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Flexible Dieting:
A Guide to Macros & Eating for Life
by Krissy Mae Cagney
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Introduction
I do not know where you currently stand with your fitness and nutrition journey. You may be a weight room
veteran or you may have just signed up for your first gym
membership yesterday. There is no right or wrong when
it comes to fitness. The most important thing is finding
what works best for YOU. Whether you run marathons,
powerlift, bodybuild, Crossfit, or take Zumba classes, we
all have one thing in common: We all need to eat properly and adequately to sustain our training and maintain
a healthy body fat percentage. But what does that entail?
The point of this book is to educate you and help you
become a healthier and happier version of yourself. So
with this book, I offer guidance. I have literally compiled
every iota of information I have in order to help you help
yourself. (Of course there are going to some special cases
where this book wont be enough for you. In which case
you can further seek my guidance and I am more than
happy to work with you. I will touch on this more at the
end.)
ence and yet sometimes I still feel like I hardly know anything. Why? The human body is a very complex organism. Macronutrients, micronutrients, protein synthesis,
insulin, cortisol, testosterone, blood glucose, etc. are all
things that one needs to take into account. Every aspect is
individual because we are all individuals. The amount of
information-and maybe even more importantly misinformation-out there is completely mind blowing.
I try not to get angry over peoples ignorance when it
comes to food and nutrition, but unfortunately I cant
control the fact that 90% of the people giving nutrition
advice arent qualified to do so. I wish people would keep
their shitty opinions and shitty information in their own
shitty mouths. I know people who know everything there
is to know about fitness, human movement, and training,
yet lack any sufficient knowledge about nutrition. Even
though nutrition is the single most important aspect of
everything we work toward. All I can do is keep fighting
the good fight and provide you with as much knowledge
and information as I can to help you think for yourself in
an educated manner.
vious. For example, it is no secret that how you eat determines how you look, feel, and perform. I think it is safe to
say that most people want a killer rig. I think its also safe
to say that we all like to feel good.
WTF Is a Macro?
utation. Fat does not make you fat. They are essential and
crucial for our bodies to function at 100%. We need fat
to survive. We need fat for growth and development, for a
secondary source of energy, to maintain cell membranes,
and absorbing fat-soluble vitamins. Healthy skin and
healthy hair are products of a diet rich in fat. Fat provides
cushioning for our organs and joints. Essential fatty acids
cant be synthesized by the human body.. this means they
must be ingested by way of food.
Sources of PROTEIN:
Sources of FATS:
Most red meat, most pork (BACON!), fish, olive oil, coconut oil,
other oils, lard, tree nuts, seeds, peanuts, nut butters, avocado,
full fat dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, cream),
and egg yolk. Note that many sources of fat are also sources of
protein and/or carbohydrates.
Sources of CARBOHYDRATES:
Why Counting
Macros Wins
The battle is everywhere all over the Internet and on I mentioned previously that you dont need to have a
the social networks. There is a heated debate between the coach holding your hand for the rest of your life. The ultimacro people and Tupperware tilapia people.
mate goal here is to become an educated and independent
individual. A structured meal plan keeps you extremely
I was once a Tupperware tilapia person. I can admit it. I dependent on your coach. You keep going back to your
was brainwashed into thinking that structured meal plans coach, giving that person more money, and all you get in
were the only way to successfully stay on track. I thought return is a meal plan you know nothing about and an eatthere were good foods and bad foods. The bad foods ing disorder. You are left with no knowledge probably
were ANYTHING that wasnt on the meal plan. I get because your coach has none either.
it some people REALLY like structured meal plans.
