Hopefully by now you have a general idea on how to calculate
your macros. Knowing your macros is important but making sure you’re actually
able to hit your numbers everyday in a busy lifestyle is even more important.
It may seem like a hassle to track you macros and record every meal everyday,
but hopefully the simple tips I share with you in today’s blog will make your
life a little bit easier.
So now that you know your macros how exactly are you
supposed to hit them every day? Do you walk around with a calculator and
journal recording your every meal? How can you make tracking your diet simple
and convenient?
Make your life easier!!
A lot of people tell me they don’t have time to track their
diets because they’re so busy with work, school or whatever priorities they
have. It is important to remember fitness isn’t a “part-time” hobby. If you want
to be successful, It has to be a lifestyle. Success doesn’t come from the 1 hour you go
to the gym; it all depends on how you spend the other 23 hours. There are
simple steps you can take to make tracking macros more convenient, just be
patient and disciplined and eventually it WILL become a habit.
Tracking macros
The best way to track macros is to download a fitness app.
There are many apps out there Myfitnesspal is probably the most popular. Even
with the app it may seem inconvenient to track every single thing you put into
your body. The trick is to Prepare BEFORE HAND. Personally what I do is wake up
first thing in the morning and look at what food I have available in my
household. Once I know what food options area available to me I start
simulating the meals I will have that day on my fitness app. Start by entering all the meals you think you’re going to eat throughout the day. Once you’ve entered all the meals
look at how many grams of carbs, fats and proteins you have and look at how
many calories you will have at the end of the day. If your numbers are off,
start making adjustments. If you see that you’re over your carb goal look at
your daily diary and take out some of the foods containing carbs and replace
them with foods that will better help you reach your macros. Keep making these
adjustments until your macros and calories are where they need to be OR as
close to it as possible. Remember don’t stress if your numbers are slightly off.
Just like you don’t get fat from one bad meal, you wont get in shape from
eating one good meal either. Be Precise as possible, and more importantly be CONSISTENT!
Tracking your macros get easier over time so don’t stress if it initially feels like too much work. The reason it gets easier is
because even though nobody eats EXACTLY the same foods everyday, they have a
general arsenal of foods they consume day-to-day. After the first week or so, once the foods you most commonly eat are saved onto your fitness app, it
becomes a lot easier to start tracking. Instead of re-entering the foods
everyday, it gets saved onto the app, so you just scroll down your database and
enter the food into your diary. The most important thing is to understand that
you need to make it a HABIT. Once you start tracking your macros on consistent
bases it becomes second nature.
*Note*
When you register
with myfitnesspal, the app gives you your daily macros. DO NOT follow the
macros it suggests, as they are very inaccurate most of the time. Figure out
your own numbers using the calculations from my last blog or another RELIABLE Macronutrient calculator, and manually enter those macros into the app.
Pre-preparing meals
If you have a busy life style the best thing to do is
pre-prepare your meals either the night before going to bed or waking up a
little earlier and doing it before you start your day. After you’ve simulated
your daily meals and made your adjustments, you can start actually making the
meals. Take into consideration how often you’re going to be eating, I recommend
eating after about every 3-4 hours. By breaking down your macros into smaller
meals not only does it make it easier for your body to break down the food and
ensure you don’t OVEREAT, but also you will have a steady flow of nutrients in
your body throughout the day. Lets face
it EVERYONE has a busy lifestyle, so saying that “I Don’t have the time to eat
in the morning or prepare meals” is a bad excuse. You have to learn to be
disciplined and start waking up a little earlier. These little habits you
develop ARE EXACTLY what’s going to contribute to your eventual success.
Why Track Macros?
You might be wondering if it is even necessary to track
macros, why cant you just eat healthy and clean food every day? The truth is
you can. Not everyone who has a well-developed physique got that way from
tracking their macros down to the last calorie every day. A lot of people DO
just eat healthy. HOWEVER, if you find that despite doing this you still aren’t
seeing the results you SHOULD probably consider tracking your macros.
A good way to put this is if you think about what happens to
a person when they get pulled over for DUI. The Cops usually ask you to walk in
a straight line in one direction. Tracking your diet is similar to this. If you
don’t track your macros and try to just eat healthy, yes you WILL be walking in
the right direction but you will also be stepping off that line quite often. By
just eating healthy and not tracking your macros you’re more likely to make
mistakes in your diet, which will in time hinder your progress. When you track
your macros and know EXACTLY what’s going into your body you can rest assured
the results WILL come, and come a lot faster. Tracking your macros not only
ensure you’re walking in the right direction, but also that you’re staying on
that line the whole time.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against people who just eat
healthy and don’t really track macros. The truth is, once you developed the
habit of tracking your macros, and know exactly what to eat it becomes a
routine. At that point you could even stop tracking your macros since you’re
most likely eating the same or similar meals day in day out. Personally I track
my macros for only a few weeks, once it becomes a habit, I just continue to eat
the same everyday and I’m still hitting my macros without the hassle. If you
stop tracking your macros and just eat the same or similar foods everyday I
still recommend you calculate your macros every now and then just to ensure you are still hitting your numbers.
Tracking your diet WILL be difficult and inconvenient in the
beginning, but I PROMISE you it gets easier. Once you develop the habit and
routine it becomes second nature, and once you see the fruits of your labor in
the gym, you wont mind putting in the effort to track your meals.
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