The Unf*ck Your Fitness Podcast

209. Macros Q&A: Ratios, Nutrition Habits and Weekends | Macros Series

• Kristy Castillo

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I’m excited to wrap up the macros series with a fun Q&A - I received several awesome questions I knew I had to answer here!


If you’ve ever struggled with your “ideal” macro ratios, how to hit protein targets without going over on calories, or you’re looking for clever ways to add calorie-dense, nourishing snacks into your day, I’m diving into ALL of these in this episode.


I know it can feel overwhelming or confusing when it comes to macro calculations (this is something I hear often). While getting clear on your numbers for your goals definitely matters, perfection is NOT the assignment. 


Real, lasting results come from consistent and “imperfect” reps along the way!


The biggest takeaways I have for you? Do NOT rush this process, stop “winging” it, and quit overthinking. It’s totally possible to build a body you LOVE and achieve long-term results (no perfection required)!!


Episode recap:

  • How to figure out your ideal macro ratio + what those breakdowns actually look like
  • Tips for setting your “ideal” bodyweight goal when working toward body recomp
  • Calorie-dense, nutrient-rich foods that give you more “bang for your buck”
  • How to increase protein without pushing your overall calories too high
  • A practical breakdown on adjusting weekday calories if you typically eat more on the weekends
  • Key reminders to help you take action & keep moving forward


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SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Unfuck Your Fitness podcast. I am your host, Christy Castillo, and I'm here to give you real talk and cut the BS so you can actually enjoy building a body you love. I'm a personal trainer obsessed with giving you simple action steps to take you from feeling stuck to feeling sexy. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to today's episode. We are doing a macros QA. I wasn't sure if we would need to, if you guys would have questions for me at the end of the series. And I shouldn't be surprised because you guys always have questions for me, which I love because you know that I will answer them and I will answer them thoroughly. And so I really appreciate that. So we're going to go ahead and dive into just a couple of questions here on this QA episode. And then that will wrap up the macro series. So I'm excited. Hopefully, this macro series was really, really helpful. I will still be able to answer questions, you know, on Instagram. I can make posts out of questions. I can answer you right back in the DMs. I can answer you back on Spotify in the comments. So I'm definitely still around to answer these. And then, of course, if these questions get to be so many of the same questions, I will just do a separate episode on them. But for now, the macro series was really good, really thorough, different. We focused on different things than just the basics. We wanted to talk about all of the things, putting it into practice and making sure that you know it can be messy and it should be messy because if you're going to have to do this long term and macros are really just the basis of what you're eating to fuel your body, it doesn't, it doesn't have to be perfect because your energy input and your energy output are going to differ each day. So perfection, not necessary. But I hope the episode was so, so helpful. And I have some questions here that I think are going to be really helpful for me to answer. So there's not that many questions, but they are questions that cause me to get thorough with my answers, a few of them. So I want to go ahead and dive in because we're going to be talking about ratios of macros. And we're going to be talking about getting calories up with snacks that are calorie dense but not super sugary. I'm going to give you some suggestions for that. Then I'm going to talk about increasing macros a little bit. Then I'm going to dive into a lot of clients will hit their calorie goal, but they need to increase protein, but they don't have a lot of fats to give. So I want to give some suggestions and actually calculations that will help with that. And then averaging out your week so you can figure out how to eat a little bit more on the weekends and a little bit less during the week to make your average stay the same. So those last two questions are gonna, they're gonna require a little bit of calculation on my part and talking about a little bit of math there to, you know, calculate these macros. So I can make some graphics and stuff too to put on social media so that you can kind of see the example and not just hear it. I know I kind of need both myself to learn. So, and maybe even looking at it and then coming back to the podcast and hearing it will help you so you can plug in your own calculations. But yeah, really excited. I think these will, I think these are some really good questions that will give you some really thorough answers to common questions that these are things that I work on with my one-on-one clients that we actually calculate and dive into. So I am excited. So let's talk about this first question is how would I know the percentage of each macro to stick with? Please dive in more to macro ratios. I had a lot of this question or suggestion of diving into macro ratios. And so this is not just a one size fits all answer. And I think that's something that I want you to really be open to is knowing that and believing that there is not a one size fits all answer. You will have to give macros a little