You get a list of foods, you dont have to think, you dont Now lets get back to the skill of macro counting. By
have to understand the science of anything, you cook, you learning how to determine and track your macros, you
eat, you repeat: no knowing, just doing. THIS IS THE are thinking for yourself. If you dont want to think for
PROBLEM. There is absolutely nothing sustainable yourself and you want to pay someone to be a crutch, by
about following a meal plan.
all means, go for it. You will be controlled by food. But
by knowing food substitutions and knowing how to eat
People on strict meal plans usually feel bound to it and donuts without any negative consequences, YOU have the
even the slightest hiccup will produce a massive anxiety upper hand on food and YOU are in control. If you want
attack and overwhelming feelings of failure. If you want to eat for life, you need to learn the ins and outs of macto enjoy your life and briefly step away from your rigid ros. Because no adult should have another adult telling
plan, you typically cant do it without crying yourself to them what to eat until the end of time.
sleep after. I know people who avoid birthday parties and
weddings - some of lifes most cherished moments out When you fall off the meal plan, its fucking hard to get
of fear of the food. Thats no fucking way to live, dudes. back on. I know first hand. You have half a cookie, get
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a case of the fuck its, call it a day, and binge. This isnt
the case with macros. If you have half a cookie, you track
it, the macros in that cookie get subtracted from your daily intake, and you keep on going throughout your day. A
little 200 calorie whoops wont kill your vibe, where as a
2500 calorie binge will destroy a weeks progress. You can
adjust your intake with a 200 calorie hiccup. Not so much
with a 2500 calorie bender. Is macro counting sounding
more appealing yet?
Egg whites, steamed broccoli, tilapia, and oatmeal every
single day gets old. When you eat the same thing daily,
it loses its appeal. You can LOVE chicken but eating it
38 times a week may very well ruin chicken for you. You
become resentful of food. You crave things but you have
been brainwashed to think you cant have something if its
not on the meal plan. A lettuce wrapped turkey burger is
a GREAT meal, but since its not on your structured meal
plan, its not allowed. Who wants to live that way?
Fitness and nutrition come hand in hand. Fitness is not a
temporary thing. Nutrition shouldnt be either. Its a lifestyle. You have to be active and train year round, so you
need to have your nutrition in check year round as well.
You need to go into this realizing its a full lifestyle change
that needs to become permanent. If you want to get on
a strict meal plan or go on a diet in order to prep for
something or to get quick results, I am sorry to inform
you that you are contributing to everything that is wrong
with the industry. This is not the point of health and fitness. You are ruining something good.
It IS possible to be lean year round and have a banging
bod 365 days out of the year. The people who are able to
look good year round without major weight fluctuations
are people who have flexible diets. They train and eat for
life. Not for an upcoming event.
How to Determine
YOUR Macros
will put all their athletes and clients (who all have different goals) on a diet with the same macro breakdown.
How does that make sense? That means the diets are not
catered specifically to each person, theyre a generalization. This is completely backwards: A certain macro ratio
shouldnt be the goal of your diet, it should reflect the
I know how much conflicting information is available out goals of your diet. What works for you might not work for
there, and I know it can be extremely frustrating. Deter- the next person, and what works for them might not work
mining how many calories to consume a day and then for you. Your needs and goals are individual and you need
determining how many grams of each macro to consume to determine your food intake based on YOU.
within that daily intake is enough to give most people
a headache. But Im going to walk you through it. And There are many ways to do this, but I am going to share
once you have it, its easy to see how your macros add up the method that works best, which I have been successand fit together.
fully using for quite some time now. Ive done my research
and have applied it to my clients and myself. It works for
You will often hear macro trackers talk about their per- just about everyone. The result will be an individualized
centages. This is in reference to the ratios of macros for macro calculation that is derived from your caloric needs
their diet. This on its own is bullshit. Well, it can be. based off your training and physique goals.
Percentages on their own mean nothing. Stating percentages alone does not leave any clues about overall calorie Most of my clientele is interested in fat loss (and of course
intake, which could be dramatically wrong. There is also muscle gain), so I will go through what it takes to accomno magical macro percentage that gets people lean.
plish both.
There are quite a few coaches and trainers out there who
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with 13% body fat has an LBM of 130.5 lbs. Even though
the two people weigh the same, the person with lower
body fat will have more muscle. The person with more
Before we can get into what your macros will be, we first muscle is going to have a higher metabolic capacity and
need to determine how many calories you need. Here is require more calories. The leaner you are, the more you
my professional opinion: When it comes to lowering body get to eat.
fat, you want to be eating as much as possible while still
making progress. If you can cut fat eating 1750 calories For people who are extremely overweight (> 40% body(kcal) a day, why only eat 1400 calories? A larger than fat), it is best to formulate your calories based off your
necessary cut in calories leaves very little wiggle room to GOAL weight, or a weight between your goal weight and
drop calories further as your body adjusts and progress your current weight. If you are at a high bodyfat percentslows down. Too large of a drop will also cause a dip in age, you will have a longer journey than others. BUT out
performance. All of this adds up and means youll plateau of everyone, you will drop pounds the fastest initially.
and quit making progress all together.
