macros vs micros what are they & why we need them nutrition for beginners

What's up you guys welcome back to my channel and welcome to today's video today's video is the second video in my new beginners Series, I feel like it is so good to just like bring it back in go back to the basics So in video one, I talked about just going to the gym I try to make it as like simple as Possible with some tips along the way as well as showing you my routines If you haven't seen part one go ahead and watch that while working out is really important and it is definitely part of This new health a journey that you might be on Nutrition is just as important and I feel like a lot of times It's not talked about as much when really that is where a huge majority of results can be seen So in today's video, I'm going to be talking all about nutrition the nutrition just 101 when it comes to nutrition I feel like a lot of people have heard the terms macronutrient and Micronutrient those are kind of the two things I'm really gonna talk on but then I also want to talk on water I'm going to start with micronutrients Which is basically just vitamins and minerals things that our body needs in order to properly Function in order to have all of the tiny minuscule things that are happening in our body Reproducing cells strengthening our bones helping our immune system all of those many details that are happening inside of us that we don't really think About I feel like a lot of times of the society now, especially when we're younger It's like out of sight out of mind like we're not actually thinking about our internal organs the processes that our body is going through every single day to rebuild cells rebuild tissue So to figure out that the food we eat actually plays a role Into our body our movement our function into just our daily life and how good of health we have inside of us I feel like that is why I'm so excited to share this video because I'm freaking passionate about this and I feel like Way too many times it's all about what you look like an aesthetic and all that when really it's like no eat good foods in order to properly fuel your body so that you can have high function and that you can literally live a Long and happy life and even when you're older, you're a hundred years old You're still a little bit better off because you took care of your body now We're learning to do it correctly now so that in the future and as we keep growing we're building upon these habits This new lifestyle change, which is not easy But we're building on this lifestyle change that we've had so that it's gonna help us in the future So we're gonna be healthy for our entire life Not just right now while we're young and we have a high metabolism and so let's get back into micronutrients So I'm gonna start by listing some vitamins examples of some and then what they do for our bodies the processes that they help with and then give some specific Examples of foods that will contain these vitamins starting off with a vitamin A This is gonna be a lot of orange foods Which is an easy way to remember that some good benefits when it comes to vitamin A This nutrient is important to our vision our growth cell division Reproductive and immunity vitamin A also has antioxidant properties And here is a list of foods that you can get vitamin A from next up is vitamin B There are eight different types of vitamin B But I'm only gonna talk about three the first is gonna be vitamin B 7 Which is biotin a lot of you know, that is hair skin and nails Next is vitamin B 9. This is also known as folate and is super important when you are pregnant It helps aid in the production of DNA and RNA, which is basically our body's genetic material You can find this in dark leafy vegetables like broccoli brussel sprouts spinach romaine lettuce Asparagus and other foods it also works well with a vitamin B 12 Which helps keep our body's blood and nerve cells healthy and also helps us make DNA Next up is vitamin C And I feel like a lot of people associate vitamin C with citrus fruits and then also helping with our immune system Vitamin C is necessary for the growth development and repair of all body tissues It helps heal wounds and form scar tissue repair and maintain cartilage bones and teeth and then also helps aid in iron absorption and of course helping with our immune system which We love and yes, you can find vitamin C in a lot of your citrus fruits like oranges grapefruit lemons limes But you can also find it in cantaloupe tomatoes raspberries strawberries Blueberries papaya and so many more next up is vitamin D, which is extremely important for calcium absorption Our body cannot absorb calcium without it and calcium is good for our bones One of the best sources of vitamin D is Sunshine so get outside your skin naturally absorbs vitamin D, but it can also be found in a couple of foods Next we have vitamin K, which can be found in a lot of dark green leafy vegetables And this vitamin helps make various proteins that are needed for blood clotting Clotting is a normal function that helps stop our body from bleeding out or bleeding too much when we get hurt So here's a little list of some vegetables that contain vitamin K again a lot of dark leafy greens and my favorite which is broccoli next up are minerals and in case you were wondering the difference between vitamins and minerals is Vitamins are organic substances, which means