bit of time, and you will have to learn to understand your body and you will have to learn to trust your body. And I know that seems kind of annoying because it would just be easier for me to say, here are the percentages that you should stick to for protein, fats, and carbs. And voila, that is the magic. I just waved my magic wand and now you will lose weight and build muscle. And it is just so, so simple. It's not that easy in the sense that there's not a one size fits all. There's not one calculation that's going to work for everyone. And anyone that tells you otherwise is lying to you and trying to make it seem easier or sell you a calculator or a count or something because there's a lot of things at play here. When you think about people and their food and their digestion and their bodies and how it all works, you probably know people that have celiac disease and irrital bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome and leaky gut. And, you know, there are so many things. There's so many other things than just those. But those are just a few of the things that, you know, you probably hear people have problems with digestion or just anything along that line. And for that reason, this can't be a one size fits all answer. So I want you to just a lot of this, if you think about it logically, you're like, well, of course there can't be just a one size fits all. Like, there's so many different people with so many different food preferences and things like that. It really does matter. And so a lot of people might disagree with me here. A lot of people might say, no, there is a calculation that is best for body recomp or best for muscle mass growth or best for fat loss. And that's fine. But at the end of the day, it is true. Digestion, food sensitivities, all of that stuff have a play on how your body is going to digest and respond to the food, the macros that you are giving your body. Some people can digest carbs better. Some people can digest fats better. It matters. So if you have a really hard time digesting carbs and I give you a very high carb count for your macros, well, your body's gonna then be inflamed and pissed off, and your digestion is gonna be off, which then causes your whole body to be off. And then you're anxious and you can't sleep and you feel like shit. So that matters. It all matters, right? Because you're not gonna lose fat and gain muscle if your body's pissed off. So as far as body composition goes, as long as your calories are set at maintenance, let's say maintenance, if you want to build muscle and those fat at the same time, you want to stay at the same weight, fine. If you want to be in a deficit, if your calories are set there, or surplus, vice versa. If your calories are set correctly for your goal and you're hitting those calories and your protein is set correctly for your goal, carbs and fats can fluctuate. And that's a hill I will die on because that is a hill I have lived on. My carbs and fats fluctuate all the time. My clients' fats and carbs fluctuate all the time. So you do not need to be perfect. Your ratios do not need to be perfect, your macros do not need to be perfect. It would be best to advise a professional, not only a professional, but a professional that is good at their job and that takes it very seriously and that takes these things into consideration long term. Because you can get a macro count from anyone, but if they don't care and they don't kind of take these things into consideration, that macro count is not gonna be good for you, right? You know, AI can spit out a macro count for you, but if it doesn't have the correct information to go off of as far as food sensitivities and what your body is capable of digesting and not digesting and how your body is gonna work best for you, it doesn't matter. But at the end of the day, what I want you to know is just that if your calories and your protein are in a good place, carbs and fats can fluctuate, period. So figure out if you prefer carbs or if you prefer fats, if you however you want to fluctuate that, maybe set it at a certain set of at certain ratios, follow it for six weeks, see how you feel, see what your results are, see what your body composition is. If you're like, no, I kind of feel like shit doing this, change it, but give it enough time for your body to adjust and kind of see if it works before you change it. So that is my two cents on that. And I would like to give you some suggestions though, as far as protein. I like one gram per pound of body weight or goal body weight. If your current body weight is 200 pounds and you're like, well, I don't really, I can't really hit 200 grams of protein and I don't really want to stay at this weight anyway. Set your protein for one gram of protein per pound of your goal body weight. So starting at 140, starting and then work up to 150 and then work up to 160 if that's your goal weight. So it that's kind of something we'll talk about in a little bit too, about setting your goal weight. But protein, I like it one gram per pound of body weight or goal body weight. Usually the goal is the one we go with with my clients anyway, or start with. Totally, it doesn't have to be perfect. Carbs, I usually 35% to 45% of your calories are going to come from carbs. That's a sweet spot for most women. And then 20 to 30% of calories from fats is a safe and effective range. So that's what I like for that. So if you put that all together, protein is 30 to 35%, carbs are 35 to 45%, and fats are 25 to 30%-ish, right around there is where you can start. Start at all the lower end of those if you want to and build up. That's fine. So I'll