So you’ve been hearing all this talk about macro tracking but now you’re wondering… “What actually IS it?” Is it just another Weight Watchers? Another fad diet? And for the love of carbs, do I have to give up sweet potato fries AGAIN?
If you want to read this… welp, keep reading 😉
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Well the good news is, you’re in the right place because this blog is ALL about Macro Tracking: what it is and why it’s THE BEST!
To put it simply, macro tracking is like calorie counting, but on steroids (the healthy version – we don’t do drugs here people!) By strategically keeping track of the 3 main macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates), you can shape your body into the physique you want (aka the one that’ll make anyone go DAAAAAMN girl)! Macro tracking is a great tool to help get your body looking BANGING, while also having the freedom to still eat foods you love. Sounds pretty damn incredible doesn’t it? That’s because it IS.
BUT – it is also a tool that often gets misused, leaving people feeling discouraged about this whole weight loss and macro tracking process. So I’m going to take you back to former me: to the girl who was overweight, unhappy AF, and had never heard of macro tracking, and I’ll share with you how I became the girl who took it WAAAY too far. Then I’ll share with you how I got to current me, and how all of this can apply to YOU.
So let’s rewind to the beginning:
It was a dark and stormy night… kidding, just making sure you were paying attention 😉 Now the REAL story…
I struggled with weight my ENTIRE life. I distinctly remember feeling unhappy with my body and weight as far back as elementary school. Yeah, ELEMENTARY school. These feelings of unhappiness stayed with me all the way to grad school. I spent 20 YEARS feeling this way.
And while I grew to understand concepts of health and fitness (I mean I ended up with a doctoral degree in physical therapy for crying out loud), I didn’t know how to lose weight, and not just those 5 pounds before vacation, really lose real weight and change my life. Until I learned about macro tracking, and this really changed the game. Macro tracking was like the missing piece to the puzzle – it was the solution to my weightloss problem that had eluded me my ENTIRE life. I was ALL IN!
I was drinking that kool aid ALL DAY EVERY DAY, and I was not about to stop. And the freedom that came with it at first blew my freaking mind! I had uncovered the secret code, and I FINALLY felt good in my body. UNTIL…
Macro Tracking: The Switch
Macro tracking became like a drug to me and the ONLY thing I felt good about WAS my body. I became obsessed with it. As a type A perfectionist, counting macros became an all-consuming checklist that I had to do 100% right, 100% of the time – to the point that my mindset and behavior was either one of two things:
- Doing it perfectly and meeting my daily goals TO THE GRAM.
- If I was even just a TINY bit off I went into full on fuck-it–mode, eating whatever the hell I wanted.
I told myself that I could eat whatever foods I wanted, but in reality I had created this restrictive mindset around how to track macros: it became THE single most important thing in my life, and I sacrificed everything else. Instead of learning how to have control over my food, I was lying to myself and others.
I made up every excuse in the book to avoid eating out. Drinks with friends were a thing of the past. And slowly but surely the bubbly and upbeat Hannah became flat and unhappy again. I found myself sitting at home FINALLY having the body of my dreams, but not doing anything with it!
Macro tracking, the secret code and the freaking treasure map for my weightloss goals, quickly became the very thing that was oppressing me from living the life of freedom I wanted so badly. And it took this “Oh shit” moment to bring me back to the drawing board – something had to change.
It took a lot of time and hard work to help me finally learn BALANCE. Through that hard work and the support of other coaches, nutritionists, and a therapist (mental health MATTERS, trust me, this journey is NOT just physical), I am where I am today. And I wouldn’t change any of it because it’s what makes me the coach I am – the one that knows EXACTLY how you feel because I’ve lived it too.
It made me the coach who is a firm believer in: Close enough is good enough!!
A statement I NEVER would have thought I could say, let alone believe (any other type A perfectionists feel me on this one?) The thing is, macro tracking is not all black and white and it was never meant to be! You’re not meant to obsess over every. single. calorie.
It’s meant to be FREEING! You CAN eat the foods you love without feeling like you’ve failed (you haven’t). You want to fit a poptart in? Then enjoy the hell out of that poptart. You want to go out for wine night with the girls? DO IT. You want to stay in with pizza and Netflix? My only question is, “can I come?”
It’s time to lose the idea that there’s only one perfect way to do this – because there isn’t. Macro tracking is an empowering tool to help you create the body you want, but it can also be one that is taken too far. So if you find yourself in this boat, know that I get it. I’ve LIVED it. But there is a whole other way that is full of freedom (and sweet potato fries).
I’m here to help you get there. So stay tuned for my next blog post where I’ll be diving more into WTF macronutrients even are and how you can begin tracking them with freedom for weight loss.
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