they are made by plants or animals and then minerals are inorganic Elements that come from soil or water and they're absorbed by plants or eaten by animals and our body needs both vitamins and minerals So I'm going to talk about three main Minerals and the first is calcium our body needs calcium to build and maintain strong bones But it also can help our heart muscles and nerves. They also need calcium to function properly So some food that includes calcium is of course milk cheese and yogurt those dairy products But I know not everybody has dairy. So broccoli is also extremely high in calcium and spinach Next up is iron and our body uses iron to make hemoglobin Which is a protein in the red blood cells and that helps carry oxygen From the lungs to all parts of our body, which is extremely crucial if you ask me iron can be found in meat Especially steak, but again, I know some are vegan So spinach and broccoli are also high in iron as well as beans Next up is potassium and our body needs potassium to help our muscles contract Help maintain fluid balance and maintain a normal blood pressure if you ask me helping our muscles contract in the gym I mean like give me a banana. Let's go Okay So now that I've talked about a lot of micronutrients and fruits and veggies I want to talk about maybe some tips and ways that you can implement that and be able to eat more in your life I want to say first of all if you are new to this journey It's gonna take some time for you to really have an appetite and really enjoy fruits and veggies Sometimes that is a really hard toss-up when you're so used to having processed foods, which again all things in moderation there's nothing wrong with that when that is a majority of your diet and then you're switching to having like Broccoli as part of your dinner. It's like that's the last thing I want to eat You know what? I mean? Cuz your taste buds are so different and so it's gonna take time So be patient with yourself along this process. The second thing I will say is to keep fruit where you can see it. I Love this one because I feel like the more accessible food is the easier I'm gonna have it like a bowl of cereal is so quick. Okay spoon bowl pour cereal milk That's a meal whereas if you try to keep fruit that accessible like bananas on the counter apples on the counter or fridge you can go in and Grab that and it's super quick. It's mindless and you don't have to think about it too much So trying to have that accessible versus like shoving it in the back of our fridge. We all have those like little Vegetable drawers, we just like shove our spinach thinking we're gonna eat it But then we never do and it's been like three weeks and it's all wilted and nasty and like the bag is dripping Yeah, so let's not do that. Let's try to have our produce more accessible. So it's more inviting and again, it's gonna take time It's gonna take time to have that as a habit, but I'm somebody who hates to waste food It's like if I buy it, I have to eat it in some shape or form So try it out and just try to make it more accessible that way it's a little bit more of a habit It's a little bit more realistic number three. I would say to explore some new produce So next time as you shop, you know, it all starts with grocery shopping, right? Like if you're not buying these foods, you're not gonna necessarily be eating them unless if you're eating them out at a restaurant So you have to start with actually purchasing them. So find some fun recipes on Pinterest Try to explore some new ones and just get out there and try them Okay, and then the last one is gonna be make smoothies I feel like any time I have been struggling with getting in my fruits or my vegetables making a smoothie makes life So much easier and that's just because you can throw it in a blender and drink it A lot of times fruit is really sweet So it also like can help them ask some veggies like if you throw a cucumber or spinach in there and you're just trying to get Accustomed to that taste. I think that's awesome I love to throw yogurt in my smoothies too to help incorporate a little bit more protein and Seriously smoothies are a good way to go Especially if you're just trying to get a little bit more of that in your diet now I'm gonna talk about macronutrients again. These are the protein fats and carbs I feel like a lot of people if you're in the health and fitness industry or even in this world You hear the word macros all the time. People are always trying to share. This is the macro count and you know, it's Everywhere, okay so breaking this down even again macro is short for the term macronutrients and Macros are just those three categories of nutrients that we eat the most of and that help provide us with the most of our energy protein Carbs and fats. So when people say that they're counting their macros They're just counting the amount of grams of protein carb and fat that they're consuming as opposed to counting the number of calories I'm gonna first start out with protein and it does a lot for us The main thing I want to talk about is how it helps build and repair when we work out We're breaking down muscles our tissues and then we use protein to help rebuild that that is one reason why protein is really important Here's a small list of some great protein sources. I know a lot of you are vegan or vegetarian So I tried to include non-meat options as well now on to carbs. I