I always had this idea of what was “healthy”. It included whole grain anything, fruits and vegetables, and pretty much the blander, less exciting version of anything good. I didn’t particularly like eating healthy, so I would have a mixture of pop tarts and salads (sometimes).
When I started lifting weights, I noticed I would get tired easily and pretty much felt as if I was going to pass out. How ANNOYING. Here I was trying to work out and all I wanted to do was leave after 20 mins.
Was I pushing myself too hard? No. I just wasn’t fueling myself.
It wasn’t until I discovered macronutrients that I was finally able to see real changes in my workouts and physique. Sure I’ve followed the basic meal plan of chicken and rice, but that was a temporary thing. Macronutrient counting became a tool for me to learn about my body. And it eventually lead to eating intuitively!
Let’s do a breakdown.
Macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and….oh yeah alcohol) all make up calories. Calories are the units of measurement used for energy. Calories are NEEDED for us to function.
So how do we calculate/count how many macronutrients we are consuming?
- Well, I recommend downloading myfitnesspal app as it will calculate everything for you.
- Get a food scale. No you don’t have to be crazy and bring it everywhere you go, it’s literally just so you can learn what an ounce of something looks like. It’s like trying to budget money without knowing what a one dollar bill is, it’s going to be damn hard.
- Track what you currently eat for 2-4 weeks. Enter every single thing. From the soy lattes from Starbucks to that spoonful of cooking oil you use at dinner.
- Review the data. Now, depending on what your goal is (lose weight, gain muscle, “tone”, improve quality) you can make small adjustments.
Learning to count macronutrients allows you to understand nutritional knowledge better. There’s just so much information out there it’s easy to get confused and overwhelmed with it all. But here’s the thing, the best diet is the one that you can stick to and enjoy.
the best diet is the one that you can stick to and enjoy.
Here’s the process I recommend:
- Track current eating habits
- Make small adjustments to get to goal
- Be CONSISTENT and PATIENT (this can take 3 months-1 year to get comfortable with tracking)
- Then you can stop tracking and use more of your estimations and listening to your body.
- You can always go back to tracking, or never again.
Tracking gives you the opportunity to learn. No more crazy diets that you go on for 3 weeks just to go back to your old eating habits when you realize you’re miserable.
Listen, all diets work. But they don’t teach you anything besides how to avoid certain foods. Plus if they worked long term, we wouldn’t have so many health problems as a society. Counting macronutrients teaches you how to include all your favorite foods and be FLEXIBLE. This method teaches you to learn nutritional value. We deserve to look and feel our best with the choice to include our fav foods.
Best,