You may not know your lean body mass but you can
Everyone wants overnight results. Well, its not going to make a very educated guess. Ideally you should get your
happen that way. You are making a shift in the way you body fat tested, but I understand that you may not want
think about and interact with food that will bring about to or you may not have the means to do so. Knowing your
positive changes which will last a lifetime. So dont take LBM is important so that you can formulate the most
dumbass shortcuts that arent long term. I know this isnt precise macros for yourself.
what you want to hear, but the slower your progress is, the
more permanent your results will be. Be patient. It will be
well worth the wait.
Now Im going to walk you through it.
So first things first: You will need to determine your
maintenance calories. Maintenance calories means exactly what it sounds like: The number of calories you need to
consume a day to maintain your current size. To do this,
take your current bodyweight in pounds and multiply it
by 11-14. This multiplier is how many calories per pound
(kcal/lb) you will be consuming. So which multiplier
should YOU use?
CARBOHYDRATES:
The last thing to take into account is how your body responds to carbs. Now when I say this, I dont mean how
you THINK your body responds to carbs. I mean how
your body actually responds to them. For example, people
with diabetes or celiac disease really need to be careful
with sugar and wheat, two of the most common forms of
carbohydrates, their bodies will not respond well to either.
Taking all these things into account, a sufficient amount
is 1.0-1.5g of carbs per pound of LEAN BODY MASS.
The lower end of that for a cut and the higher end of
that for a bulk. Take the number you determined for your
protein intake and start there. Match it to your protein if
you want to remain fairly low carb, slowly increase from
there as you see fit. Dont overthink this too much. You
can keep tweaking. I would suggest for MOST people
1.1xLBM in grams of carbs a day.
Now that I have protein and carbs set, I need to determine my fat. To do this, I first need to determine the
number of calories that make up my protein and carbs.
Remember that both protein and carbs have 4 calories per
gram (4 kcal/g). All I do is multiply my protein and carbs
by 4. Then I add them together:
155g protein (4 kcal/g)+155g carbs (4 kcal/g)=1,240 kcal
Take that number then subtract it from my total calories:
2158 (total kcal)-1240 (protein + carbs kcal)=918 kcal
I have 918 kcal left which needs to come from fat. Since
fat is 9 calories per gram (9kcal/g), I take the calories
and divide that number by 9. The result is how many
grams of fat I will need:
918 kcal9 kcal/g= 102 grams of fat
My MAINTENANCE Macros are:
155g Protein, 155g Carbs, 102g Fat.
Now just to give you more examples, lets say I decided
to intensify my training a bit. I would increase my carb
intake to help my performance. The number I choose is
somewhat arbitrary, but sticks to being between 1-1.5 g of
carbs per pound of LBM:
(155g protein x4kcal/g)+(195 g carbs x4kcal/g)=1,400 kcal
The total calories remains the same, but since there are
more calories coming from protein and carbs, my fat intake will drop:
2,158 total kcal-1,400 (protein + carbs kcal)=758 kcal
758 kcal9 kcal/g= 84 grams of fat
My MAINTENANCE Macros TWEAKED are:
155g Protein, 195g Carbs, 84g Fat.
Two VERY different sets of macros all because of a change
in my training; keep in mind that you will have to tweak
and occasionally recalculate as your body and your training changes.
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When it comes to calories, one gram of both protein and carbs has
4 calories (4 kcal/g). You will notice fat has more than 2x the calories per gram (9 kcal/g). This is what partially led to the myth that
fat makes you fat. Its simply not true. However, it is important to
remember this difference in calories when calculating your macros.
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Recalculating vs
Tweaking
MACRO TWEAKING
Tweaking is much different than a recalculation. Tweaking usually only takes place in the first few days after you
macro calculation; during this time you are testing out
the waters of your macros.
