We consider alcohol a 4th macro because it isn’t a carb, protein, or fat. The alcohol we drink is ethanol and because the body has no way to store ethanol the liver prioritizes utilizing its calories before using the other macros… thus we have to account for the calories of ‘ pure alcohol’? How do we do that? Simple-ish. Let’s look at the new fad- Truly Spiked Sparkling Water. It’s nutrition facts show one can has 100 calories and only 2

g of carbs. 2g of carbs would only be 8 calories so where do the extra 92 calories come from….pure alcohol.

A simple way to account for alcohol in your daily macro numbers is to categorize it as a carb or a fat.

To do this take the total number of CALORIES (100 in the Truly) and divide it by 4 (the amount of calories in 1g of carbs) or by 9 (the amount of calories in 1g of fat) : 100 / 4 = 25g of carbs or 11g of fat.

Now you know that each Truly you drink is going to account for 25g of your daily carbs OR 11g of your daily fat.

AIM TIP: In MFP you can ‘Create a Food’ and build your spirit of choice. Then it is right there waiting for you to add with a click of a button!

Macros for Moscow Mule Shown: (1 shot Titos vo

dka 97 cals/4 = 24g carbs, Diet Ginger Beer .3 serving 3g of carbs, Keylime juice = 0. TOTAL= 27g of carbs)