talk about this later. You don't have to hit all these at once, leave room for progress. Like I said, start on the lower end of all those percentages and work your way up. That's fine. Make sure you leave room for error, make sure you don't need to be perfect. And then from there, just adjust based on your energy, your performance, and your results. Always be adjusting, but give it six weeks of one set of macros before you say, oh, this isn't really working for me two days in. You have to give it some time. And then how to determine a body weight goal. So uh the specific question was how to determine a body weight goal, especially when trying to tone slash lose fat and gain slash maintain muscle. So basically body recomp. So the scale is just one tool. So I wouldn't put too much weight, no pun intended. I wouldn't put too much weight on your goal body weight. I do have clients, as soon as they come to me, I'm like, okay, what are we thinking for a goal body weight? It's not necessarily that's not the goal we have to stick with for this entire time that we work together. But in your brain, what are you thinking right now if you weigh 200 pounds? If you are, what is a good goal weight that we can kind of start with? Usually it sounds a little something like this. Well, I felt and looked my best when I weighed about 140 pounds, but it's probably not realistic and that's kind of far away. So I would say somewhere between 150, 160 would be, you know, where I would be happy with the weight. But if I get to 160 and I love the way that my body looks, I don't really care about getting down to 150 or 140. I mostly want to be healthy and happy and have energy and understand macros and have a good relationship with food. That is generally what the conversation will sound like. So we're starting at 200 pounds, let's say, and you know, this particular woman is saying, Well, I felt my absolute best and looked my best and just was my most confident at 140, but I don't really know if I want to get there. So we'll say like 160. And I think that's a very realistic goal of, you know, we'll kind of see how I'm feeling along the way. Of course, we'll break it up into chunks, even starting from going 200 to 160 pounds. We'll do a first goal is 10 pound weight loss. The next goal is another 10 pound weight loss and so on. But for macro purposes, I will take that 160 pound goal and I will calculate macros based on that. And then I will take the 140-pound goal and calculate macros based on that. Typically, I start somewhere in between those two. So I take the two numbers that I've calculated for carbs, fats, proteins, and calories, and I meet somewhere in the middle. Or I start at the lower end to give room for growth, which is what I just mentioned before. That's exactly how I do it. But as far as determining a goal body weight, uh, that's tricky to do because so many of us put so much weight on that goal body weight, that number. And that's not at all what I want you to focus on. Because if you're if your goal is body recomp, yeah, you can have a goal in mind of like, oh, I think I'd look good in here and feel good here. But when you get there, you know, let's say you do get down to that 140 pounds. Let's say you do some quick fixes and take some things maybe to speed up the process. You lose a shit ton of muscle, you get to 140 pounds and you're like, well, I don't like how I look. This is not what I was going for. This is not what I had in mind. And you're not even happy there. So think about where you would be healthy and happy and just set some goals for that number. And then you can always tweak along the way. You're always gonna have to leave room for adjustments in this path. I hope I've made that clear. So that's a little bit about ratios and touching on a goal body weight, because it's important to have that goal body weight while you're figuring out your calculations. But just remember that the goal body weight, it's just to calculate, and then you're gonna change it from there anyway, based on the things I mentioned above: energy, performance, and results. Your goal body weight is a while down the road and it really doesn't hold that much value at the end of the day. Everything else with your journey is going to matter more. The second thing I want to talk about is I got this question that says, I really struggle getting enough calories. I've never been able to eat much in one sitting. What foods would you recommend that are calorie dense, but not also sugary? So that took the option to say Oreos right out because she said, not super sugary. So there goes that. We know I love my Oreos and my rice cakes, but I used to struggle with this too. I've always had people say to me, You don't eat very much at one time. You pick at your food, you eat like a bird. No wonder you're so skinny, blah, blah, blah. And I just really can't eat that much at one sitting, even now. And I still get comments on it. My daughter and I were eating pizza a couple of weeks ago out at a restaurant, and she was just, she can just eat so much more than me at one sitting, and then she can go hours without eating and then eat another big meal and go hours without eating. For me, I'm eating a smaller meal and then I'm waiting an hour and then I'm eating another smaller meal and waiting an hour. Like I'm just kind of grazing all day. I just get full pretty quickly. So I can totally relate to that. The trick there is to lean on calorie-dense, nutrition-rich foods, especially because you said calorie dense and not also super sugary. So I'm again assuming that you don't just want me to say cereal and Oreos, even though those things