“Track your macros.” A lot of you have heard me say this time and time again. If you track your macronutrients (macros), or as I like to say “track your shit!” you’re going to know exactly what proteins, carbs and fats you ate, how they affect your body, and how to have a healthy relationship with food.

But for a lot of other women who have never experienced one of my Jessie’s Girls Training Programs, or my Jessie’s Girls Training Camps, or any kind of if it fits your macros (IIFYM) meal plan, tracking your food intake can be very confusing and overwhelming! From understanding what foods to eat, to understanding how macros fit into the big picture can be a lot to digest…. Literally :)

While diving into all these questions regarding if IIFYM is really important, I want to start from the very beginning, Basal Metabolic Rate.

BASAL METABOLIC WHO?

Basal Metabolic Rate, also known as BMR, is the amount of calories you burn at rest, aka, how many calories it takes for you to just lie there and keep on living. As an example, let’s say your Basal Metabolic Rate is 1,410 calories. That means you burn 1,410 every single day by just breathing, blinking, and thinking about food ;) You already burn calories just by being alive.

But what does this have to do with exercise? Well, BMR is important to understand because that specific BMR number is unique to YOU. By understanding your BMR, you can begin to understand how many calories you CAN and SHOULD eat, rather than how many calories you need to restrict yourself to lose weight. So, in order to know how many calories you’re burning while you’re at rest, you have to be able to calculate your BMR.

Knowledge is power, and most people try to lose weight thinking they need to restrict caloric intake only. What happens when we begin to restrict our calories in large quantities is that our metabolism begins to slow, decreasing our opportunity to decrease extra weight (AKA your body is NOT running like the machine it can and should be). This means that it’s GOOD to eat! Read that sentence again…. It’s GOOD to eat, there is so much freedom in that… and in hamburgers :)

HOW TO MAKE SENSE OF YOUR BMR

So how do you calculate your BMR? Since it varies with things like height, weight, age, and gender, you’ll have to use your most honest numbers for it to be accurate.

The BMR equation for women is:

‘655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)’

Knowing your BMR can help you to better adjust how many calories you’re eating during the day. In my Jessie’s Girls Training Programs, I teach how to calculate BMR, and also how to use that information to calculate how much protein, carbs, and fats should be consumed in a 24 hour period to be healthy. We all want more energy, better workouts, lean muscle and hamburgers, right? Well, eating enough food for your body composition is the answer!

CALCULATING MY MACROS

So as an example of this, here is the BMR equation with my information.

655 + (4.35 x 130) + (4.7 x 64.5) – (4.7 x 35) = 1,359 is my BMR

So as you can see, my body requires me to eat at least 1,359 amount of calories per day.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

This is not the only number you need to know to dial in your nutrition and macros. Determining your BMR only calculates what your body needs at rest, but what about all those badass workouts, chasing our kids around and our energy needs to help fuel the rest of our day? To account for that, we need to now calculate our Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). For that calculation and to finalize your exact calorie and macro numbers, CLICK HERE.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

I know some of you are thinking, “Jessie, this is waaaay too many calories, how am I supposed to eat this AND lose weight?” I know it seems like a lot if you have been restricting calories for some time, but I promise you – it’s not! We often times get tricked into thinking that getting healthy and fit requires hours of cardio, eating an insanely low calorie count, and lifting to “tone” our bodies. Well I’m here to tell you that trickery is not even close to how our bodies actually work.

The truth is, you can lift big, eat plenty, enjoy pizza and wine, and still look and FEEL incredible. Body shaming makes us go to crazy extremes – but that is the exact opposite of how I want you to feel in my Jessie’s Girls Training Programs. If you don’t believe that you, too, can have a crazy amount of fun lifting heavy shit and enjoying food, then checkout #JESSIESGIRLS, or #jessiesgirlsmacros, my Jessie’s Girls Ambassadors page where you will see how so many women are changing their lives through calories and heavy reps. You’ll see that you CAN have the life you want and live a healthy lifestyle.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

If you haven’t experienced my Jessie’s Girls Training Programs yet, I’d love to be right here for you while you trust the process and transform inside and out. In every single one of my Programs (including the Home Edition and Prenatal Edition!) I walk you through calculating your BMR, TDEE, and calculating your daily macros (including your pre/post workout and rest day macros!) for the best results. As an added bonus, you also get lifetime access to my Jessie’s Girls private online community, where you will be able to bond with other Jessie’s Girls who are also doing a Jessie’s Girls Program, and hear from me while I support you on your journey. I give you everything you need to kick some serious ass. Click on the button below to check out all that my Jessie’s Girls Programs have to offer.

CLICK HERE