Is Tracking Macros Restrictive? How It Leads to Food Freedom

Nikkiey: Hey, 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.

There is no food that is inherently bad. However, our behaviors and our attitudes towards certain foods can be problematic. Macro tracking and understanding macros helps in recognizing and managing these behaviors. So for instance, it's not ever about not having bagels. It's not ever about not having dessert. It's about understanding how to enjoy the dessert and enjoy the bagels in moderation and balance with other nutritional needs.

What is going on, my friends? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show. Or if this is one of your first episodes, welcome to the show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we deep dive into 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. Welcome to today's episode, episode 128, where I am going to deep dive into debunking some common macronutrient tracking myths around time and restriction.

So I hear this all of the time, especially from somebody who is new to the macronutrient world. And really, this is a parallel to anything in life, right? Whenever there's something new that needs to be learned, that this human has never done before, whether it be technology or, I don't know, those are parallels, right? To learning new skills that can be an absolute game changer for you and whatever type of result that skill will serve you. And this parallel is macronutrients.

The common thing that I hear is, "I don't have enough time to track my macronutrients." Or, "Macronutrients and tracking them are actually restrictive." This is what I hear all the time. And these things could not be any further from the truth, one. And two, they are just an excuse to avoid actually putting in the time that it takes to, say, learn technology or ride a bike, right? Anything that requires time and energy to learn, there's always some type of restriction to learn it out of the gate, even with weight training, right? There's some type of, "Oh, this is going to take way too long to learn."

I'm trying to think in my brain of something for me that is maybe recent, whether it be learning a new system that I have to use for WarriorBabe or, I don't know, the parallels, right? You can think of the parallels in life. This is very frequent, what I see. So what I want to spend time on here is tackling these common misconceptions that I hear about all the time with tracking macronutrients, one being that it takes too much time and the other being that it's actually restrictive, and debunking that, showing how tracking your macronutrients really leads to food freedom and to this invaluable lifelong skill.

So first, I want to talk about the time factor. Like any new skill, like I'm talking about here, technology, riding a bike, tracking macros, it takes a little bit of practice at the start. But once you get the hang of it, it becomes a quick and routine part of your day. So think of it as an investment in your health, my friends. A few minutes daily that pays off immensely in the long run, right?

At the beginning, I hear all the time, "It's taking me a half an hour to an hour to an hour and a half to put all my meals inside of MyFitnessPal and to actually get my macros to be plus or minus five in my protein, plus or minus five in my carbs, plus or minus five in my fats. And I don't have that time. I don't have this time of day to do this." Well, think about the flip side. Wouldn't it be worth it to spend this time so that maybe in a couple of years you don't have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or more of the health risks that you could endure?

Or second to that, the physical appearance. You want to change it? It ain't going to get anywhere just ignoring the nutrition aspect, right? So wouldn't it be worth it to understand this, to spend some time doing this, so that the result you want, whether it be health markers, the physical appearance or just longevity, happens? Wouldn't you spend the time right now to figure that out, when it's literally in your control?

So this one gets to me because, as you guys know from the last episode, if you haven't listened to it, definitely go listen to it, I think it's a really good one. In episode 127, I talk about this: the people that have the time excuse, it's like you really don't want it that bad. You've got to want it. You've got to want the outcome, and you've got to want the healthy lifestyle that you could have or that you could improve upon. And you've got to want the physical appearance in order to actually devote the time that it takes to do these skill sets or to do the things that are in alignment with you getting to that goal. If you don't do the things that are in alignment with getting to that goal, you will not get to that goal. Point blank.

Okay, so yes, tracking macronutrients out of the gate, I'll be blunt and honest with you, takes time. It could take you an hour to go around your entire kitchen barcode scanning things and putting them into MyFitnessPal. It could take you an hour and a half. It takes a bit of practice at the start, just like sitting down, opening up a new computer and setting it up, or learning Zoom. Think back to 2020, you guys, when you had to learn Zoom for the first time and click on mute or turn the video on or go into the settings to allow the computer to use your camera.

All of these things involve practice and time at the start. Think about how fast you are with Zoom nowadays. It's second nature. Think about how you are with your iPhone nowadays. You had to learn that stuff years and years ago, right? How to use it. This is no different. But this is actually something that will serve you in terms of your health, which is huge.

So when I hear people say, "I don't have enough time to do this," or, "It takes too much time," there's so much to unpack there that I want to get deeper with that individual. It's hard to do that on a podcast with you guys, because I really love individual connection points. That's why inside of WarriorBabe we have one-on-one coaching, and our coaches coach women around these specific topics. And we get deeper into, okay, what's really going on? "I don't have enough time" is a smoke screen. What's really going on? What's a little bit deeper? Can you tell me a little bit more? Once we get to that point, we can coach on that. I love doing that. Our coaches love doing that, because these are surface-level excuses. And I'm just going on a rant here. These are surface-level excuses.

