How to Date While Tracking Macros and Staying on Track

Nikkiey: You are not dating to be liked. You're dating to be seen. You're dating to be respected. You're dating to be met where you're at. Your goals are a reflection of the love and the discipline that you cultivated for yourself. That right person is going to get it.

Hey, everyone. What's going on? Welcome back 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 298. Holy moly.

Today, my friends, we're going to dive into something that is very real, very relevant. And honestly, I feel like this one's going to be very, very relatable. It's going to be a little side subject, but I'm going to bring it home to fitness. I was asked personally by the coaching team of WarriorBabe to bring this topic to the podcast because many of the WarriorBabes are asking about this. Maybe you guys are asking for me to talk about this on the episode too. We're going to talk about dating. Stay with me, stay with me, stay with me, because it's going to get so juicy and so good.

I'm going to tie it into how to do that while you're living the WarriorBabe lifestyle, or just a fitness lifestyle in general. Because, dude, I think you all know. Personally, I know, because this was me last year. Dating right now, dating in 2025, is hard. It's hard enough. And then trying to track your macros, trying to train consistently, trying to sleep like a queen, do all your routines before you go to bed and when you wake up in the morning. And then, most importantly, to protect your peace. Yeah, that's hard, right? It can feel like a full-time mental game.

It's something that is just so relevant, and I hope this becomes very relatable for you guys, especially those of you who are newly single, or you're in your 20s or in your 30s or in your 40s or in your 50s. You might be asking, how do I stay on track while going on back-to-back dates? Should I say I'm tracking my macros on the first date? What if I'm just too intense? What if they don't get it? I'm sure you have all of those questions, like, how am I going to devote time to working out but also devote time to dating and finding people that I'm interested in?

If you're in that boat, I hear you. I understand you. And I want you to know this: you're not alone. This is exactly why I am doing this episode, okay? Because it is possible to date while honoring your goals, while honoring your health and your fitness goals, without turning dating into a checklist, and most importantly, without compromising your own personal values, okay?

In the first part of this episode, I'm going to talk more about mindset shifts, and then practical strategies you guys can use for dining out and alcohol and social settings. But in the back half of this, I want you to be able to remind yourself how to stay true to yourself. Emotional reminders to stay rooted in your identity and not get swept away by people-pleasing. And how to use dating as a mirror, not a measure of your worth. I want to dive into those and speak life into you guys.

For some of you guys, I may touch a little bit on spiritual truths, but I know not everybody is in their walk, so I'm going to honor that as well. I hope you walk away from this episode feeling grounded, feeling empowered, and ready to show up as your full self. No shrinking, no hiding, your full self, okay? That's what I hope you get by the end of this. And know that you're not alone if you're feeling all these feelings, or you have these questions or these doubts. We're going to get you on track today, okay?

So let's get into the mindset aspect of it, because before you even swipe right or say yes to going out to dinner or say yes to a date, you've got to ground yourself in this. Turn this into an affirmation, something that you repeat nonstop. Or if my words just permeate your soul right now, that should be good enough. But say these things on repeat. Your standards are not a burden. Your discipline is not too much. A slight comment to that: you are never too much or too intense for someone, and I'll get to that in a second. Your goals are not inconvenient, okay? And I'm going to say that a little bit louder. Again, you are not too much.

This is the thing. We live in a culture that still makes women feel like we should be easygoing. We should be chill. We should be low maintenance. We should be effortlessly fun. But what happens when you've committed to something bigger? When you've said, no, I want to feel amazing in my body. I want to eat foods that energize me. I want to lift heavy weight. I want to sleep like a baby and show up with confidence. I want to exude confidence. I want to be a light for people, right?

