When I Almost Gave Up On Macronutrients

00:00Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else. And I felt so much pain in that, eating the same thing that I was eating with bodybuilding and not allowing myself to incorporate some treats that I was already trying to fit in. And I literally felt so, yeah, it was so painful. It was so hard for me to do. And I almost threw up sometimes eating the foods that I was eating because of, I don't know, I guess the emotional attachment that I had to bodybuilding and then eating this food. And due to that pain that I felt, I was like, okay, I got to figure this out.

00:54What's going on, you guys? Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikki Stott, co-founder of Warrior Babe. And 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, Nikki Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode 144. And this episode is going to entail a bunch of different little mini stories that I have recorded while driving in my car. And honestly, you guys, when I am in that state of mind, there is a bunch of awesome, interesting, nuanced stories, topics, things that just like come out of my mouth, and that I know can help you along your journey.

01:42It's pretty much stories of which I've experienced in my fitness journey, and maybe one, two, or all of them will resonate with you guys. So enjoy this episode. First and foremost, ladies, that fear that they're going to get too bulky, especially maybe this is like your first time that you're fully committing to a lifting program, and you're fully committed to following the program to the T, and you've like, this is 100% commitment to strength training exercises, right? Maybe you've dabbled into cardio, boot camps, all the things, but like now it's just solely strength training, and you have a fear of getting bulky.

02:17It's not going to happen. Unless like you're doing some abnormal, not natural thing, then sure, you could probably make the process happen a lot faster. But for this being the first time that you're doing it, you don't, this is the thing that I always say, it's like, it takes a long freaking time to build muscle, first and foremost. Like, a long freaking time. And even if you're like a newbie at doing this, and like this is the first year of like doing it, fully committed, you're doing strength training exercises,

02:52it still will take you a really long time to build that kind of muscle mass that maybe you're imagining in your brain that will make you look super bulky. That's not going to happen. You also don't have the hormone profile of which it can make things happen that fast and make you bulk up that quickly. So these are just a few things to just remember and keep in your back pocket that don't fear strength training because of honestly something that will take years and years and years to happen.

03:22And it may not like, I don't know, I'm four, I'm eight years into my journey and I wouldn't even consider myself bulky. Like I have a lot of muscle mass, but like it fits the aesthetic of my body. So bringing it back to the first years of when I first started my journey and like similar to what I had said, like when you're like, I fully committed to the program. I fully committed to strength training and fully committed to doing it the right way. And with that, I noticed the changes happening within the first year and I got, and I was also fully committed to a bodybuilding show.

03:55So I took things a little bit drastic with the diet and nutrition side of things, but with doing strength training for the first time, yeah, I was able to see results within the first year. But like when you look back at like baby Nikki and like the first year of me doing this, my muscle tone was nowhere near bulky. It was very symmetric to my body. It was very beautiful type of aesthetic to have. And it didn't, I didn't look anywhere near bulky. And then as I continued to develop the muscle tone over the last eight years, it still looks in alignment with like the symmetry of my body, the aesthetics of my body.

04:31And if you were to see me in person, you'd be like, I don't know, there's something to be said about social media. Like you definitely, I may definitely look bigger on social media, but if you were to see me in person, like I definitely don't look like a normal woman, but I have more muscle. So I don't know. Yeah. It, it, but I noticed it within the first year for sure. Yeah. I started working out in 2015. So I'm actually in my ninth year. Well, they say breakups make bodybuilders. So for in 2014, I was engaged and I was trying to do the workout thing and trying to eat.

05:08Right. However, I was, didn't know what to do. I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing. I didn't know how I was supposed to be eating. I had no consistent routine that I was following. I would go in to the gym like on a Monday and a Tuesday, and then I wouldn't go the rest of the week. And then I would eat like pizza on the weekends because my ex at the time owned a pizza shop. So we called off the engagement around the holidays going into 2015. And at the beginning of 2015, I was like, all right, this is my year.

05:38This is what, you know, this is the year. This is, I'm going to show up for myself. I'm going to put in the work. I'm going to be committed. I'm going to figure it out because I had no idea how to do any of the things. And this is where I signed up for LA Fitness. And I started doing my own thing for like the first three or four months of the new year. I was a New Year's resolution baby. And I had no idea what I was doing. Like I would find Pinterest workouts. And then I would like follow random things that I was seeing online about how to eat right. I remember having to Google what foods consisted of protein because I had no idea at the time.

