3 Ways Macro Tracking can help you take back your time and energy in the new year
The holiday madness is over! For busy mamas like you and me, the holidays can bring extra stress, extra eating, extra drinking and extra weight. Instead of heading into the New Year with excitement to hit new heights, we stumble in exhausted and ready to hibernate! But what if you could lose weight and increase your energy without spending hours at the gym or in the kitchen? Would you want that?
In the last seven years, I’ve seen macro tracking help busy mamas, just like you, take back their time and energy. They’ve been able to implement macro tracking into their lives not just as a quick new year’s resolution that works for a week or two, but as a long-term solution!
I’m going to share three ways that macro tracking and how my unique approach to macros can help you feel confident to tackle any goals you set for 2022.
1. Spend less time thinking about food
On a scale of one to ten, how much anxiety does the question “Mom, what’s for dinner?” give you? If you just felt your chest tighten or your shoulders tense, then it’s time to realize that you’re spending too much time and energy stressing about food!
There’s a common misconception that healthy people don’t have to think about their food. They just instinctively eat healthily. But the truth is that everyone, healthy or unhealthy, spends a lot of time thinking about their food. In fact, we make over 250 decisions a day just about our food!
The difference between healthy and unhealthy people is that healthy people make their food work for them and unhealthy people work for their food.
In my Macros Made Easy program I teach busy mamas how to meal plan and prep in a way that saves them so much time!
We start with the Backward Meal Planning process so that you only have to cook one dinner that your whole family will eat! Making separate meals for you and your family just doesn’t fit into the life of a busy mom, you and I both know that! You should only have to make one dinner that fits everyone’s tastes and is healthy!
I also teach you how to fast-track your meal planning, grocery shopping and meal prepping so that you can spend more time with your family rather than in the kitchen trying to figure out what you can make for dinner each night.
One of my favorite things about this system is that I can answer the “what’s for dinner?” question without an ounce of stress now. I have a plan, I know I have everything I need to stick to my plan, and I’ve prepped it so that it’s quick to cook during the week.
If this sounds like a dream to you, head over to my free Facebook group, Busy Mom Simple Nutrition, and you can get access to the Meal Planning Masterclass for free!
2. Eat the right balance of foods
A lot of people hear about eating the right balance of foods and assume that they need to cut out “bad” foods like carbs. But mama, balance doesn’t look like cutting things out, maybe cutting down, but not cutting out.
Diet culture has always focused heavily on good vs. bad. Carbs are bad. Protein is good. Fat is bad, but it’s also good. (What?!?!) This either-or mentality has just caused us to ride a roller coaster of gaining weight and losing weight. Feeling great to being utterly exhausted. Starving to binging. And all of that back and forth has wreaked havoc on your body!
Macro tracking creates a balanced diet. It’s about eating protein, fats and carbs in a balance that works for your body and your activity level.
Protein, fat and carbs are all digested at different rates and that contributes to your energy levels. If you’re eating all carbs, you’re going to have a quick boost of energy then crash because carbs are the first source of energy. On the other hand, you’re eating high fat, you’re going to take a while to feel that energy because fat is the slowest burning macronutrient.
Instead of trying to get all of your energy from one macronutrient, you need to eat all three in the right proportion so that you have quick energy when you need it and long-lasting energy ot make it through the whole day!
As you learn how to use food to fuel your life, you’ll have the energy to keep up with your toddlers or to hop from practice to practice with your tweens. You’ll learn how to be less dependent on that 2 o’clock cup of coffee.
I also bust the meal timing myth through macro tracking. Instead of trying to only eat during certain hours, you’ll learn how to time your meals to give you the most energy when you need it!
Food is a powerful tool and if you’re constantly exhausted or struggling to keep up with your life, then you probably aren’t utilizing your nutrition to its full capacity.
3. Enjoy your favorite foods - guilt-free
Mama, we waste way too much time and energy beating ourselves up for what we eat.
If we skip going out for ice cream with our kids because we don’t want to “be bad,” then we beat ourselves up for missing out on those precious moments with our kids.
If we do go out and eat the “bad” ice cream, then we beat ourselves up about not making good decisions. Neither of these situations is healthy or helpful!
If shame or guilt made you lose weight, I would shame you all day long. But the truth is that it just hurts us. Shame and guilt send us spiraling and create a bigger mess than the dang ice cream cone ever would!
In Macros Made Easy, you’ll learn that there are no such things as good or bad foods. There’s just food accountability! You can eat the ice cream with your kids without beating yourself up. You can go out for a date night with your husband and order more than a side salad! You don’t have to choose between living your best life and making healthy choices.
When you work to change not only what you eat, but how you think and feel about your food, you’ll find true food freedom. You’ll find a sustainable to lose weight and keep it off!
I have clients who have been macro tracking for 6+ years because it isn’t just a diet. It’s a lifestyle.
Like Lacey. Lacey and I have been friends for half of our lives, but we fortified our friendship a few years ago when she came to me because she wanted a change but she needed guidance.
In the last four years, Lacey has lost 104 lbs AND she’s kept it off! Not only has she lost weight, but she used macro tracking to get back her time and energy so she could show up better in every aspect of her life.
Lacey thought macro tracking would make her obsessive about food and what she ate, but it actually had the opposite effect on her! Here’s what she had to say about macro tracking.
“When I was in my 'thinking about tracking phase' prior to starting, my biggest concern was that I would have to be thinking about food all the time.
Now, as I look back, I realize that I WAS thinking about food all the time before tracking, just not in a good way.
The thoughts that were constantly present consisted of, 'Why did I eat all that?' 'All that food made me feel so bloated, fat, too full, unable to fit in those clothes.' 'I have to come up with an idea for dinner? Again!?' ' What should I eat for lunch?' 'What should I have for my cheat day?'
Followed by 'I shouldn't have eaten all that.' 'I'm hungry in the morning, but don't have time for breakfast.' The list goes on.
Now, I do think about food a lot, but I also get a break from mentally beating myself up over it. I have a plan going into the day. It takes a bit of effort and time to set it up, but once it's done, I don't have to think about what my food intake will consist of.
I get to focus on the fun parts- like eating what I've planned! And not having food guilt! The proactive thinking toward my intake, what it does for me, and how my body uses it, makes me happy and proud to think about how I am fueling myself and how my kids are learning to eat as a result.”
Lacey has the tools she needs not just to lose weight, but to be in control of her food choices for the rest of her life. She knows what foods make her feel good, what foods make her feel bad and she can enjoy fun food without sacrificing all the work she’s put in.
She isn’t drained from thinking about her food all day. Instead, she has a plan that saves her time and energy every single day.
You can have this too. If you’re ready to change how you think and feel about food so that you can change how you eat, then let’s chat. Schedule a free discovery call with me today and we’ll get you on the path to having more time, more energy and less stress about food.