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Lets say you set your carbs fairly low and your fat a little high because you think thats what you prefer well
you get a few days in and feel like your training is suffering and you are lacking energy. You should tweak by
increasing your carbs and lowering your fat (make sure
that you are still hitting your daily caloric intake). More
carbs mean more fuel.
Or maybe you are getting to the end of each day 10 grams
over on your fat and 30 grams under on your carbs. You
cant for the life of you figure out how to lower the fat and
increase the carbs. This is usually a pretty big indicator
that your lifestyle would prefer the increase in fat and the
decrease in carbs. That is completely ok if you are still
right around your calculated caloric intake.
You by no means should be tweaking very often. Continuously tweaking daily or weekly will get you nowhere. It
is simply playing with your numbers to find the best way
to consistently hit one set of numbers for a longer duration of time (about 6 weeks).
MACRO RECALCULATING
I would suggest a full macro recalculation should be done
every 6 weeks (4 weeks at the VERY minimum). I say six
weeks for two reasons:
1) I think that ones body composition can drastically
change in about six weeks timeboth body fat percentage and body weight. Keep in mind that just because the
scale has not changed, it doesnt quite mean your lean
body mass has not changed. You might stay at 180lbs but
180 at 20% bodyfat is a lot different than 180 at 15% bodyfat. Lets say you dropped 1-5 pounds in six weeks time
but your body fat went down 3-4%. That could be anywhere from 3-10 pounds of fat loss (depending on your
weight), but it also means that you increased muscle mass
therefore increased your lean body mass.
You need to make sure you arent only tracking your macros but tracking your progress. How will you know what
works best for you if you arent taking notes? I am not
telling you to weigh yourself every single day. I personally have a scale obsession so I choose to stay off of it. I
track my progress by way of photos and measurements.
(I would take note of how my clothes fit but I only wear
spandex so thats not realistic for me.) Keep a journal.
Note your macros for each current phase and write down
how you look and feel. This is how you learn. It is ALL
trial and error. Whether you calculate your own macros
or I calculate your macros, its all one big experiment. You
are going to know how your body is and/or will react far
better than I am able to. This is why I am teaching you
this skill. You arent going to nail it right off the bat, the
first few weeks may be rocky but I can tell you this it
only gets easier and easier.
Or perhaps you lost 25 pounds in six weeks time by tracking macros and training hard. You clearly are going to
need to recalculate because your weight and body composition is entirely different than what you started with.
I do not think you should recalculate sooner than six
weeks because any less time wouldnt yield significant results that would need a full recalculation. The only time
you would need to recalculate often would be if you were
competing in bodybuilding, in which case you are working with a coach who hopefully knows what they are doing.
IMPORTANT: If your initial macro calculation is still
continuing to get you awesome results at 6 weeks, there is
absolutely no need to recalculate it. Do not fix something
if it isnt broken. If you hit the six week mark and are
still getting results, keep going and recalculate once you
plateau.
2) The second reason I highly suggest a full macro recalculation every six weeks is because typically most peoples
training regime changes every six weeks (if you are on
my programming, you know a majority of my programs
run for six weeks). When your style of training changes,
your eating needs to change with it. For example, when I
start a strength training program I need to reevaluate my
carb intake, as I will surely need more in order to sustain
strength training. If your training is drastically changing
every four weeks, you can recalculate your macros every
four weeks if you feel it necessary to do so.
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Let me say it again: Meal timing is horseshit. The biggest myth in the fitness industry is that you need to eat
six small meals a day. If anyone has ever tried to tell you
that eating small meals more frequently boosts your metabolism, that person is a complete moron. Anyone who
has ever said, Eating every two hours tricks your body
into burning more calories! clearly doesnt have much
knowledge of the human body. The human body is a
I can tell you, you are probably overthinking it already. complex and advanced living organism that has evolved
You are most likely NOT going to hit your exact mac- over millions and millions of years and learned to survive
ros on day one. Itll take a week. Maybe even two if this at extremes. It is not easily tricked. That is absurd. Long
whole process is new to you, and thats OKAY.
