​If you’ve been dabbling in the fitness world in the last few years, you might have heard of macros. Short for “macronutrients”, this term refers to protein, carbohydrate, and dietary fat.
 
Tracking macros is a common approach to losing fat, gaining muscle, or simply maintaining weight. Some people track all three macros; others only track calories; and others still track a combination of both.
 
All of these methods can be effective, so your choice will depend on your personal preferences and fitness goals.
 
But how do macros work? What’s the difference between macro- and calorie-tracking? And how do you set your own macros to get the best results?
 
Keep reading to learn the answers to these questions.

How do you take a break from your diet without losing progress?
 
Why would you even want to, if you haven’t reached your fat loss goal yet?
 
First of all, if you’re serious about dieting, it isn’t easy to do. Taking a one- or two-week break every six to 12 weeks of dieting, can give you some much needed respite to regain momentum and motivation to stick to the plan. (If you’re on a longer-term fat loss journey, lasting months or even years, you may want to consider maintenance phases in addition to diet breaks. Read this article to learn more.)
 
Moreover, life happens. You may go on holiday, move house, change job, or experience other life-changing circumstances, during which trying to diet is only going to backfire. This is a great time for a diet break.
 
Last but not least, you won’t be dieting forever (I hope). Once you reach your goals, you’ll need to maintain those results. This will be much easier to do if you practised maintenance in a previous diet break or two.
 
In this article, I’ll break down what to do, so you can enjoy your diet break without losing progress, by answering the following questions:
 

1. What can happen to your weight during a diet break?
2. How do you know how many calories to eat?
3. What foods should you eat?