06:12And then I just started trying to eat healthier. However, at the time, sweets were my, like, sweets were my downfall. I would have a bag of Smarties. Like it was no problem. So basically when like I was starting to see a little results, but like I was like, you know, I want it faster. I want it quicker. And I started seeing like all these people on Instagram that had these amazing bodies. And they were, you know, tan and they were up on stage all glitz out. Like what is this?

06:43And then I found out there was bodybuilding. And I started thinking about it. I was like, oh, I could do this. Oh, this would be dope. This sounds like a challenge. I don't know what to do. I don't know what this is. I don't even know how to do it. And so I started talking to my family about it. And I started dreaming about it, which is pretty wild. And then I was, and I was still working on the time, right? It's like the first four months of the new year. And I was leaving the gym one day after one of my workout sessions.

07:17And the general manager of the LA Fitness was like, are you doing a bikini competition anytime soon? And I was like, no. However, I've been thinking about it. So do you have any details? And he was like, yeah. Like I know a coach that's local to the area. Let me get you in contact with him. So I was like, cool. He gave me his contact information. I went home and I immediately emailed him. And I was like super interested. And he immediately emailed back.

07:48And we set a date and time to meet in person. And I met him at his home gym. And I remember this so vaguely because this goes back to a question that I get asked all the time about, you know, not wanting to look like a man or not wanting to be super bulky. I remember standing in his gym at the time and looking at my physique and being like, yeah, like I would love to do this show. But also having in the back of my head that I see people on mine and they look like jacked and they look like not normal because of the world of bodybuilding.

08:22You see a lot of not normal stuff when it comes to women's physiques. And I was like, I don't want to get too bulky. I don't want to look like a man. And he was like, yeah, that's like not going to happen because like you don't have the hormone profile of a man which has tons of testosterone. And basically like that's not going to happen. And you're also not going to take any drugs to enhance the muscle growth process. So like that's not going to happen. And I was like, cool. Anyway, along those lines back or coming back, we were I was there in a gym meeting him.

08:53We were talking about all the things about bodybuilding. And I was like, cool, let's go sign me up. So I signed up with him on the spot there. And I got my meal plan and my workout program within two days. And I quit everything that I was doing cold turkey and started immediately following the diet plan. And it was fucking wild. Hey, 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 with it.

09:25If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons. And also it would help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too. With bodybuilding, you're given literally like one meal plan that ties you into five different foods. Be that chicken, tilapia, ground beef, egg whites, oatmeal, and vegetables. Six. Sorry, I forgot the six one.

09:55Vegetables. And a shit ton of them too. I have very funny stories for vegetables back in the day. So, and that's literally what I followed from April, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November. Eight months of eating the same exact thing with maybe some minor alterations to the quantity of how much I was eating those things. But never switching out any food items.

10:26Anyway, back to macros. So, I, after doing my thing with bodybuilding and like being happy with the way that I went about that phase of my life. I was like, there's got to be another way. There has to be another way. The people that I see that have amazing bodies that are living a healthy life, that are eating the foods that they want, that are like smashing burgers. I'm like, there's got, how are they doing that? How are they maintaining this body? And so, I remember like talking to my current coach at the time about macros and he was like, fuck macros.

10:58And I'm like, okay, like I see it now. I'm like, there's one way, one way is bodybuilding. Like, you got to just do it this way and you got to stick to that diet plan. And macros and how I got introduced with this obviously was just sparking my genuine curiosity of like, how do people do this? And how do they live this way? And how do they eat what they want? And how do they maintain this body? And so, once I kind of got, you know, blocked by that, I started looking at other coaches in the space that would speak about macros. And then I started to work with one, but I was like, this is hard.

11:33And I was like, macros is a fucking like, it's like, it's a new, it's like riding a bike for the first time, right? It's like, it's something I was, I was so used to doing this one thing that I had to completely like train my brain to allow certain things back into my diet. So, I signed up with a coach for a little bit, but I was like, you know what, I'm just going to try and figure it out by myself. Cause I got like impatient sound like anybody that's listening right now, maybe you. Um, so I remember for the first, I was put a blade, like I was so set on like figuring it out.

