Counting Calories vs Tracking Macros for Women Over 40

Nikkiey: Real quick, if you want to learn more about macronutrients and understand that methodology, and how they can help you achieve your body composition goals of changing the way your body looks, I put together a free 15-minute training where I dive into macronutrients and how you can control your body for the rest of your life with them. That link is in the description below. Click on it after listening to the show today.

Counting calories focuses on the total energy intake without paying particular attention to where those calories come from.

What is going on, my friends? Welcome back to the show. Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to episode number 83.

So this episode came to mind when we did the live Q&A last week, which was so much fun. I got to speak to six participants and give them live coaching, and I'm sure you guys had the same questions they asked or wondered the same things. So you got to hear my answer to those questions, and I hope you were able to take something away and maybe apply some things in your life.

But what I wanted to do with this podcast today is take one of the questions that I got and elaborate more on the answer. And I thought, what better space to do this than on the podcast, especially when it's all around macronutrients. You guys know that I like to deem myself the queen of macronutrients. I love macronutrients. I am still looking for someone to argue with me about why macronutrients aren't the thing. Because in all of the research and education and reading that I've done, applied and experienced, it always fundamentally comes back to macronutrients, and this being the methodology to use to get women the results they are seeking, no matter what age.

So I wanted to take one of the questions that I had from a newly signed-up VIP. She's only about three weeks in, maybe four weeks in now. And she said, Nikkiey, what makes macros so different from counting calories? You may have already heard my answer, but stay with me, because I'm going to elaborate a little bit more here. My hope from this podcast, and from having the space to elaborate on this answer even more than I was able to for our participant on the Q&A, is that you understand it even more. That you understand it at the level where you're like, hey, I want to go and apply this even more because it makes so much sense.

This is coming from somebody who has never tracked macros before. So I know this will resonate with a lot of you who maybe haven't dabbled in macros, or have and haven't given it enough time to see the results you want, or you've been in and out, or you're just unsure of why. Why this? Why macros? Why should I even try it? So I want you to be able to walk away knowing all these things and with even more reason to give it a go.

This one will resonate hard, I know it will, because she came from the same boat that a lot of you are in. Three or four weeks in, has never dabbled with macros before. Grew up thinking that counting calories was the way, and worrying about the scale. And it's not the fault of you or her or the women in the same bucket she's in. A lot of the women I speak to grew up in the era of Weight Watchers, focusing on containers and the color of the lids, or skinny was the way. And so, salads galore.

So it's not their fault. But especially in this new fitness era, and it's not even new, it's things that we know, it's coming more to light in the fitness space and the marketing that you see. It's all about building muscle and becoming strong, and muscle is the organ of longevity. You have to maintain muscle mass for the longevity of your life, and your muscle mass decreases at X rate after the age of 30. You want to make sure you have the muscle mass because it's going to make you feel stronger and have stronger bones and yada, yada, yada.

So the industry is pushing this. And this has never faltered in my message, in terms of building a body you love and doing it in a healthy and sustainable way. It's always a matter of building muscle. But macros have been the foundation. They have been the fundamental foundation in all the things that I teach, preach, walk the talk and do. It's not anyone's fault; this is the way women grew up. But this is where we're going, and I want everybody else to jump on this train.

But everyone's like, why macros? Why macros, Nikkiey? Why are macros so different? What makes them so great? Why should I do this? It's so hard. But maybe if I understood it a little bit more, I would do it. So I just wanted to take the time to elaborate a little bit more on why I believe this so hard to be true in terms of following macronutrients.

And I want to emphasize really quickly, before I dive into my reasoning, that counting macros inherently involves counting calories. So they both work together interchangeably, but they vary in their approach. There's nothing wrong with counting calories. However, that pertains to a particular goal an individual may be going after: weight management, maintenance. Macros, on the other hand, focus on making sure you're getting the right nutrients to build more muscle. And when you build more muscle, you become more toned.

When you decrease body fat, which works with those three macronutrients, protein, fats, and carbs, and you're playing around with the amount of each macronutrient the body gets, you then have the ability to decrease body fat, preserve more muscle, and hold on to the muscle mass that you've either built or have. So you're decreasing the body fat around the muscle, and then you look more toned. That's what toned is. It's just building more muscle, and when you build more muscle and decrease the body fat around it, you're going to be able to see that muscle mass a little bit more. And that requires you to work with each individual macronutrient: protein, fat, and carbs. And the reason being is that...

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Counting calories focuses on the total energy intake without paying particular attention to where those calories come from. And like I said, this can be really useful for overall generic weight loss, like someone going from 200 pounds to 150 pounds, or if they're way overweight, from 300 pounds to 200 pounds. This approach can work in that instance, because your weight generally changes based on whether you take in more or fewer calories than you burn. Calorie deficit, calorie surplus and all that jazz.

