Tracking Macros: Is It Right For You

There’re about a million different ways that are thought to be the BEST way to ‘get healthy’ and ‘achieve your ideal body’. Regardless of all the information out there that’s accessible to you, it can be insanely overwhelming to a person trying to find out what’s best for THEM. Today I want to help you figure out if Tracking Your Macros is Right For You. 

Because a great deal of the advice is conflicting and despite all the research out there, the attention-grabbing/non-factual information still somehow makes its way through it all. This sadly creates a more than ideal environment for companies to make empty promises that there is some magical weight-loss secret only they have the answer to. Fat loss pills, some tea that melts away all of your fat (cue the eye roll), wraps that magically make you skinny, the list goes on and on.

Knowledge is power!

And the diet industry thrives on misinformation.

So if you’re here I’m assuming you’re interested in hearing more about counting or tracking your macros. You may have also heard of the term, “if it fits your macros (IIFYM)”. This approach to weight loss or this so called “diet” is an evidence-based style of eating that came about when the dieting industry kept coming out with wacky fat loss tactics that just won’t work (not long-term anyway).  It’s purpose: to show that the main determining factor for weight loss and fat loss is ‘calories in vs calories out’ and that you can still achieve your ‘ideal body’ and ‘optimal health’ while eating foods generally off limits to dieters, provided you hit your macronutrient targets. But this ‘diet’ isn’t all about eating donuts and pasta on the daily.

Find what’s healthy for YOU!

Your metabolism isn’t static; it changes in response to how much you’re consuming on the daily, the type of activity you’re doing and how much of it you’re partaking in, your hormones, your stress level, how your thyroid functions, etc. I’d also like to point out that even though ‘calories in vs calories out’ is the key factor for weight loss, there are most definitely better ways to go about dieting than others.

Weight loss can be, and often is, accomplished in very unhealthy ways that do far more harm than good and are completely unsustainable. When starting out on a weight loss plan, the ultimate goal should be to improve your health, quality of life and longevity.

Let me say that again. When starting out on a weight loss plan, the ultimate goal should ALWAYS be to improve your health, quality of life and longevity!

Crash dieting and restricting your calories to unhealthy lows, and eating nutrient-poor foods will not serve you as well as eating a majority of high quality proteins, healthy fats, and micronutrient-dense foods will. With that being said,  you simply won’t lose weight by eating ‘healthier foods’. Yes, they’ll provide your body with more nutrients, probably give you more energy, satisfy your bodies needs etc… but you lose weight by being in a healthy negative calorie balance. While flexible dieting doesn’t address the health benefits of specific foods, what it does do is enable you to track and manipulate the number of calories you’re taking in so you can be consistent without cutting out a specific food group or having to eat the same boring foods all the time.

Let me get off track here for a hot second, okay? There are also ‘dieting’ strategies, given the same number of calories eaten in a day, that enable you to lose more fat than others. Research shows that timing your carb intake vs spreading it throughout the day, varying or cycling carbohydrate intake throughout the week, and minimizing your ‘eating window’ (intermittent fasting) are superior ways to manipulate your diet to maintain a leaner body fat percentage. I’m personally a lover of intermittent fasting and when not pregnant live and IF lifestyle 6 out of the 7 days a week. I also almost always incorporate some form of one or more of these techniques when creating a clients meal plan. Although this topic is for another day, I felt it was worth mentioning since these approaches add even more value to the whole ‘calories in vs calories out’ technique.

Simply put – you won’t lose weight and keep it off for good if you don’t have your calories in check.

Tracking your macros allows for somethings called ‘flexible dieting’. It has been extremely beneficial for me the and many of my clients because it worked easily into my lifestyle. I’m able to stay leaner all while having the freedom to go out on date nights on the weekends and enjoy myself without guilt. In my opinion there is no ONE WAY that is the ‘right way’ for every single person. You can accomplish your goals in numerous ways, but when it comes to tracking macros and intermittent fasting – I’ve seen the most success within myself and my clients.

Is it right for you?

I think it’s worth a shot for sure if: 

1. You like structure and don’t thrive on blindly following a plan but instead want to understand and be able to quantify why something is or isn’t working for you. 
2. Sometimes you worry and wonder if you’re eating the right things. Eating too much, not eating enough or feel like if you aren’t perfect you’re cheating. You may also feel like you’re’ workings so hard and not seeing results.
3. You experience guilt if you “have too many drinks” or “ate a piece of cake”.  When your numbers are right in front of you, you know whether or not you’re on track with your goals and can stop obsessing over it. Tracking macros allows you to utilize your full metabolic potential.
4. You don’t have time to prep every single meal and you enjoy eating out and having a social life (business lunches, social events, date nights etc.) but still want to maintain structure in your diet and reach your goals.  
5. You’re in this for the long-haul and not looking for a quick fix. People have a tendency to try out diets for a short time and then self-sabotage without sticking it out long enough to see the results. Tracking allows you to develop a concrete system and lifestyle and actually stick to it. You can also play around with meal timing or intermittent fasting and figure out what works best for you.

Is macro tracking for everyone? No, I don’t believe so. If you’re already doing something that is working well and you’re happy, than you shouldn’t try and fix what isn’t broken. If you don’t have an interest in spending some time and energy learning the basics of food and nutrition, tracking what you eat and drink (best done in an app), and probably doing a little bit of food prep, than this probably isn’t for you either. You don’t have to meal prep EVERY single meal and you don’t have to be ON all the time. But you do have to be consistent on a weekly basis.  If you’re someone who will be extremely obsessive about hitting your macro targets exactly and meticulously planning out all of your meals, you may be better off slowly trying to improve your eating habits and eating as intuitively as possible. We don’t need disordered eating habits to emerge because of this. Tracking your macros is a wonderful tool that can be implemented to make living a healthy lifestyle enjoyable giving you balance and happiness.  

Living a healthy lifestyle is about finding something effective and sustainable that works for YOU. 

Check out NUTRITION COACHING if you’re needing some guidance and would like to learn what your own personal macros are and how you can get started, I’d love to create a plan for you and coach you through it!

As always, keep doing things daily that your future self with thank you for!