12:07Like I wanted to figure out, like, how can I make macros work for me? And I vaguely remember too, like when I first started doing this, man, I was like, cause like macros is like, you gotta plan. You gotta like barcode scan everything. You gotta make it all fit within the numbers that are like set for you, right? Like 150 grams of protein, 240 grams of carbs, 55 grams of fats, whatever it may be for you. And like, you gotta fit all of your food and the quantity in that. I'm like, Jesus. So I like, I try to make it a game for myself. And I used to call it the game of Tetris, but it's the game of Tetris with macros.

12:40Because you basically got to get negative or plus five in your protein, in your fat, and in your carbs. I remember like going around my kitchen, barcode scanning all of these different food items. And having to put this inside of MyFitnessPal. And it took me an hour to maybe an hour and a half when I first did this for the first couple of nights. And like, sure, like at first, at first I was like, yeah, no, I'm not doing this. You know, I was, I didn't, I stopped doing it. And then I would try and track as I would go throughout my day.

13:13So like I would have my breakfast, I would track it. I would put my lunch in, I would track it. I would put my snack in, I would track it. And then I would get to the end of the day. And I would have like 50 grams of carbs left to eat, 40 grams of carbs, 40 grams of protein to eat. And I'm like, macros is hard. And I was like, but you know what? This is how they do it. So like, if they can figure it out, I can figure it out. From there, I just like put my head down. I was like, I don't care if this is hard. I don't care if this sucks. I don't care if this is going to take a lot of time. I don't care if I'm like having to spend an hour in the kitchen right now in front of my phone, moving around all the quantities, putting together, you know, this whole meal plan inside of my fitness pal.

13:52I'm going to figure it out. And so I did. And dude, once I did, man, it was like an immediate, like, F yeah, man. I got this. I can do this. I had my whole day planned. And I remember for the first time of me figuring this out because of how long it took, I was like, well, shit, I'm just going to copy this entire day that I just figured out for the next at least seven days. I don't want to think about it. And this actually helped me not think about it and be open to like having an open mind of like, oh, I could try this food.

14:23I could try this food and I can like bring this food in. And like, then I was able to maybe like after seven days of being the same thing, start incorporating things because I felt more confident. So I did that. And then, you know, the course of me doing this, obviously I've been doing this now since like 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. Okay. So like eight, seven, seven years of tracking macronutrients. Now I can do track my meals and like also like semi mentally track throughout my day and put all of my food in at 4 p.m. in the afternoon so that I can see where I'm at for the day of what I've already ate.

15:01And it takes me like probably a minute and 30 seconds to input now. So all in all to say, how did I discover macros? I just took you along that entire journey of how I discovered it. I also came up of a common objections that I hear about women not wanting to track macros. I went through it too. I feel your pain. However, it is entirely freaking worth it because there is so much food freedom that comes with tracking your macros and also so much skill that comes tracking your macros because you get to look at every type of food and understand what it's made of.

15:35And you also get to see what portions look like. And you also get to incorporate the foods that you enjoy into your plan. So there's my long window answer about macros. Where do you think I would be if I didn't figure this out and I didn't track macros and I kept going where I was? And this actually almost happened because during the learning phase of tracking macros, we always experience the fact that we go back to what we know.

16:10And I remember like so many of you guys, like sometimes I hear this within our worldview community. It's like, oh, I'm going to go back to this diet because it worked for me or I'm going to go back to this X, Y and Z because I had success with it. And I felt the same thing in the beginning of it because I was frustrated with the implementation process of learning and I was getting very impatient. And I almost chucked it out the door and was literally trying to bring my bodybuilding diet into my fitness pal and only eat my bodybuilding diet based off of and play around with like the macro numbers.

16:46And it was effing miserable, you guys. It was horrible. And I felt so much pain in that by eating like eating the same thing that I was eating with bodybuilding and not allowing myself to incorporate some treats that I was like, you know, already trying to fit in. And I literally felt so, yeah, it was so painful. It was so hard for me to do. And I like almost threw up sometimes eating the foods that I was eating because of like, I don't know, I guess the emotional attachment that I had to like bodybuilding and then eating this food. And due to that pain that I felt, I was like, okay, I got to figure this out.

17:20And if I hadn't figured it out, I would have been stuck in the same hamster wheel cycle of only thinking that I can eat. I have to eat this specific way in order to achieve this specific result. And I'm so happy that I did figure it out because still to this day, I have the body composition that I've always dreamed of maintaining. And I'm doing it in a way that's way more sustainable and way more realistic to me thanks to learning macronutrients. So thank freaking God that I went through with it.

17:50Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.