Back to Basics: Micros Matter Too

So I talked about before in one of my posts about the basics of macros, but I also wanted to address micros because they are also important. In fact, a lot of people overlook micros because they're too focused on loading up on carbs without realizing they might be sacrificing vital nutrients. 

What are micronutrients, though? In short, micros are vitamins and minerals, but as they don't have as drastic physical consequences as macros, they often get overlooked. For example, if your carbs are too high or too low the physical aspects of your body will reflect that. If your calcium is too low, though, you might not see any outward physical signs. 

I personally pay attention specifically to three micros: 

1) fiber

2) calcium

3) iron

I get most of my vitamins, potassium, and omegas through supplements (multi-vitamin and fish oil tablets) but the other three I get mostly through my diet. I have absolutely nothing against taking supplements like vitamins, but I do prefer to get a lot of my micros naturally via diet. I don't even take my supplements every day because more often than not, I already took care of them with planning out my macros. 

In this post, I'm just going to talk about the basic staples in my diet that help me reach my daily goals of these micros because they have a lot of impact on my body long-term. Calcium is important for bones, potassium for muscles, fiber for digestion, and iron for blood and oxygen transportation. That is extremely boiled down as the human body is so complex, but I simply wanted to give you the general picture. 

I don't really pay attention to my sodium, sugar, or cholesterol levels for two reasons: 1) I am already regulating my food intake through macros so my sugar and sodium aren't really able to get that high anyway and 2) my cholesterol levels are extremely low (my dad actually laughed at the results haha!) as well as my blood pressure, heart rate, and blood work in general so it's not a concern at all. 

HOWEVER, if you do have health issues then please pay attention accordingly to the micros you need to watch! 

So what are some good sources for each of these micros? 

Fiber

The answer is simple-- eat your veggies! This is probably where I eat most of my fiber because I fit a ton of vegetables (and fruits) into my macros on a regular basis. I eat about 22-30g of fiber per day, but find my body is the happiest in the mid-20s. Some other sources of fiber I eat besides fruits and veggies are whole grain breads, oats, Flat-out wraps (with the chia seeds are my fave), bran flakes (from Trader Joe's), and brown rice. Plus, a lot of my protein bars and granola bars have a decent chunk of fiber. 

Calcium

I have known for years that I need to pay attention to calcium because my orthopedic doctors have been telling me so due to my numerous stress fractures and running injuries. I never really took it seriously until I got older and more into health, but now it's something I watch because my body is in this for the long haul! 

Every single day I have almond milk, greek yogurt, and some kind of cheese so those are my main sources of calcium. Together, those 3 take up well over half of my daily calcium. Most dairy products will have a generous serving of calcium, but if you can't have dairy there are still plenty of other options. You will see a lot of fortified products too like cereals or breads that have extra calcium in them. Even some vegetables can have calcium like broccoli and kale. 

Iron

This is another one that you can get a lot from vegetables with the leafier being the better. Broccoli, spinach, chard, kale, and certain kinds of beans (chickpeas, kidney) are great sources of iron. For my two steady sources of iron, I have a giant spinach salad every day as part of my lunch plus my oats for breakfast. Together they take up over 30% of my daily iron intake, which isn't too shabby! Plus, the bran flakes I love so much from Trader Joe's are a good source of iron in addition to the fiber so it's getting two micros for one meal. The bran flakes add on about another 20% so those three things alone bring me to 50% of my daily intake. The rest I probably get from other vegetables, poultry, and eggs. White meat doesn't necessarily have a ton of iron but every little bit counts and adds up throughout the day! Red meat is obviously the better choice in terms of iron but I rarely have red meat anyway. I've also been wanting to try out cream of wheat because I hear it's a great source of iron and I'm always up for trying new foods. 

The moral of this post is that a) it's important to pay attention to micros too, and b) it can be just as simple and straight forward as planning out your macros! I'll be honest and say that when I first started tracking macros almost two years ago now, I didn't really pay attention to micros. Partly because I didn't know much about them but also because I just wanted to eat all kinds of foods that I had previously been depriving myself of. Once that wore off, I learned to make smarter choices and learned more about micros, their importance, and how to track those as well.

The more I paid attention to micros, the more it showed by how I felt and how I looked. I feel 100x better now because not only am I regulating my body through macros but I am also making smart choices in terms of nutrients by paying attention to my micros. I would say the past year is when I really buckled down to pay attention to micros, and it was a much better year than the first. My body has thanked me for it, and I can definitely tell the by the way my body seems to be running so much better. Not only do I have a healthy balance of macros, but I'm also supplying my body with the other nutrients it wants, too!

In the end, macros usually get all the special attention, and yes it's probably because people would rather see a picture of a donut than a giant ball of spinach but just remember that micros matter, too.