However, when you count calories, it doesn't take into account the nutritional quality of your food. For example, a calorie from protein has a different impact on your body than a calorie from fat or carbohydrate. So think about that. People who consume 1,800 or 2,000 calories and are just counting calories: that calorie count could be made up of a different amount of protein, a different amount of fat, and a different amount of carbohydrates on a regular basis.

So there's no consistency in the level of macronutrients this person is getting. They're just trying to hit an overall calorie goal. People could say, oh, this has 500 calories, I'm going to eat that, and it could be a slice of pizza, rather than, this has 500 calories and it's a chicken sandwich. So it doesn't take into account the nutritional quality somebody is consuming. A gram of protein, like chicken, does something different to your body than what fat or carbohydrates would do.

The most important thing, which I'm going to elaborate on in a second, is that when people focus on just hitting a calorie count and a calorie goal, I guarantee you a lot of women are getting far less protein than they need. They're not focusing on hitting their overall protein, because a lot of people go for protein bars because they have protein in them. But really, there's only 10 grams of protein in that protein bar. You think you're getting protein, but you're not.

And this is something I fell into at the beginning of my journey. I was like, oh, a protein bar has 10 grams of protein, or peanut butter has 7 grams of protein. I didn't actually know how much protein I needed. I just thought, oh, it has protein. But those things are not an efficient amount of the protein the body actually needs to get to the type of goal I spoke about earlier, the goal a lot of women who come to me want: to build more muscle and be more toned, decrease body fat, all of those things.

So with counting calories, on a regular basis, it could be 1,800 or 2,000 calories that you're going after. But one day it's 15% protein and all the rest from fats and carbs, and another day you're 50% protein, 25% fat and 25% carbs. Who knows? People don't pay attention to that makeup, and people don't pay attention to the quality of the food they're consuming. A lot of people say, I'm eating 2,000 calories and I'm eating healthy. Okay, cool. But what are you really eating to make up that 2,000 calorie count? And usually when I unpack that with a client, they're like, oh, wow, I'm really not eating enough protein. Or, oh, wow, the quality of my food really just isn't where it should be.

When you track macros, on the other hand, this involves counting the grams of the macronutrients, the protein, carbohydrates, and fats that you consume. This method not only looks at total calorie intake, but also at where the calories are coming from. So the advantage of tracking macros is that it can help ensure a balanced and nutritious diet. It can help ensure that you're getting the right quality of foods into your nutrition every single day. And from there, when you're consuming the right amount from a protein, fat, and carb standpoint, this is going to promote muscle growth.

This is going to promote fat loss. There's a difference, like I've said in earlier podcasts, so go back and find the difference between weight loss and fat loss. I said calorie counting can work for overall weight loss, but fat loss is a different beast to tackle. There's an entire podcast on this, the difference between weight loss and fat loss, because there is a distinct difference that I think every one of you should understand.

So when you're tracking macronutrients, the advantage is making sure you have the right macronutrients in your day on a consistent basis to promote the goal you want, with muscle growth and with fat loss. It will also increase your ability and your performance in your workouts on a day-to-day basis. And not just that. I guarantee you this, because I see it from the women inside our WarriorBabe community: they come back and say, my blood pressure has never been this good. My A1C has never been this good. My blood pressure, blood sugar, my thyroid numbers have never been this good.

It improves because you're giving your body the right things. Your body needs all three macronutrients. You can't cut out one of them. I know a lot of people preach that. You just can't. Your body needs them in order to function properly. Not just your body; your organs need them to function properly. Your brain needs carbohydrates to function properly. Your hormones need fats to function properly. And protein is for overall muscle quality and muscle building, which is going to help you live a healthier life with more muscle. You need protein to do that.

So it's going to improve health markers. When women have some type of diagnosis, it's coming back from their doctor: their bloodwork is X, Y, and Z, or they have low thyroid, A1C problems or blood sugar problems. Some of it is genetic. But the majority of these things can be fixed so easily just by eating the right freaking things on a regular basis for months on end, for years on end. I promise you that.

So that's the overarching, huge distinction between counting calories and counting macros. Now I want to dive back into the quality of the foods, because that's my personal main distinction between counting calories and counting macros. Counting calories does not consider the quality or nutritional composition of the foods you are consuming.

Again, like I said, protein impacts your body differently than fats and carbs do. But here's another example for you. Take a sugary soft drink, a Coca-Cola, and a piece of fruit. They have similar calorie counts, but their nutritional values are vastly different. So if you're counting calories but having sugary drinks in your day and attributing them to your calorie count, that is a different quality of choice and nutritional value than a piece of fruit.

You get what I'm saying here? A lot of people can look at an Oreo next to a sweet potato. Those are vastly different qualities of nutritional value that you are giving your body. Whereas when you track macros, it focuses on the quality of the calories you consume, ensuring that you get the right balance of each of the macronutrients your body needs to fuel the type of results the majority of you want.

