Tracking isn’t always fun. Neither is logging your food. But if you want real results, you can’t leave things up to chance or your guestimation. Trust me…when you’re hungry or something tastes good portion sizes and servings easily become distorted. Plus those Blt’s (bites, licks and tastes) can quickly add up to an entire meal.
700 calories visually can look very similar to 500 calories of the same dish. And while 100 calories may not seem like a big deal, times this by 3-4 meals over the day and you will have eaten an entire 2nd lunch or dinner. Plus all of your efforts to burn some extra calories with exercise will go down the tube.
This can also be the reason you aren’t seeing results and actually gaining weight. Even if you are eating healthy, wholesome foods.
I know what you’re thinking. Tracking sucks. But here’s the thing. You can spend a little frustration now figuring this out, doing your food prep, and dialing in your meals, or save it for later when you aren’t getting the results you want!
I know personally that depending on my mood, and what type of food it is, my portions can become totally distorted. When I feel my self lagging, and lacking in certain macros, or eating too much of another I get back to tracking. And quite often a few days is all I need.
So what you need to realize is that tracking and macro counting is not forever. It is a super important tool at the beginning so you can understand portion sizes and evaluate your diet for the proper macronutrients your body needs.
5 Tips To Make Achieving Your Macro Goals Easier.
- Enter in meals/treats you MUST HAVE first. If you know you are having a family pizza night than enter that food in first. Or how about a glass of wine. Here’s the thing. There is room if you plan ahead. So if there is something you know you want to have, putting it in first allows you to manage the rest of your meals around it without blowing the whole day. Nothing worse than ending up at the end of the day, looking forward to having that treat, and it will put you over after working so hard to stay on track. This will also help prevent you from binging or indulging when you didn’t want to because you planned ahead.
- Plan protein first. Start with breakfast. Getting in a significant amount of protein at breakfast will help set your day up right. It will also help keep you feeling fuller longer and less likely to snack because your digestion will be slower than if it was just carbs. When making recipes, Add extra ounces. If it calls for 3 ounces of meat, make it four. Instead of ½ cup cottage cheese, have 2/3. These small changes will add up without making a dramatic change in what your meal looks like.
- Food prep. Always, always, always food prep. This is especially important when it comes to having healthy lean proteins, fresh vegetables and complex carbs on hand. Cook a chicken, boil up some turkey sausages and stock your pantry with tuna. Have pre-cut veggies ready to steam. Buy them ready to go and frozen if you have to. That’s still going to be better than no veggies if you didn’t prep. I like to make a pot of brown rice and quinoa for the week, and keep low carb high protein wraps and bread on hand too.
- Start with one meal at a time. I find breakfast and snacks are best to start with because they don’t involve cooking for other family members, and usually don’t require a ton of cooking either. If you can get your macros down for breakfast, and 2 snacks you will be well on your way to meeting your goals. Make a plan for which breakfasts and snacks you will have, stock your pantry and you are ready to go.
- Make healthy swaps. So many foods can be swapped for another that is lower in sugar, and higher in fiber and protein. Greek yogurt instead of sour cream or flavored yogurt. Oatmeal instead of cereal. Egg whites for one of the eggs when making an omelet. Nut butter instead of jam. All of these little swaps will add up over the day making it that much easier to hit your macros.
Conclusion: If you want to try tracking, download the mynetdiary or myfitnesspal app. These are free 🙂
These apps will help you set your macro goals when it comes to losing weight, or maybe you just want to know if you are getting adequate protein and healthy fats. They will also show your fiber content and tons of other nutritional information. Then you can start by tracking and see where you come up short or go over. The best part about tracking is that it forces you to measure your food. Try this for a week and give your diet a reboot!
And if you’d like some help, just ask! I’d be happy to help.