are okay. If you didn't have, if you didn't add the super sugary part in there, I would just say get some snacks. And I'm still gonna say that for those of you, I guess, that are hearing this and not really caring if it's super sugary some days. I'm not saying that I think that's great to have every single day. But, you know, if you have calories to spare and you maybe gave up Oreos or gave up ice cream and thought I'll never be able to have that again, well, work it in there. Try to, you know, lean on those things and figure out if you can have them and how much you can have. But for other things that are more calorie dense, we're going to talk about things like healthy fats. So nut butters, peanut, almond, cashew butter. You can add these to oatmeal, smoothies, toast, rice cakes, or even dip your fruit in it. Nuts and seeds are very high calorie, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, chia, flax, and pumpkin seeds. You can sprinkle them on yogurts, salads. So adding these things to foods you're already eating is a great start and just finding and keeping these alternatives or additions, I should say, on hand and then adding them in instead of creating a whole nother, a whole nother, a whole separate meal if you're already not hungry and you can't eat a lot in one setting. Avocado, you can put it on toast, on eggs, wraps, or blend it into smoothies, and it just makes it thick and so good. And then olive oil, avocado oil, you can drizzle that on veggies, pasta, or rice if you're already eating those things, and it's just an instant calorie boost to something you're already eating. And then dairy and dairy alternatives, so cheese, you can add to eggs, wraps, sandwiches, or snacks with crackers. A lot of people think I can't have cheese anymore. It's so high calorie, but you can sprinkle it on things and add a little bit of calories, and it'll add a little volume too to make you feel more full. Full fat Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, you can mix with fruit, granola, or nut butters. And then milk alternatives like coconut milk or oat milk, they're creamier and they're more calorie dense than almond milk, which a lot of people seem to go to when they're on a quote unquote health kick. Protein sources, salmon or fatty fish are great for protein and healthy fats. So swap out something you're already eating that's a protein source and make it more of a fatty protein source, a more high-calorie protein source. Because if you can't eat a lot in one sitting, you want to make sure what you are eating is counting a little bit more, right? So instead of having a turkey burger, have a regular burger and make sure the calories are up a little bit. As long as the other macros are okay, you'd be okay with that as well. Ground beef, turkey, or chicken thighs are slightly higher fat cuts that help with calories. And then eggs, make sure you have the whole egg, not just the whites, cheaper. It's versatile. You can do many things with it. And then it's also bumping up your calories. So if you're now just having like egg whites for breakfast on toast, maybe add some avocado and maybe have it be whole eggs instead. It's the same meal, you're just adding a little bit. Carbs that aren't sugary, rice, quinoa, couscous, oats, you can cook them in broth or milk for extra calories as well. Potatoes and sweet potatoes roasted with oil or mashed with butter. I love making sweet potatoes in the microwave or chopping them up and um having them in the air fryer so good and fast. Whole grain breads and wraps are easy to add spreads and protein and avocado on for some quick calories that aren't super filling. And then granola is calorie dense without being candy level sugary, but you can kind of grab it by the handful and it's yummy. And then easy add-ons or smoothies, just sneak in some nut butter, avocado, oats, full-fat yogurt, protein powder, chia and flax seeds, trail mix, nuts and dried fruit and dark chocolate chips if you want some sweetness. I always do. And then hummus and dips, you can pair with veggies and crackers and pita. A simple hack too is to add toppers, like I said. So olive oil, cheese, nut butters. Think about a topper. So as you're like, um, I can't eat that much at a time and I'm not really hitting my calories. I need to reverse diet. I need to eat more, but I'm not hungry. Add a little bit of granola onto something you're already eating that's sweet. Add a little bit of oil onto something that you're already eating that's savory. You won't even know it's there. Or like some dressings or something. It adds flavor, but doesn't impact it a lot. And really quick question for number three What is the best way to increase my macros by 50 calories per week? So I thought this was interesting because I talk a lot about if you're gonna reverse diet, we want to do it really quickly or sorry, not really quickly. We want to do it really slowly. So when I talk about that, I want you to remember to do it slowly, but how it's almost easier to have a bigger snack. So I really like this question. And since I do talk about it a lot, I thought I would touch on it very briefly because it's not hard. I think some of this stuff just gets overthought. We're overthinking the ratios, we're overthinking what I can add into my day that's only 50 calories. Because when I talk about increasing your calories by 50 every week, you know, or maybe for one week, and then the next week you increase it by 50 calories more, 50 calories more, et cetera, until you hit your maintenance or your surplus, whatever your goal is. When I talk about increasing by 50 calories each week, I'm talking