fool people the most?

• Peanut butter. It has 7 g of protein, but its 16 g of fat gives it about 144 of its 190 calories. That makes it a fat. Same for nuts, seeds and cheese.
• Whole eggs. A great food, but more of their calories come from fat than protein. Pair them with egg whites or Greek yogurt to reach your protein.
• Quinoa, beans, lentils and milk. Carbs with bonus protein. Lovely foods, just not your main protein.
• Combo foods. Baked goods, chips, granola, sauces, pizza, fries and most packaged snacks are a fairly even mix of carbs and fat. They're not off limits. They just bring a lot of calories and not much protein or fibre, so they rarely work as the main part of a meal.

If you want to get better at spotting these in the grocery store, my post on [health halo foods](/blog/health-halo-foods-marketing-vs-macros) walks through the most common ones.

How do I start tracking my food?

Tracking is a skill. Your first week will feel slow, and by week three it takes a few minutes a day. Here's what makes it work:

1. Log as you go. Right before or right after you eat, by photo, barcode, voice or typing. Logging at night from memory is where most food gets missed.
2. Weigh what you can. A food scale in grams is the most accurate tool you can own. It matters most for meat, rice, pasta, oils and nut butters. Cups are fine for liquids.
3. Match raw to raw and cooked to cooked. Meat loses water when it cooks and rice and pasta soak it up, so pick an entry that matches how you weighed it.
4. Scan barcodes, then double check that the serving size matches the package in your hand.
5. Choose good entries. Verified entries and plain whole food entries are the most reliable. Entries other users created are often wrong.
6. Log everything. Cooking oil, butter, sauces, coffee creamer, drinks and the bites in between all count.
7. Save your regular meals so you can log them in one tap.
8. Close beats perfect. Landing within about 200 calories of your target most days beats being perfect two days a week.

What should my first two weeks look like?

Week one: log everything honestly. Aim for your targets, but your main job is learning the skill and seeing where you're starting from.

Week two: build toward your protein target at every meal. Once protein feels easy, work on fibre.

For protein, aim for at least 1 g per pound of your goal weight every day, spread across your meals. In perimenopause or after? Set your life stage in the PRYMESTATE app and it puts you on the high protein option. For fibre, aim for at least 25 g a day (men, 30 to 38 g). That's a minimum, not a limit. If you'd like to see what that much protein looks like on a real plate, here's [what 140g of protein looks like in a day](/blog/what-140g-of-protein-looks-like).

Eating out? Pick the closest entry you can find and log it anyway. A good guess is always better than a blank day.

What are the most common tracking mistakes?

Nearly everyone makes these at the start:

• Skipping cooking oil and butter. One tablespoon of oil is about 120 calories. Measure it into the pan and log it.
• Forgetting drinks. Lattes, juice, smoothies, pop and alcohol can add hundreds of calories.
• Eyeballing portions. A heaping spoon of nut butter is often much more than you think. Weigh for a couple of weeks to train your eye.
• Mixing up raw and cooked. Logging cooked rice with a dry rice entry can make your carbs look two to three times higher than they are.
• Counting fats as protein. Use the 10 per 100 rule.
• Only logging good days. Gaps hide the patterns you most need to see. Off days are information, not a grade.
• Quitting after one off day. One day doesn't change your results. Stopping does.

A gentle note: tracking is a tool for awareness, not a test you can fail, and it doesn't have to be forever. Many people track closely for a while, then move to [hand portions](/blog/hand-portion-method-build-a-balanced-meal) once they know their foods. If tracking ever starts to feel stressful or takes over your thoughts, take a break and reach out to your coach or your healthcare provider.

Quick answers

What are the three macros? Protein, carbohydrates and fat. Protein and carbs have about 4 calories per gram, fat has about 9, and alcohol has about 7.

How do I know if a food is a good protein source? Use the 10 per 100 rule: about 10 g of protein or more for every 100 calories. If most of the calories come from protein, it counts.

Do I need a food scale to track macros? A scale in grams is the most accurate tool, especially for meat, rice, pasta, oils and nut butters. You can still start without one and add it later.

Which macros should a beginner focus on first? Protein and fibre. Build protein into every meal first, then work on fibre once protein feels easy.

How close to my targets do I need to be? Within about 200 calories of your target most days is a great result. Close most days beats perfect some days.

This isn't medical advice. If you have a medical condition, take medication, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your doctor before changing how you eat.

Sources. Health Canada. Dietary Reference Intakes tables (fibre adequate intakes). canada.ca. Health Canada. Understanding the Nutrition Facts table. canada.ca. USDA Agricultural Research Service. Energy value of foods (Atwater factors). Food values based on typical Canadian Nutrient File and USDA FoodData Central values.