And it's not to say you can't intertwine the two. This may get into the masculine and feminine side of things, and people may dive down that rabbit hole. People will feel like one is a little bit too masculine, and the other is a little bit too easy or too feminine. You can merge the two, guys. I'm going to give myself a little bit of credit here, and I say this to empower you, not to brag. But I feel like I'm finally finding that balance of how to merge the two: being confident, having that grit and determination, being a go-getter. I have big dreams and big goals. And I want to feel good in my body, to feel amazing in my body, for myself. But I can also be chill. I can be easygoing. And I can be fun, right? You can blend the two things.

It doesn't mean that you're difficult, especially if you lean toward the side of being committed to something bigger and better for yourself. That you want to have an amazing body. That you want to fuel your body, and you really pay attention to food. That doesn't mean you're difficult. What it means is that you've done the inner work to know what you need to feel your absolute best. And that's not a red flag, okay? That is a built-in filter for you. If someone doesn't respect that, good. Now you know. If someone pressures you to change that, ladies, even better. Now you can walk away before you get too attached.

Let me remind you that you are not dating to be liked. You're dating to be seen. You're dating to be respected. You're dating to be met where you're at. Your goals are a reflection of the love and the discipline that you cultivated for yourself. And the right person, that right person, is going to get it. They might not track macros. They might not work out. They may not live the fit lifestyle. But they will support you. If they are the right person, they will support you, because they respect that you respect yourself, and that you've cultivated this environment for yourself. This discipline for yourself. This love for yourself.

Taking care of yourself is the ultimate, highest form of respect. Of love. Of light. Of strength. Right? And if somebody is ever going to demean that, let me remind you, it's not you. It's them. Okay? So, girl, show up with confidence. Don't show up to perform. You don't need to convince someone to like your lifestyle. You need to live in it. And you need to live in it boldly and unapologetically.

Let's dive in a little bit deeper. Let's talk about the deeper side of this. Because food choices are one thing, right? But staying you while dating, ladies, that is a whole other layer. Okay? So here's what I know to be true. When you're healing, when you're growing, when you're leveling up, dating can feel like a threat to your identity. You're not who you were. You're not operating from the same old patterns, right? And yet, when you're nervous, when you want someone to like you, it's easy to fall back into old ways. It's easy to laugh off your boundaries. It's easy to skip meals and start overthinking your body. It's easy to start drinking when you don't want to. Or staying out too late and skipping your morning routine. It's easy to do those things.

Like I said, you've worked so hard to cultivate this type of love and discipline and environment for yourself, this respect for yourself. But when you start dating, it's literally like a mirror. And it can be so easy to go back into old ways. It's subtle, but it matters. It will play out in the long run if you don't get a grip on it early enough. Okay?

Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results, and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit WarriorBabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's WarriorBabe.com/apply. All right. Let's get back to the show.

The journey you're on, let me remind you, is sacred. You worked hard to build the type of discipline that you have. To say no when you need to. To show up for yourself day after day after day. Don't let one cute face or one sly love bomber or a few flirty texts undo that.

And here's where I want to speak gently but boldly to you guys. To those of you who are walking in your faith: when you start looking outward for validation, for approval, or for love, you take your eyes off of the one relationship that truly anchors you. The one that anchored you into showing up for yourself and respecting yourself and taking care of yourself. That's your relationship with God.

Now, this isn't about being perfect. It's not about being so adamant about things. But it is about being in alignment. And when you're aligned with God, when you remember that you are already chosen, you are already loved, you are already worthy, you stop chasing crumbs. You stop contorting yourself to be accepted and looking outwardly for the validation that you already have inside of you. And you stop settling for situations that just drain you.

Instead, you start showing up from a place of overflow. A place of overly exuberant energy and love and all of these things, and not from lack. And that love becomes something that you give, not something that you beg for. You give that to somebody because you have so much of it within you already. I mean, if you are somebody that truly shows up for yourself, that gets the job done, that is consistent, that keeps the promises to yourself, there's so much love inside of you to do that, to care for yourself, that when you're in a relationship, you will pour that into somebody else. But you're not going to beg for it.

