Answered in 7 episodes
Can I still eat treats while tracking macros?
Answered by Nikkiey Stott and her guests · Updated
The short answer
Yes. Across The WarriorBabe Show, Nikkiey's position is that treats work when they fit your numbers and stay the minority of what you eat, roughly 80% quality food and 20% fun food. She has two to four pieces of dark chocolate most nights, and members fit in cookies, pizza and ice cream swaps while losing fat.
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Nikkiey on the 80-20 split that leaves room for ice cream or chocolate
Plays from 15:23 · Ep. 8: Tracking Macros vs Counting Calories for Fat Loss
Nikkiey on why two to four pieces of chocolate satisfies a craving
Plays from 29:06 · Ep. 55: How to Start Counting Macros Without Getting Frustrated
Kris on logging pizza night ahead and eating the rest of the day around it
Plays from 44:22 · Ep. 236: Losing Weight at 54 With Crohn's: A Macro Story
Paula Ciarniello on saving carbs and fats for treats once you have a baseline
Plays from 42:42 · Ep. 35: How to Track Macros Without Obsessing Over Every Number
Karen on setting aside three cookies and letting tracking keep her honest
Plays from 29:21 · Ep. 276: How to Get Toned in Your 40s by Eating More Food
The full answer
On Ep. 8, Nikkiey explains that treats are part of what makes tracking sustainable and realistic. If about 80% of your day is quality food, the other 20% can be an ice cream sandwich or some chocolate at night. Her warning is not to flip it, with 80% junk and 20% healthy. On Ep. 55 she adds that having a craving in moderation helps it go away. Her own treat is two to four pieces of dark chocolate, not ten or twenty, and never the whole bag.
On Ep. 35, coach Paula Ciarniello offers some nuance. Once you have tracked consistently long enough to have a baseline, you can move things around. She keeps her earlier meals lean and saves most of her carbs and fats for dinner, or tracks Cheez-Its or popcorn in place of potatoes. Both she and Nikkiey stress that this does not mean eating Twinkies every day and logging them. Quality food still makes up the large majority.
WarriorBabe members show how this works in practice:
- Kris (Ep. 236) tells friends to log Friday pizza ahead of time and eat the rest of the day around it. Her first daily entry was four pieces of dark chocolate.
- Karen (Ep. 276) fit her Christmas cookies into her macros and lost weight over the winter. She sets aside three cookies and knows that eating more would cost her dinner.
- Danielle (Ep. 383) traded her nightly bowl of ice cream for fudge bars with 1 gram of fat and 19 grams of carbs.
You don't need more willpower to give up the foods you love. You need a plan that has room for them.
From The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.
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Macros & Macro Tracking
How do I make tracking macros less overwhelming?
Make the job smaller at first. The women on the show who stuck with it started small: tracking only protein, planning one day and repeating it, or picking a few meals from a sample plan. Nikkiey says week one might take half an hour a day, but by week three or four it takes five to ten minutes.
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Macros & Macro Tracking
Is tracking macros better than counting calories?
For most women over 40 who want to change how their body looks, yes. Nikkiey explains that macro tracking isn't an alternative to counting calories; it's the more complete version. Calories alone can get the scale moving, but you'll lose muscle with the fat. Tracking protein, carbs and fat lets you lose fat while keeping muscle.
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Macros & Macro Tracking
Is tracking macros restrictive?
No, according to Nikkiey Stott. With macros you can eat any food you want, including chocolate, bagels and dessert, in moderation and balance. What feels restrictive is usually old rules about 'bad' foods, or having to stop eating a whole bag of something. She sees tracking as a skill that leads to food freedom.
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Watch the full episodes
More episodes →
34 minHow to Start Counting Macros Without Getting Frustrated
Episode 55 · May 15, 2023
1 hr 1 minHow to Track Macros Without Obsessing Over Every Number
With Paula Ciarniello
18 minTracking Macros vs Counting Calories for Fat Loss
Episode 8 · Jan 25, 2023