I am a fan of counting macros. This calorie deficit system uses the science of the macronutrients our body needs to help us lose fat without losing muscle mass. It makes sense and it’s working for me! But I wanted to be fair to anyone who’s looking at tracking this way, and tell you about what sucks about counting macros. Look for the YouTube video version of this content at the end of the article, too!
I may have affiliate links in this article for products that I recommend. No worry, no cost to you but a small percent goes to my family! We thank you!
Finally, remember that I’m not a nutritionist nor a coach so please do your own research, and also note that I have no affiliations with any apps or websites. I do what works for me and I hope that I help you a lot too!
Not sure what the hype or process is with counting macros? Check out my introduction article here.
Finding Your Perfect Macros
The first thing that sucks about counting macros is just figuring out what in the hell they are! There are different ways to get your macros but that’s just a basic estimate, usually found from taking an online survey like that at MacrosInc.net. There is a lot about you – medical conditions, allergies and sensitivities, hormone levels, etc. – which affects what would put you in a deficit.
If you can afford a trainer or a macros coach, they’ll use multiple online macros calculators to get a rough idea, and will tweak the numbers based on other things they learn about you. For example, my trainer – let’s call her Doris – used three different macros calculators and then did an individualized plan for me. And even that may not be right!
So don’t be frustrated, but the first thing that sucks about counting macros is that it’ll take a little while to find your macros sweet spot.
Tracking for Two Weeks Consistently
Well, how do you know if those macros work or not? The truth is, for you to really tell if your macros are doing what you want, you need to track consistently for two weeks.
Two weeks.
That’s fourteen days of accurately measuring and tracking everything, telling the truth and “confessing” to your tracker everything that you eat and drink.
Your body needs time to adjust to a consistent “new normal” and you have to be honest with the data of what you’re tracking. Because if you want to see whether or not those macros really work, you have to have complete and correct information to analyze. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time.
Measuring and Weighing… Twice
The third thing that sucks about counting macros is the time it takes to measure and track and weigh everything accurately. In the beginning, I’m not gonna lie: It’s a huge pain in the ass.
I’m dealing with two young kids, pets, morning chores, school, and everything else by 7:00am. And now you also expect me to measure and weigh everything before I eat it?
Well, yeah.
This also applies to meat that you’re cooking (you can see how to measure and weigh things like chicken or pasta on my youtube channel here), using a tablespoon for that coffee creamer, and accurately measuring everything that you eat and drink.
It takes time especially in the beginning, and you may need to buy a few small things like measuring spoons or a food scale, but I promise that it’s worth it to see how much you’re really eating. Don’t trust yourself to eyeball it, and don’t assume.
I will point out, though: Do you notice that these things that suck about counting macros are all things that you can learn to do? They’re skills which have a learning curve, so they can be inconvenient and frustrating in the beginning, but you’ll get so much faster! You’ll have recipes saved in your tracker, you’ll be quicker and more efficient at measuring and weighing, you’ll start to find meals and snacks that keep you full without draining your calories, and it’ll become habit. I promise. Just keep at it, you deserve it and you owe it to yourself if you really really want those results.
Your Macros Will Change with Time
The last thing that sucks about counting macros is that, while you may be doing well and getting the results you want for months or even a year, eventually that’ll stop. You’ll hit a plateau – I’m sure a lot of you know what I mean – where suddenly you’re not being effective anymore. If you’re trying to lose weight, the scale stops moving and the measurements don’t change. It’s like your body figured out what you were trying to do, and refuses to cooperate.
This is one thing that really sucks about counting macros. And it’ll probably happen at least once a year for as long as you continue to track.
The good news? You’ll just need to do a small adjustment of your macros. You may need to lower your calories, for example, to maybe lower fat but raise carbs. Maybe you can play around with increasing your numbers (remember to ask on forums like Macros Inc or hire a coach to help you understand why you plateaued – remember that data you need! – and see where to go next).
The point is, you’ll have to make some adjustments inevitably. BUT you’ll have a lot more knowledge and a lot more resources in your toolkit, so finding your new “perfect macros” will be way easier this time around.
So let’s review: What sucks about counting macros is that you have to find what macros work for you; you will only know if they work or not by tracking consistently for two weeks; tracking consistently includes weighing and measuring everything out; and eventually your body will need you to adjust those numbers.
I promise that it’s worth it. I promise that it’s good for you. I promise that it can work. And you will learn so much – about nutrition, about yourself – through this process. Just work on great consistent habits and you’re set!
In closing, here are the apps and websites that I personally use (again, no affiliation):
- My Fitness Pal (premium paid version)
- Happy Scale to track weight with normal fluctuations
- Water Minder for my daily water intake
- Trainerize for workouts, submitted by my trainer Doris
And finally, here’s the YouTube version!
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