about increasing it 50 calories a day. I've gotten that question a few times. I'm like, you're not eating just 50 calories per week. We're eating 50 calories every day that week. So we're adding 50 calories onto your daily amount. So what you're gonna do to do that is just increase something that you are already eating, increase the amount of, increase the portion size. So if you are already consuming three eggs for breakfast, have four. If you're already having two rice cakes a day, have three. If you're already having a sandwich, but you're cutting the bread in half and having, you know, half of a slice of bread on the bottom and a half slice on top, have a full slice on the bottom and a full slice on top. It doesn't have to be exactly 50 calories. And it doesn't matter really if it's proteins, fats, or carbs. Usually it's gonna be fats and carbs because I'm gonna get someone's protein in place before I'm gonna get the other two in place. But if we're gonna kind of increase them all gradually, which sometimes it can be a little bit of protein, a little bit of carbs, and a little bit of fat, then you can just figure that out across the board. But if you need to increase your carbs by 50 calories per day, then just have a rice cake, have a slice of bread. You know, it's really not that difficult. So don't overthink it and just find something you're already eating and increase the portion by a little bit, and you'll have 50 extra calories each day for that week. So now I want to jump into these mathematical equations. So get out your thinking cats here. But these are really good questions because I find that this happens a lot. So let's dive in here so that I don't go too much over the allotted time that I have for myself before my brain stops working. Okay, so example one of my this question that I've got from I believe these are both from the same person. And it's just kind of trying to essentially, she is trying to figure out how to make this all work. Okay. So we have like our calorie goal and we're trying to find our seven-day, 14-day average, and then we're trying to hit that goal every day. But then do we want to eat more on the weekends? Like, what the fuck? Right? Help me put this all together is kind of how I've gathered. It's like, we have some knowledge, but now what do I do with it? So I'm going to read what I was given here and kind of sum it up. So let's say I have this client, her calories are set between 1,500 and 1,600 calories a day. She can hit her calories. So she's hitting 1,600 calories per day. She's trying to get 140 grams of protein, but she's really only getting anywhere between 100 to 125. So she's low on protein. How do I increase protein without upping my calories? So she's hitting her calorie goal, not hitting her protein goal, needs to increase her protein goal, but she's already maxed out of calories. Sound familiar? Yeah, I hear this question a lot. So I also have some other numbers for you. So her fats are usually between 50 and 60, and her carbs are high at 125 to 150 grams. She said hi. That's her words, not mine. So if this sounds like you, if you're like, okay, I'm hitting 100 to 125 grams of protein, I need to be at 140. Can't get there. Fats are usually between 50 and 60. I've got a range, and carbs are between 125 to 150. The first thing we need to do, if this sounds like you, the first thing that we need to do is to be more consistent with your macros. So being anywhere between here and here, and here and here, and here and here, is really fucking with you. That is the first thing we need to do. And even for me to look at this, I'm like, we have got to find a little bit more consistency here. Yeah, you're consistently between here and here, and here and here. Take a shot every time I say that. If you have got to be more consistently here, not between, you've got to be consistently somewhere. Otherwise, that consistency is kind of made up. It's like we're consistently bouncing around and we can't do that. So that's the first thing that I want you to think about is to be more consistent. So for in this example, which again, I can type out and put it on my stories because it's gonna be confusing as I walk through it here. You're gonna be like, you lost me with the calories and all the numbers. But this is how you do it. So you're gonna start to be more consistent. So I'm gonna tell this client to start hitting 110 grams of protein. Yes, that was low compared to her 140 that she wants, but we have got to have a starting point. And like I said earlier, I want you to start low so that you have room for growth. So 110 grams of protein, 130 grams of carbs, and 55 grams of fats every day. Those are your new macros. What that equals out to in calories, okay, is you take your protein and your carbs grams times four, and you take your fat grams times nine, which gives you your calories. So your protein now is 110 times four, so 440. Your carbs are 130 grams times four, which is 520, and your fats are 55 grams times nine calories, which is 495. We add all those up and it's 1455, is where you're at for calories. So that's under your calorie range, but that's okay for now. We're just gonna do that for a week and make sure you are hitting that spot on. It is what it is. Now, this is just a suggestion. You can always change these by a cup a little bit if you want to get up to 1500, but it's 50 calories. You'll be fine. So we're gonna start there. When you are ready, we're gonna bump up your protein to 120 grams and we're gonna bump up your carbs to 140 grams. This now brings our calories to 480, 560 for carbs, and then still fat is staying the same. So