And the second that any of these things start to feel off, as I'm talking about, as I'm preaching on, then it's not the right person. And it's not you. It's them. It's just like that Mel Robbins book. Okay? Let them feel a type of way about how you work out. If they don't get inspired by you, then again, that's not your person. Okay? If they pressure you to change, that's not your person. If they don't respect what you're doing for yourself, that's not your person.

Wives could be listening to this. Maybe some of you women are in a complicated relationship and you're married. This is where I would just encourage you, and I'm not a freaking relationship counselor, I'm just hoping that maybe the support helps you: sit down and have a conversation with your partner about how you're feeling. And if it's not received, just continue to show up for yourself, and maybe create a little bubble and guard your heart over the things that you want to be doing for yourself to feel like your best self. Just guard that part of your life. And if they ask about it, share, of course. But only if you feel like it's being well received. Okay?

And if you're not deep in your faith, this truth still applies. Because when you know who you are and you truly honor and stay true to yourself, and you want to be healthy and you want to work out, and that's just a part of who you're becoming, the game changes. And whose you are. Okay? Some of you will understand what I mean by that. You walk into every date knowing, I'm good. I'm good either way. I don't need this validation from someone. I don't need this love from someone. Of course, if it continues to build and you guys get into a deeper relationship, that's amazing. That's incredible. That's something that was sent for you to be a part of. But if it's draining you at the beginning, it's not for you. Just know. So on every date, when you're dating, and I'm going to keep it to the dating realm...

Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results, and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit WarriorBabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's WarriorBabe.com/apply. All right, let's get back to the show.

When you are dating, just walk into those conversations and those environments thinking, I'm going to keep my boundaries. I'm going to say no to drinking alcohol. I'm going to say no to overindulging in food. And I'm going to stay true to myself. If they don't respect that, hey, I'm good either way. Right?

Let me reframe the outcome. Not every date will be a fit. Not every conversation will lead somewhere. Not every quote-unquote maybe will turn into something real. And hear me when I say that that is okay. Dating is feedback. I kind of look at dating as an interview, if you really want to go that route. Some of you will agree with me on that one. Some of you will feel like that's a little too intense or masculine. But think about it like that. It's feedback. It's not failure. Every experience gives you more insight. What qualities do you value? How grounded did you feel? What made you feel seen? What made you feel dismissed? Whether you stayed true to your plan or you lost yourself in their energy.

So instead of asking, did they like me, ask, did I like how I showed up? That question changes everything, ladies. Because the win isn't always a second date. I know a lot of us get done with the dates and our girlfriends are like, so is there going to be a second date? Sure, that's something to be excited about. But the win isn't always that. Sometimes the win is coming home. It's logging your macros. It's making your tea. And it's saying, yo, I held the line. Yo, I stayed in integrity with myself.

And if you guys are a WarriorBabe, that's WarriorBabe energy. It's really both. It's for the WarriorBabes, and it's also for the babes who aren't WarriorBabes. That's the type of energy. I held the line. I kept my boundaries. I held my standards for myself. And I stayed in integrity with myself. And yo, you can lay your head down at night and rest assured that, yo, I'm good. I'm good either way.

And then over time, as you're doing the dating scene, you realize the right person isn't someone you need to perform for. They're someone who walks beside you as you become more of yourself. As you become the best version of yourself. That person should encourage you to be the best form of yourself, and one of the best things you can do for yourself is take care of your health. If we don't have our health, what do we have? We have nothing, right? So if that person's not respecting you in this, or is pressuring you to change, uh-uh. No, my friends, you are good to walk away from that.

This is something that I also had to rewire in my mind. Don't take rejection personally. I look at rejection as redirection. Don't let one flaky person make you doubt your value or doubt you or make you start questioning yourself. This is all refining you for the person who won't require you to dim your light, okay? The person that's meant to be with you, who will walk alongside you, is going to make that light shine so much brighter.