story short: Do not think you need to consume multiple
small meals a day. That is an old school bodybuilding
Before we even begin to set up your diet, lets get sassy. technique that doesnt have any scientific evidence supIm going to address some common misconceptions and porting that it works better than any other method. Eat
myths: dairy is bad, gluten is bad, sugar is bad, dont eat when you are hungry and eat until you are full. Just track
after 8pm, you have to eat 6 small meals a day to stoke the it and carry on with your day until you are hungry again.
metabolic fire, and so on. All of this is bullshit. Nothing Science and practicality prove that you need to eat when it
is automatically good or bad. The only food consumption best suits you. Just stop once youve reached your macros.
that matters is what you consume post workout, which So you can take the concept of meal timing, tie it to a
16
As for the food scale: Get one. Use it. It keeps you aware
and honest. It doesnt need to be fancy or expensive. Just
get a digital scale so you can have accurate measurements.
You literally have absolutely zero way of knowing if you
are hitting your macros if you arent weighing and measuring your food. Period. How else will you know that six
ounces of chicken breast is really six ounces? That tablespoon of peanut butter needs to be ONE tablespoon. Not
one and a half as that half can completely throw you off.
MEASURE.
and carbs right before you train and continue eating your
carbs post workout until you hit your macros. If you train
at 7pm, you will ideally be eating your carbs from 5pm
until bedtime. So ignore that whole no carbs after 7
nonsense. Theres no night time insulin fairy waiting to
magically store your carbs in your fat tissue when the sun
goes down. Your bodys metabolism doesnt slow down at
night.
I am not saying that your evening meals should contain
ZERO fat, as that would be damn near impossible. Its
just a loose guideline.
If you train in the morning, eat carbs and protein right
before and right after your workout and taper it into protein and fats as the day goes on.
There may be times when your macro timing gets skewed.
It happens. If you ate all your carbs before you worked
out, oh well. You simply adjust and wont eat any carbs
post-workout that day. Which is FINE. It wouldnt be
called Flexible Dieting if it werent flexible.
18
Again, be consistent with it. But life happens. This will help you
optimize your results.
Flexible Dieting
AKA The Fun Stuff
This is surely what you have been waiting for. You see
it everywhere more commonly known as If It Fits
Your Macros (IIFYM); people with insane bodies stuffing their faces with donuts, burgers, pop tarts, pizza, you
name it. Before we dive in, let me say this: I dont necessarily support IIFYM as that form of dieting doesnt
exactly support eating for health, but IIFYM works for
aesthetics. You can literally get jacked by eating nothing
but non-nutrient dense foods (aka crap) and hitting your
macros. But eating this way does not take into account
the health of the brain, heart, or other organs. I prefer
the term flexible dieting as that is exactly what it is: being able to be flexible and non restrictive with your food
choices while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Your
food possibilities are endless, you dont have to eat the
same meals day after day if you dont want to, there is
nothing off limits. You can have what youre craving. It
just takes some simple tracking/planning. Then you develop an overall healthy relationship with food as opposed
to fearing it. By no means am I suggesting that ANYONE
eat pure crap; you may not see negative repercussions on
the outside, but they will be taking a toll on your insides.
Do not attempt to fill your carb intake for the day by eating a shit load of green veggies. They are exteremely difficult for your body to break down and believe it or not,
you will begin to feel sluggish because too much energy is
going into breaking down your food. Too much fiber can
almost be worse than not enough. Aim for 25-40 grams
depending on your size and carb intake. Fiber IS included in your total daily carbs. You are not counting net
carbs you are counting your actual carbohydrate intake.
Therefore, do not subtract your fiber from your total carBeing super restrictive all the time sets you up for mas- bohydrate intake.
sive binges and its not healthy to completely deprive your
body and deny its cravings. But I will say this: If you do One thing that will become very normal to you is savget all your calories from junk, youll probably feel ing your macros. This is the fun part, and where you can
like junk definitely not what you want before a heavy get REALLY flexible. This is my favorite part. I know my
squat session. Even though 50g carbs is the same whether sweet tooth is going to kick in every single night. So I peryou consume it by way of processed sugar or by way of sonally make good choices all day, dont eat anything that
green veggies, one is obviously more nutrient dense thus is going to take up too many macros, and save as many
healthier.
