lower carb approach. However, there is plenty of room for personalization. Today I'll discuss macros and let you know how to choose the amounts that are best for you.

Before diving into our discussion about macros, let's first talk about how healthy weight loss is defined. To lose weight in a healthy way, you do need to burn more calories than you take in, while getting enough protein to maintain muscle mass and prevent your metabolism from slowing down. It's also important to eat in a way that you enjoy and can stick with long term.

What role do macros short for macronutrients play in weight loss? Macros are the three major nutrients that provide your body with energy carbohydrates, protein and fat. Many dietary approaches focus on one of the macros, such as high protein, low carb, high fat or low fat. For the best results, you may want to aim for more protein and fewer carbs.

Why? Strong research shows that increasing protein intake can lead to weight loss. An equally strong research demonstrates that lowering carb intake can be effective for weight loss. So the best strategy for many people may be combining the two in a higher protein and lower carb diet.

Macro percentages reflect the proportion of calories in your diet that come from carbs, protein and fat. Following a higher protein, lower carb approach could mean eating about five to 15% of calories from carbs, 25% to 35% from protein and 45% to 65% from fat. For someone who eats roughly 1800 calories per day, this would be about 20 to 70 grams of net carbs, 110 to 160 grams of protein and 90 to 130 grams of fat.

Those are pretty broad ranges, right? As I said earlier, the optimal amounts can vary from person to person. It may take some experimenting to find out what works best for you. Let's walk through the macros one by one and talk about their roles in a healthy weight loss approach.

First up, protein. Why is getting plenty of protein so beneficial for healthy weight loss? For starters, it provides a lot of satiety per calorie. This means that eating protein can help you feel full and satisfied on fewer calories, so you end up naturally eating less and losing weight.

Yes, eating less without deliberately restricting calories happens on low carb diets too. But did you know that most low carb diets are also higher in protein? They are. In the majority of low carb studies, people are allowed to eat as much protein as they want as long as they stay below their target carb range.

And in many cases, this higher protein and lower carb approach leads to impressive weight loss without hunger. Another benefit of eating more protein is that digesting it speeds up your metabolism. This is called the thermic effect of food, and it also happens when you eat carbs and fat.

But the effect is much greater after eating protein, so you burn slightly more calories after every meal that's high in protein. Finally, boosting your protein intake can help preserve muscle mass as you lose weight. A major downside of eating less is that you may lose muscle along with fat.

With a higher protein approach, you are much more likely to maintain your all important muscle mass. And this not only improves your body composition and helps you stay strong, but can also keep your metabolism from slowing down during weight loss. Now, let's talk about carbs.

It's no secret that low carb diets can help many people lose weight. And dozens of clinical trials have confirmed that low carb diets can be effective for losing weight and body fat. Why does a low carb approach work so well for so many? One reason is that when carb intake is reduced, people are less hungry and tend to naturally eat fewer calories.

Now, this may be partially because protein intake is typically higher on low carb diets. Indeed, people who begin low carb diets are often encouraged to eat as much meat, fish, eggs and other protein sources as they want. However, some of the benefits of low carb diets may be unrelated to higher protein intake.

For example, many people find it very easy to overeat carbs, especially ultraprocessed high carb, high fat foods like donuts, cookies and chips. But even whole grain breads and cereals can be tough for some people to eat in reasonable amounts on a low carb diet, those foods aren't allowed, and cravings for them often subside. Additionally, when you cut way back on carbs, your insulin levels decrease.

When insulin levels and calorie intake are low, your body is primed to burn fat rather than store fat. My final point about carbs is that they are not bad for everyone. Some people can lose weight with a higher carb diet that is rich in fiber and provides adequate protein.

Finally, let's talk about fat. You may be familiar with the acronym LCHF, which stands for low carb, high fat. Even if you eat a low carb diet that is high in protein, it will also be somewhat high in fat.

When you cut carbs from roughly two to 300 grams a day to less than 50 grams a day, you'll need to get most of your energy from non carb sources. Your body prefers to use protein for maintaining your muscles and bones rather than as an energy source. Instead, when eating low carb, more of your energy comes from fat both the fat that you eat and the fat that is stored on your body.

On a low carb diet, at least 45% of your calories will come from fat, even if you're following a higher protein, lower carb approach. On the other hand, fat can be easy to overconsume, which can lead to a calorie surplus and weight gain. It is hard to deny that fat makes food taste better.

A delicious, creamy dish can prompt you to eat more than you'd plan to. So when comparing fat versus carbohydrate as a calorie source, which is better? For many people, the answer may be fat. Why? After a week or two of low carb eating, insulin levels will likely be lower.

Remember, insulin promotes the storage of fat and prevents its breakdown. Therefore, maintaining low insulin levels may allow you to burn body fat more efficiently. To sum it up, there isn't one best diet for everyone.

However, for many people, the most successful approach is likely a higher protein, lower carb one. This combination helps you feel full, so you're naturally taking fewer calories without feeling hungry and keeps insulin levels low to promote fat burning. Fortunately, there is a pretty broad range of macro percentages that can be effective for weight loss.

So feel free to experiment with different amounts of protein, carbs and fat to find the way of eating that both helps you lose weight and is easy to stick with long term.