I went more into the topic of what I said I was going to get to at the end, because I felt like I was on a tangent there and just wanted to finish my thoughts. But what I did want to circle back around to is the strategies for dining out. WarriorBabes, or babes if you're not WarriorBabes, it's literally the same approach I would take when you're going out for an extra meal, like a treat meal, whatever you want to call it, an extra meal in the week. I think that's what we call it nowadays. It's not a cheat meal, because that can have negative connotations.

Look at the menu ahead of time. Think about what will align, right? I love getting salmon when I'm out because I know that's high protein, good fats, omega-3s, rice, and then the veggies that come along with it. I know that's always a solid choice for me to go for. So look at the menu ahead of time and find that. Because if you don't have a plan going into it, since you're nervous and you have all these feelings, right, you're more than likely going to find comfort food. Don't do that. Stay true to yourself.

And like I said, on the alcohol side, maybe you can have a mocktail, even though those are full of sugar. So let me actually refrain from saying that. Maybe you just say no, right? I had a lot of Diet Cokes at the beginning of my journey. But I want you to know that you're not alone if you do fall into having a couple more drinks than you normally would. That happened to me at the beginning of the relationship. And then I recognized what alcohol was doing to me mentally and physically. It wasn't in alignment with me. So I've backtracked a lot. I was like, this is not a part of who I am. I don't really drink a lot. I'll have a casual drink here and there. But like some of the things I was saying, it became a part of the routine when we were out, and I didn't want that.

Another thing, going into the date, is to remember your boundaries, remember your standards, and make sure that you're grounded in that before you go into the date. And then remember again, you're good either way. Repeat that in your mind. You're good either way. And never let your standards be a burden, or your discipline feel like it's too much, or your goals feel like they're just so inconvenient. If that's how you're feeling, that's not for you. Okay.

So let's land this with some more truth as we close it out. I want you to remember that you are not hard to love. Again, you should never feel like you're too much or not enough. You're not extra for tracking food or paying attention to your nutrition or training with intensity or choosing sleep over taking shots on the weekend or on a Thursday night. Just remember that you are clear. And I'm going to bring this one in because we've been talking about it in every single episode up until this point: you are self-aware. And that is a really important quality to have. Don't ever lose your self-awareness. And you're intentional. You know who you are at your core.

And if you struggle with that, I would love for you to shoot me a DM on Instagram. I will try to be there and hold space for you, because I know some of you lean on seeking validation outwardly and not just knowing that you are already enough. You are already everything. And if you are struggling with that, you're not alone. That was me literally last year. Okay. So I understand how you're feeling with that. It takes time to be able to truly honor and trust that you are enough as you are right now. And the flaws that we do have, if they aren't accepted by somebody, again, that person's not your person. Side tangent there.

But you are allowed to be excited about going to the gym. You're allowed to be excited about eating healthy. You're allowed to feel those ways. But you're not allowed to abandon yourself in the process. So date with wisdom. Date with grace. Date with discipline. And with the deep knowing that your worth is already established. You don't need a second date to feel good about yourself. You don't need their approval to feel secure in your goals. You don't need anything more than what you've already done and been given by the one who made you. So breathe, show up, and know that the right one won't be confused by your confidence.

Okay. I hope this one helped you. I hope the request was delivered upon. It's definitely a different one for a fitness podcast, but I definitely intertwined it with the fitness aspect. So I hope this resonates with you guys. If you're struggling at all, my DMs are open. Please shoot me a DM on Instagram. I love having conversations with you guys and building relationships with you guys. And just know I love you all. I love you guys so much. You've got this. Keep showing up for yourself. Keep the promises to yourself. Keep the standards where they are for yourself. Keep growing. Keep continuing to be a light for yourself and for others. Okay. And remember, you're good either way. All right. Love you. Peace out.

Hey, really quick before you go, I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all the difference, helping more women discover the tools they need to transform their fitness and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much.