So what really is it? "Oh, I'm nervous that once I'm actually successful in this concept, what is my success going to look like?" Fear of success. Totally normal. "What are my friends going to think?" Social pressure, right? All of these. And then we're getting deeper, and we're like, okay, cool, we can coach on this. That's what's so fun about the transformative process of changing women's lives. It's like, okay, you have this. I'm not going to accept this excuse. So let's unpack it a little bit more, right?

Because, like I said, bringing it back: practice at the start. You're spending maybe an hour doing this for the first, I don't know, couple of weeks. But I promise you, I literally put my word and my life on this, that if you consistently do this practice time and time again at the beginning of your journey for the first couple of weeks, I guarantee you will get so much faster at it. What was once an hour-and-a-half procedure of tracking your macros, putting them inside MyFitnessPal the day before and setting your day up for success will then become an hour. And then it'll become 45 minutes. And then it'll become 30 minutes. And then it'll become 10 minutes. And nine years later, when I'm still doing it, it's three minutes. I can literally open up MyFitnessPal on my phone in the afternoon and track all the food that I've already eaten by 5 p.m., just so I can get a rough ballpark of what I have to eat for the rest of the day. No joke. So think of it as an investment in your health. A few minutes to an hour daily that will immensely pay off in the long run.

Okay. Next thing I want to get into. I'm going to go back and forth between time and restriction, because I think this one marries in really well here. Macro tracking isn't about restriction, first and foremost. It is about balance and understanding of the macronutrients. Macronutrients empower you to enjoy a variety of foods without eliminating anything from your everyday eating routine and habits. And when you understand the macronutrient composition of foods, you can make informed choices and decisions and enjoy your meals without guilt or fear.

So to dive a little bit deeper here. Should I even bring this up? A couple of days ago, somebody left our VIP program because I eat bagels on an everyday basis. And I'm like, bro, really? Sending love to this individual, because this is my personal preference. I freaking love bagels. There's nothing wrong with bagels, first and foremost. And it's my personal choice to want to be able to eat food that I enjoy on a daily basis.

And I remind you guys, to go down a little rabbit hole here: what you see on Instagram, especially a photo, is five seconds of my day. And a video is maybe 30 seconds to one minute of my day. I've done a really poor job of sharing my entire day with you guys. There's way more, better quality food that makes up the rest of my meals in a day outside of bagels. But if I want a freaking bagel, I'm going to eat a bagel. I preach the fact that you can have what you want. It just has to fit in balance with your 80%, 90% whole, quality foods. The rest can be whatever your little heart desires, so that nothing feels restrictive. And I ain't going to restrict bagels from my diet, first and foremost. Secondly, it's so important to understand this.

Hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show. It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it, and there's so much more to come. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons. It would also help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too.

There is no food that is inherently bad. However, our behaviors and our attitudes towards certain foods can be problematic. Macro tracking and understanding macros helps in recognizing and managing these behaviors. So for instance, it's not ever about not having bagels. It's not ever about not having dessert. It's about understanding how to enjoy the dessert and enjoy the bagels in moderation and balance them with other nutritional needs and quality food.

Okay. So there's nothing bad. Carbs are not bad. Bagels are not bad. Bread is not bad. All of the things that you label bad are not inherently bad. It is your behavior and your attitude towards them that makes them problematic. I need you to understand and grasp that concept, because if you can accept that, it will free you, freeingly open you mentally, to accept that all food is fine. It's just the moderation and balance with which you put it into your day that is the most important. There's nothing that is inherently bad. Your attitude and the behavior coupled with it is what makes it problematic.

So all in all, understanding macronutrients, and I say this all of the time, my friends, is a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your life. Why? Because you are learning portion sizes. You are learning what different foods are made up of. You are learning how those specific foods impact your body, your mood, your sleep, your physiology, all the things.

This knowledge that you gain by learning portion sizes, by looking at the plate when you're tracking your food, and then over time recognizing, "Oh, okay, this is a handful of rice," or, "This is a handful of mashed potatoes," or, "This is four ounces of chicken," allows you to have control over your diet rather than your diet having control over you. And when you have control over your diet in a way that supports your overall health and fitness goals, it is an absolute game changer in terms of feeling free, having food freedom and having a skill that serves you and the results you want to accomplish.

You learn how to incorporate all types of foods into your diet in a balanced way, right? You literally can have your cake and eat it too. It's just about understanding how to fit treats into your macros so that you can enjoy the foods you love while still working towards your goals.