it's 495. So we take 480 plus 560 plus 495 for the calories, and now we are at 1,535. So we've bumped up into that range. You've gotten your protein up a little bit. We're cooking, we're doing good, right? The next time we need to make a shift, we are only increasing protein because we've gotten your car, your fats are staying the same. You were already saying you were between 50 and 60. We already have you at 55. So those are staying the same. Carbs, I had set in the beginning at 130, which is at the low end of where this example was. So we're gonna keep those where they are right now at 140, because that's a really good amount. And that gives us room to just increase your protein. It's gonna be a little tricky to just increase your protein, but you're gonna figure it out because you've got some to play with. So if your protein source that you choose to increase your protein when you're ready to do this, if it has a little bit of carbs in it, you're gonna have to take your carbs away from somewhere else. So think about this ahead of time. Lay it out, scan your food choices, really do this, really do some planning here. We've got a plan for it. But now we'll have your protein at 130 grams. We're close. We're getting closer, right? Carbs and fats are staying the same. So this brings us to 1575 for calories. So we now have everything pretty close. You could actually stay here for quite a while because you are 130 grams of protein, which is steady. It's so steady because previously this person said they were at 100 to 125 grams. Now we're at 130. Your body's gonna change so much, so much with where you already are because you've gotten consistent. Right now, with these, this calculation that I have, you're at protein 130, carbs 140, and fats 55, calories 1575. Perfect. That's exactly where you wanted to be pretty much for your macros. The next bump up we can do is bump up your protein to 140 grams, bump up your carbs to 150 grams, and keep your protein at 55, if that's okay with you. And then that gives us 1655. So you're a little over your calories that you had there. But if you take your time and do this strategy, your body will be in really good shape. It's gonna trust you, it's gonna thank you. You're gonna be feeling good, you're gonna be looking good. And now we've gotten your macros exactly where you want them, and you're now at 1655 for calories. So that example is exactly how I would have you start to be more consistent on the lower end of those percentages and then bump up very slowly. You don't have to bump up every single macro. Our fats were in a good spot from the beginning, which is gonna keep you fuller. So that is exactly, exactly how I would have a client do that. So take this example and run with it. So now that we have that example, the second half of her question was. She had gone ahead and tracked her average for 14 to 20 days. And it came out to 1,500 calories on weekdays and 2,000 calories on the weekends. That was her average. That was her routine. That was what her lifestyle permitted. And it averaged out to 1,600 calories per day, like we talked about. She eats more on the weekends and she wants to know what her weekday calories should be to compensate. So right now she's eating about 1,500 on the weekdays, 2,000 calories on the weekends. And her overall calories, like I said, are averaging at 1,400. So to do some math here, what this looks like is you would take your average per day, which is her 1600. We times that, we multiply that by seven, times multiply whatever you said. We multiply that by seven, and that gives us 11,200 calories for the week. We now have 11,200 calories to work with. Now she's saying that for two days, Saturday and Sunday on the weekend, she gives herself 2,000 calories. So if you take 2,000 calories times two days, that's 4,000 calories. You take that away from the 11,200, and we now have 7,200 calories, 7,200 calories to work with on the weekdays, Monday through Friday, we get a total of 7,200. So we take that 7,200, we divide it by five days Monday through Friday, and that gives us 1,440 calories Monday through Friday. That is exactly what you would have to stick with to keep your average at 1600 per day, right? If you eat more than 1,440 calories Monday through Friday, your average is going to then be more. So if you go over 2000 Saturday, Sunday, or if you go over 1440 Monday through Friday, you're now above 1600 calories for your average. She also messaged me and said that she's just hungry. Like that's maybe not enough food for her during the week. Like if she's going into a cut soon, she has nothing to cut. What are we going to cut from 1400? We can't do that. So in this situation, if this was my client, I would suggest that they go into a reverse diet. So we would want to start bumping up. I'd probably leave weekend calories alone because you don't want to get too crazy. You know, 2000 is fine for this particular person. We if we have goals, we need to say no to certain drinks and snacks and going overboard. You have to plan it and just stick with it. But in this situation, if this can be your maintenance calories, it's perfect. If you feel good on this amount of calories at 1440 per day, Monday through Friday, if you feel full, energetic, you're gaining muscle, you're losing fat. If that's how your body is running effectively on these calories, then keep it. If you need to go into a cut soon, don't. You do not have enough calories to work with on this particular routine, this particular strategy. We would want to bump you up. And so I would probably start you with 50 calories. I would add 50 calories. I'd probably just