After reading that a fellow blogger had great results from eating Paleo and adjusting her macros to reduce carbs and increasing her fat intake, I was inspired to do a little digging. Here's what I came up with.
What are Paleo Macros?
For some reason, I assumed that Paleo (otherwise referred to as primal) eating is a meat-centric diet, but Mark’s Daily Apple actually recommends a macro ratio of around 65% fat and the rest in protein and carbs.
In this Paleo 101 post, he suggests a moderately active woman should only be eating about .8 grams of protein per pound of lean body weight (which is 110lbs in my case), so that’s 88 grams of protein for me or about 350 calories.
Paleo Macros & Carbs
In terms of carbs, he suggests aiming for about 80 grams per day, assuming that you’re not into endurance sports (which I gave up a long time ago), so that’s about 320 calories made up of lots of veggies, fruit, and a little sweet potato here and there.
From there, the rest of your diet should be gangbusters on the good fats, so avocado, nuts, coconut oil, olive oil…. generally all the yummy things I’ve always limited in my diet. Hmm…
Related: Intermittent Fasting - Breakfast haters will love this
Adjusting my Macros & Increasing Fats
Right now, my total caloric daily intake is about 1750 cals per day. With that said, according to Mark, my diet breakdown might look something like this:
- Protein 350 cals
- Carbs 350 cals
- Fats 1050 cals
Related: 3 Simple Tricks for Adjusting to a Low Carb Diet & Avoiding "Carb Flu"
Paleo Macros Means Eating More Fat
Now, given that I’ve NEVER eaten with this sort of ratio in mind, increasing my fats has actually taken a lot of planning and forethought. Since Monday, I’ve been eating the yolks in my eggs and amping up my nut butter consumptions with no complaints to be sure. I LOVE fat, but I’m still pretty scared of it.
The idea of eating that much of my diet in fat sorta freaks me out a little, but I’m working on turning that fear around. It’s also going to require a whole new perspective on food prep, so I’m pretty stoked about that part.
I’m going to give this a whirl for a few weeks since now is the time to try new techniques in my diet, before show season starts again.
I’ll let you know how it goes!!
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Caren is a certified yoga teacher, fitness instructor and author of The Fit Habit. Here she shares simple, low carb recipes, quick home workout ideas and practical ways to foster mind + body wellness.
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I don't even know where to start. Your adorable pups...those eyes. Eating egg yolks (score for the good guys). You can have yolk porn; I love it and guac is totally a healthy fat (we'll ignore the vehicle on which the guac was eaten), and you accomplished a crapton of stuff this week. I can't wait to see this product. You will show us one day, right?
P.S. cans of whup ass are my favorite. Go get 'em!