as I can for nighttime. So with my leftover protein, carbs,
and fat I am usually able to make some frozen yogurt,
As I previously mentioned, there is a common miscon- peanut butter, cereal, and fruit concoction. Getting to
ception that macro counting and flexible dieting means make these sweet creations every night is what keeps me
eating whatever the hell you want. This couldnt be more on track all day. And, because we know that its calories in
false. Its not just a free for all bacon wrapped donut fes- vs. calories out, as long as I stay within my allotted mactival. I know at times I make it look that way, but thats ros, I do not need to be worried about #carbsafterdark or
hardly the case. Let me put it this way: Lets say you are eating past 7pm. We have debunked these myths already.
on a cut and you are consuming 170 grams of protein a
day, 190 grams of carbs a day, and 65 grams of fat a day,
good luck filling your macros with pop tarts, french fries,
and ice cream. In order to get that much protein, while
somewhat restricting carbs/fats, you are going to have no
choice but to rely heavily on things like eggs, meat, poul20
The concept of rest days and refeeds can be a bit confusing. Youre probably wondering how your macros should
change on your rest days, or whether or not you need to
give yourself a re-feed day. Ill discuss the importance of
both in this chapter.
Why is it important that your refeed only consist of an increase in carbs? Because, carbohydrates turn into glucose
and leptin responds directly to glucose metabolism.
Leptin may be a new term for some of you, or you may
have heard it but never understood its function. Leptin
is the mother of all fat burning hormones according to
Dr. Layne Norton. Its a hormone in our bodies that is
essentially a metabolism controller and hunger regulator.
Its job is to tell the brain that we are full after a meal,
however when on a deficit for too long, the levels of leptin
can become so low that the message never makes it to
the brain. Our brains actually realize that leptin is low
and assumes that we are not properly fueled, thus causing
hunger pains and cravings. Re-feeds will raise leptin levels, regulate metabolism and decrease cravings.
In order to determine whether you need a re-feed or not
you need to think about a few things. Anyone with a lower body fat percentage (10% or lower for men and 15% or
lower for women) is going to need at least one re-feed a
week. If you have been on a particularly long cut (15-16
weeks) you will most likely want to incorporate 2 re-feeds
a week. If you have only been on a deficit for a few weeks,
you will probably not need a re-feed. I recommend implementing a re-feed day no sooner than 4 weeks into your
cut, and that is only if you have plateaued.
The timing of your re-feed day is important as well. Your
re-feed should be planned on the day you work your
weakest body part, or the day you train the body part
that is most taxing for you. If you train in the morning,
then you should re-feed the day prior so that your glycogen stores are replenished by the time you train. Although
it is less common, some people choose to re-feed on their
off days, this is an excellent way to allow your muscles to
recover. If you choose to do this, make sure that you have
a heavy training day the following day. Never plan your
re-feed on the day before a rest day.
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Planning Ahead
Eating Out
Eating out does not have to be a thing of the past when
following a macro plan. I want to stress that this is supposed to be a lifestyle, the goal here is to find something
that allows you to meet your health and fitness goals but
still allows you to live your life. You should not have to
sacrifice any sort of social life in order to achieve your
goals. Similarly, you do not want to be that person who
brings their tupperware meals or their food scale to a nice
restaurant. Dont be a dickhead. Learn your portion sizes,
look at the menu ahead of time, ask for substitutions and
use common sense so that eating out will be a breeze.
Special Cases
again, we can get start the fat loss process over again the
HEALTHY way opposed to the starvation way.
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Conclusion
Hopefully after reading this book you now feel a lot more
comfortable with the concept of macros and nutrition in
general. I have laid everything out for you in an effort to
teach you how to fuel your body properly. You now have
a formula for determining macros at your finger tips. In
addition to that Ive given you several tips on how to diet
flexibly, how to properly track your macros and even how
to handle going out to eat. Ive given you all the tools
necessary to make this lifestyle choice an easy and maintainable one.
wont have a damn clue if youre logging your intake properly. I know Ive said that youll get to a point where you
are familiar with portion sizes and will most likely be able
to visually measure; however, when you have the technology available to be precise, do so.
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