definitely feel like carbs get the worst Reputation especially when it comes to like weight gain or just food I feel like people are always like, oh, let me cut out carbs But you guys carbs are our bodies Main fuel source meaning a bare minimum the energy that we need in order to complete our daily activities like workout Go to our job. Take the kids for a walk walk the dog, whatever it is. We need carbs sometimes carbs are referred to as Simple versus complex or whole versus refined to break that down a little bit complex or whole carbs contain the fiber found Naturally in the food so it provides us those vitamins and minerals that these carbs are broken down by our bodies slower So they don't cause a rapid spike in our insulin some examples of this are oats fruit like banana Strawberry, you've got wheat bread sweet potatoes and then when it comes to the simple or refined carbs These are processed more and have had the natural fiber removed or changed and these are broken down Quickly by our body to use this energy. So these are like candy baked goods rice crispy treats soda sugary cereal things like that And yes that includes my favorite cookies that I eat every night. I love them so much They make me happy but here's a little list of some examples that you can grab at the grocery store screenshot this if you want and add it to Your little list and lastly our fats now I feel like this also gets a bad rep, but it's really important to our health overall again We need all three of these some benefits to fat is it helps us absorb vitamins vitamin A D E and K are all fat Soluble vitamins it also helps support our brain and eye health getting in those omega-3 fatty acids Which are extremely crucial for us and omega-3 fatty acids can be found in salmon and chia seeds essential fatty acids also aid in wound healing and Clotting and of course, here's a quick list of some good sources of fat that you can screenshot and keep Ultimately our body needs vitamins minerals carbs fats and protein In order to properly function and have the best health So once we have a really powerful reason why why we should be eating fruits vegetables Why we should be eating protein carbs and fats why we should try to get our nutrition from whole nutrient-dense foods Once we have that underlying why of that, this is like deeper than just what's on the surface This is actually what's going on in our bodies I feel like for me at least I am so much more Wanting and driven to take care of myself because every time I eat more nutrient-dense foods I know I'm taking care of my body on the inside and for me that is so empowering. I just love it It makes me feel so good So now that I've talked about all that I kind of want to touch on whole nutrient-dense foods Something that I say quite often so to break this up whole foods is a single ingredient That's something like an apple a chicken breast. They are exactly what they say It's not multiple ingredients combined to make something else It is a pure whole ingredient that just like is given to us on this earth Nutrient-dense is where it's saying it is full of nutrients. It is packed with vitamins minerals It has protein or it's a good source of carbs or fat. Whatever it is It's doing things and it's nurturing us when we eat it. It's actually doing things in our body instead of again Processed food is not bad. But a lot of times it falls flat on those nutrients that our body naturally needs This is not to make us feel guilty about eating processed food. This is just saying our body actually physically needs Certain things in our diet in order to help it function properly. So trying to prioritize those whole nutrient-dense foods That's gonna be the best. I also really want to touch on water because water is so Necessary for us it is a life-sustaining liquid like if anything I think all of us can do better about our water intake It is something that should be such a high priority on all of our lists for many reasons So I'm gonna talk about a few to start out the adult body is made up of about 60% of water So that should tell you a little bit of how important it is to be able to drink water Some of the benefits from this list are it helps maximize our physical performance again hitting our strong Workouts as well as helping aid in our digestion It also helps aid in cognitive function like helps us give us brain power so that we can think because we have that water to Be able to properly function at a higher level keeps our skin bright helps prevent dehydration Which then has a lot of issues also helps with nutrient absorption fight off illnesses There are so many benefits to water. Make sure you're getting it in Adult humans are made up of 60% of water you guys that is a lot You guys I freaking talk about this all the time. I get a water bottle you like and you love and you enjoy Nothing is better than a cup. They just love to sip water on okay again. This is something that's tough I know a lot of people hate water. I know that it's weird like people will be like I literally cannot drink water, and I'm like You got to work on that you got to work on that so that can be a very small priority for you this year Try to drink more water. That's gonna wrap up this video you guys. Thank you so much for watching I hope you found that helpful Give it a thumbs up if you do don't forget to subscribe to my channel, and I'll see you all in the next episode