You guys probably know this if you've followed me for a long time. I have a consistent stocking schedule inside of my cabinet for Dove chocolate. Dark Dove chocolate, the little red wrappers. I have that at the end of every single night, because it is so freaking good. And I want that, because if I restrict it and say no, well, guess what I'm going to do? I'm going to eat it anyway.

It's like me telling you not to think of a pink elephant right now. Are you thinking of a pink elephant? Yeah. Same thing goes with food. You say you're not going to allow yourself to have this food, and you're going to eat the food. I don't care how disciplined you are. It's just the way human brains work.

So what I'm trying to get across here is to completely debunk these two things and have your perspective really shift on them: one being time, one being the restriction that people consider macro tracking to be. I cannot fully grasp that, because I know so much about macronutrients. It is so freaking empowering. It educates you on the nutritional value of foods. It helps you make choices that fuel your body effectively. And this knowledge gives you the freedom to eat a diverse range of foods while still getting the results that you want.

There's a video that's going to come out, I think maybe later this month or around this time, on WarriorBabe's channel on YouTube, where I share the story of my fitness journey and why I got started, and then how I transitioned from the bodybuilding world into the macronutrient world, because they are vastly different in the way you approach food. And what would have happened if I didn't give all my time and dedication to learning macronutrients? I would still be on a hamster wheel, stuck and unhappy and experiencing so much pain with the only way that I knew.

If I didn't have an open mind, an open perspective, wanting to learn and being curious about things, which I highly encourage you guys to do too. Because if you are stuck thinking that one way is the one way that's going to serve you for the rest of your life, maybe approaches you've done for fitness or for your nutrition, and you think that got you success before, and you try it again and it doesn't work, and you keep trying to make that one thing work, it's like sticking a circle into a square hole. What's that saying? Something along those lines. It's not going to work, right?

So it's about being open, being accepting, being understanding and being patient with learning something new. And I share that in the YouTube video, because if I hadn't found this world of macronutrients and the food freedom it gives you, the education it gives you, the knowledge it gives you and the empowering feeling it gives you with understanding all of the things around food, I would have been so stuck. I would have still been so stuck.

So leaving this podcast today, first of all, change the perspective you may have if you do think this. I challenge you to change the perspective on time. I said this somewhere, I think it's inside of our VIP program: don't say, "I can't do this," first and foremost. Say, "I can't do this yet." Because that word "yet" changes the narrative for you, to accept that maybe down the line, maybe in a couple of weeks, you're really going to grasp it and say, "Okay, I can actually do this." I may not be able to do it right now, but I'm going to put the time and effort into it, and I'm going to reap the rewards in a couple of weeks because I'm going to stay patient with the process. You may get frustrated, but you're not going to give up. It's okay to get frustrated, but don't give up.

Embrace macro tracking not as a chore, but as a path to food freedom and a healthier lifestyle, because that's exactly what it will give you. And again, mark my words, on my life, it is exactly what it will give you.

Macro tracking isn't going to make you unhealthy, unless you're approaching it the wrong way and eating McDonald's burgers and all that stuff on a routine basis every single day to fit into your macros. That's a different ballpark, a different thing to unpack. But if you're doing it with quality food and you're consistent with it, it will lead you to a healthier and overall happier lifestyle, because you now have a different outlook on food because you understand it a little bit more. And the way you will fully understand it is by learning what food is made up of, and every food consists of protein, fat and carbs.

So this skill will seriously empower you to make informed decisions about your diet and about what's in alignment with your goals, right now and into the future. This is something that you will take with you for the rest of your life, okay?

So leaving this podcast, one: it is not a time restriction. It's how bad do you want the other side of it, which is a healthier lifestyle, getting the results you want and food freedom. How bad do you want that? Then time is irrelevant, because if you want it that bad, you're going to do the work that it takes to get to that point.

And then restriction. I think I know why people say that: they think that they're following a diet, so they have to eliminate certain foods. Because they're putting the food into an app, they're like, "Oh, but I've been told that I can't have this," or, "This is bad." That has nothing to do with macronutrients. It is your attitude and your behaviors attached to that food, from other things you've tried or done, or from people on the internet, that you've held onto and are now applying to following macronutrients, okay?

All right, so with all that being said, I hope I've changed your mind, or maybe not. Maybe you've got to come back in a couple of months and listen to this podcast again because it doesn't resonate yet. But maybe for some of you, it's resonating and hitting home, and I hope that it is. And I hope you guys leave this podcast with a different approach to macronutrients. All right, my friends, I love you. I'll see you in the next episode. Peace out.

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