Muscle growth, fat loss, better overall performance and energy, and improving your health for the longevity of your life. Counting calories is not going to get you there. Point blank. End of story, my friends. I hope this is like, okay, boom, I get it, Nikkiey. You're telling me to count macros. I can't just count calories. Please understand it: if you want those goals I mentioned, counting calories isn't it. Counting calories is good for weight loss. It's good for the women who just need to focus on doing that.

Counting macros is going to get you to muscle growth and all the other things. I don't even need to repeat myself. You should get it at this point. When you track macros, it recognizes that not all calories are created equal. Protein calories can help you build muscle. Carbohydrate calories provide energy. And fat calories support cell health and hormone function, like I just mentioned. So by focusing on macros, you can ensure that your body is getting the nutrients it needs to function optimally.

If you're just focused on counting calories, you may not be giving your body what it needs to function optimally, because, like I said, the ratios vary from day to day. They fluctuate, and you're not giving your body those nutrients consistently. You're just going for an overarching number, a really arbitrary number, and you don't know what the foods you're consuming to get to that number are made of. That's why macros are so freaking amazing. They give your body exactly what it needs, which leads to improved overall health, wellness, all of the things.

And like I said when I opened the podcast, it's worth noting and reminding you that counting macros inherently involves counting calories. However, the emphasis is not on the total caloric intake, but rather on the distribution of calories across different types of nutrients. That is my argument on counting calories versus counting macros, you guys. I hope I explained it in a way that's understood and that makes you want to go give macros a try.

Because there is a significant difference between counting calories and counting macros, which is what I just said. Why macros? What's the big deal? What makes it so different? All the things I just said. It truly comes down to overall health. I was going to say your goals, but truly, it's overall health, because you're giving your body the nutrients, all three of them, that it needs.

Another thing she asked was, how do we know we're giving our body the right things, and that we're doing the right things as we continue to age? I speak to a lot of women going through menopause. They're either before menopause or after menopause, but primarily they're going through it. When it comes to changes related to aging and menopause, your nutritional needs evolve. I'm going to say it that way. They evolve from where you were when you were 20, from where you were at 30, from where you were even in your early 40s.

So for instance, as you age, you need more protein to help maintain muscle mass. Every decade after the age of 30, your muscle mass decreases by about 3 to 8%. And that's because a lot of people don't eat enough protein. So what I mean by evolution in terms of your nutritional focus is that as you age, you have to focus on getting enough protein into your everyday nutrition. And the hormone fluctuations a lot of you experience going through menopause can lead to weight gain, and can lead to a condition I have spoken about numerous times in numerous podcasts: osteoporosis.

So when you evolve into focusing on the right macronutrients, all three, protein, fats, and carbs, a nutritional focus rich in those can help lower the things you may feel and experience going through menopause, and also lower the risk of these things happening to you later in life.

And you know from previous podcasts I've been on, and even here on The WarriorBabe Show, I've spoken about the two paths you can go down. Either you go down a path where you're honing in on eating the right things and doing strength training, and at age 70 your world is vastly different than if you don't focus on strength training and don't focus on eating right. It's vastly different. I've personally seen it. I worked in the healthcare field for nine years before I turned it over to WarriorBabe, and I've seen what life can be like for women who work out and for women who don't.

So I ask, which path do you choose? Do you want to be strong and running around with your grandkids later in life? Or do you want to be the one sitting back watching them because you're not physically capable of going to play and enjoying those memories? It comes down to everything I just talked about in this podcast. In addition to strength training, and in addition to reprogramming your mindset to understand that eating the right types of food in the right quantities is literally the catalyst to changing not only your overall body composition, but your overall health and longevity, from now into the years moving forward.

Okay, so that's all I've got for today, you guys. I actually really enjoyed speaking to that out loud because, again, like I said at the beginning, it's the fundamental understanding of macronutrients. I don't look at it as another diet. I look at it as a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your life.

I will leave you by saying you don't have to track macros for the rest of your life. But when you do track macros for a period of time, it can evolve into such an incredible relationship with food, an abundance of knowing what food is out there that you can consume on a regular basis, and enjoying yourself with the types of food you want. That is something profound. I'm speaking from experience, because that's my existence now.

I want you to have a better relationship with this, and to understand that, sure, macros may be hard at the beginning, but it's worth it. It's so worth it. And again, nothing has really shown me otherwise. There's no other research or approach to nutrition, doing X, Y, and Z in a certain way, that has given women results, built muscle, created fat loss or longevity like macronutrients.

So please just give macronutrients a shot. It works. It works for hundreds of thousands of women, so I know it can work for you. You just have to open your mind up to it. All right, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in the next podcast.

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