make it 60. I'd bump you up to 1,500 calories Monday through Friday. Leave your weekends the same. And that's exactly where I would start your reverse. I would start you Monday through Friday, 1500 calories until you feel like that's a really good number. You know, the scale is back to normal, everything's staying the same, you're starting to get hungry again because that's your metabolism revving up. And then I would bump you up to 1550 during the week and I would stay there. And that is exactly how I would bump you up. That's only if you had need to go into a fat loss phase, a deficit. If you don't and you're happy with these calories, stay here. But if a lot of people are gonna be hungry on 1,440 calories per day. So definitely reverse diet in that situation. And I have other episodes on how to reverse to refer to if you need to, but 50 calories is a great place to start. It's slow, it's steady. A lot of people are not comfortable just increasing calories by 200 per day. That that seems like you're gonna gain fat. That seems like you're gonna gain weight. That seems bad. And so just slow down. There's no rush. So to wrap this up, I wanna give you some takeaways. And again, what we talked about was ratios and how you don't have to be perfect. And it depends on a lot of different factors. We talked about getting enough calories and some toppings that you can add or just little add-ins, additions that you can add to your food that would increase your calories for you without you having to go buy different meals and make another meal. We talked about how to increase macros by 50 calories per week, per day per week, because that's a little number and it's kind of hard to do. And then we talked about some equations that would work to get you to your goals. So, what I want to really drill home here is three things. One, don't fucking rush. This needs to be slow. Take the time to do your calculations, take the time to scan some foods, take the time to plan out a six-week reverse if you need to. And if you're gonna reverse by 50 calories this week every day, plan that out. Don't wing it. That's the next thing is map it out. Plan it out. Think ahead. This is your body, this is your health. You deserve to put some time and patience into your body. You deserve to spend a little time on yourself, spend a little money on yourself, cut in other areas. Don't cut cost and cut time and take shortcuts when it comes to your body and your health and what you are putting inside of your body and your brain. Very, very important. So don't rush, map it out, slow the fuck down. And the third thing is to stop overthinking. So don't rush, map it out, and stop overthinking. Nothing needs to be perfect. The macros don't need to be perfect, the ratios don't need to be perfect, the foods don't need to be perfect. Nothing needs to be perfect. In fact, it never will be perfect. The more you try to make it perfect, the more frustrated you're going to be, and the more times you're gonna quit and you're gonna need to start over. So that is how I want to wrap up my macro series. I bet this is the only show where you will find a macro series being wrapped up by don't fucking rush, map it out, and stop overthinking. But seriously, I hope that you have learned so much in these episodes. I want you to take it with you and start implementing everything from the very first episode. Go slow, implement one thing, make a note on your phone in two weeks to say, hey, go back and start step two now, right? Map it out. Okay. Take some time tonight. Instead of scrolling on your phone, turn that thing on, do not disturb, and get out your calculator. And that's probably on your phone, but you know what I mean. Turn your notifications off, turn all that off so you're not getting notifications. Open up that calculator app and do some math. I never thought I would say that because I don't like math. But let's really figure out what are your goals, what are your calories? What did Christy say? Do I need to be perfect? No. Start at the lower end of those macro ratios, give it a try for six weeks. And if you're starving in two weeks, bump it up by 50 calories every day for a week. If you feel good, do it another week. Okay. There are no rules, there are guidelines, there are things that you need to know, there are tools, there are truths, but everything is figure outable. Everything good takes time. And this is definitely not excluded from that. So I really hope this was helpful. I am so excited to keep answering questions and add on to the macros course. If you've already purchased the macros course, it's on my website. You'll be getting emails when I update that. But I'm really excited for that because I want to just keep diving into these scenarios. I feel like even going through those calculations on in the macro course would be perfect just to make it even more real life. So I hope this was really, really helpful. And I'm really happy to have done it and gotten so much great information to you. And I'm really excited to next week start talking about some other things that have to do with our fitness and dive into a little more just me off the cuff chatting with you because I have missed that. So please leave me a comment, leave me a question, leave me a heart, leave me five stars. And I will talk to you guys next week.

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Thanks for listening to today's show. Go ahead and leave a rating and a review, and of course, follow the podcast so you don't miss out on any future episode. So much if you came to connect with me over on Instagram at Christy CastilloFit. I will see you next time.