Why I Love Macros So Much

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. The reason why I love macronutrients so freaking much is because it prevents and it helps to manage any type of health condition that you may be at risk of or that you are currently diagnosed with.

00:43What's going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show, or if this is one of your first shows. Guys, welcome to the show with Nikki Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. 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 109, where to be quite honest and quite frank with you,

01:15I have no idea what I'm going to talk about slightly. I have been procrastinating for the last hour deciding what am I going to talk about on this podcast. And I'll be just completely blunt with you guys. Like, sometimes I get into these lulls of knowing what to bring to the podcast. And like, I'll have to hop on my story and ask you guys what, you know, things that you guys want to hear. And I do that Q&A box, and you guys always drop really good things.

01:46I need to bring that back. But I was like, you know what, I'm just going to turn the mic on, and I'm just going to start talking. Okay, so I have an idea a little bit. I want to, like, talk about, like, why I love macros so much, why they're important for you as you age, why, like, calories and macros. But, like, I didn't formulate my thought process like I normally do when I come into these podcasts, because, like, I was just sharing with you, you know, sometimes I'm like, what am I going to talk about? What do you guys want to hear? I go through those lulls every once in a while. So, yeah, I'll reach out to you guys.

02:17Anyway, for today, why I love macros so much. And, like, why, because a lot of people have asked me, like, the difference between calories and the difference between macros and, like, why one and why the other. And, you know, I've talked about this in an earlier podcast where I've broken down the difference between the two. So I kind of just want to bring that back to top of mind and why I love them so freaking much. Because I don't look at macros as another diet.

02:49And you guys have probably heard me say this a million times. And you will continue to hear me say this because I don't look at it as a diet. I look at it as a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your life. And a little bit of, like, the backstory with me and macros, which I don't know that I've ever really elaborated on. So that'll be good for this podcast. To let you guys know that, like, when I first started tracking macros, I was in the same boat that you guys are when you guys are just getting into the world of macronutrients. This was only a short, like, four years ago where I was transitioning from bodybuilding.

03:23And I was like, there's got to be another way than, like, eating just a broccoli, chicken, and rice all the time. And I, like, asked people for support in this. But, like, they were one-minded because of, like, the niche that they were in, right? Which was bodybuilding. And I was like, no, there's got to be another way. There's got to be a way that people live in balance and not restricting foods. And, you know, feeling more like this is actually a realistic thing that one can follow. And so I just immersed myself in the world of learning macronutrients.

03:56And I dabbled in a different, you know, coach's perspectives. I dabbled into reading. I dabbled into my own personal experience. And just from the, like, underlying education that I have with being in the nursing field, I just was like, this makes sense. This makes sense scientifically. But I need to figure it out. And, like, I know this will resonate so hard with you guys because I, too, was like, wow, this is so –

04:26when I first started having to actually physically track macronutrients and, like, use an application, which I use MyFitnessPal. And I dabbled in other ones, like MyMacros Plus or, like, Macros Inc. I think that's one. Yeah. I dabbled in all the different things. And I remember at the beginning of my dream, like, this is so freaking hard. One. Two. This is so freaking time-consuming. And then three. By the end of the night when I was trying to, like, do this, like, I remember being in my kitchen for –

04:56at least an hour to an hour and a half one night. And I was just, like, barcode scanning everything. And I was, like – and then trying to, like, play – I like to call it macro Tetris because you have to try and obviously get your protein, your fats, and your carbs into plus or minus five. And, like, you got to, like, play around with the quantity of the items that you want to consume in a day to get it into the plus or minus five in each category. And so I'm, like, moving, like, my protein ounces from, like, four to, like, three.

05:29And then I'm moving, like, the grams, like, down five grams to get it, like, from my rice. And, like, you know, I obviously wanted to have some sweets in the day. And trust me, I get it. I've been there. I hear you. I know how you feel at the beginning of your journey because I was there with macronutrients. And then I remember, like, I always – and I speak always from experience. And this one will predominantly, I think, hit you guys because I, too, was the one that would track every single day

06:02as I was eating the foods that I was consuming at the beginning of my journey. Like, yeah, I had a night where, like, I actually tried to do all of the barcode scanning that I just share with you. But, like, I was, like, F this is just too hard. And so the next day I was just, like, oh, I'm going to just go as I – like, just figure it out as I go. And I would get to the end of the day and I would be, like, 50 grams over on carbs. I would be still needing to hit my fats. I would be, like, 100 grams under on my protein.

06:32And I was, like, oh, my God. I'm, like, man, there really is this truth to planning ahead, fail to plan, plan to fail, you know, motto that I've heard. And so – and, like, that's why, like, I always say the biggest things when you're starting out with macros is, like, just plan the night before. It may take you an hour and a half out of the gate. However, the – it's just, like, trying something new, right? It's, like, riding a bicycle for the first time. It's, like, walking for the first time. It's, like, starting a new job and understanding all the things for the first time.

07:06It's hard. It's time-consuming. You're trying to navigate your way through it. But the more that you do it consistently every single day, the faster you will get. And the more better you will get at that skill. It's a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your life. So for you guys to say, this is too hard, this is too time-consuming, even people that say it's too restrictive, I can understand that. However, it's just because the other two things aren't just trying – aren't being tapped into to try and really solve. And then there was also – sorry, this may be a little bit of a random thing with the podcast today.

07:40But there was also this post that I saw from my friend Mike Milner, who was on the podcast a couple weeks ago. He was, like, hot take. People resist tracking macros for one main reason. It forces you to change your current routine slash lifestyle. With the emoji. Unfortunately, most people want results without the sacrifices that are required to achieve said results. And, like, I shared that to my – reposted it to my story because I was like, damn. Like, you got to say that a little bit louder for the people in the back because it's so true. Like, the time, the business, like, it's too hard.

08:11Like, these are sacrifices that in order to get the said result that macros can give you, which I'm going to talk about in a second, you've got to change what you're currently doing because obviously what you're currently doing isn't working for you. And that's how I felt back in the day. Like, bodybuilding and the extreme of following one avenue of broccoli, chicken, rice, like, all of these things on a regular basis wasn't working for me. I was unhappy. I was frustrated. And I wasn't getting the results that I wanted. So why would I continue doing that? So I had to figure out. I had to sacrifice time and a new way of learning or seeing things.

08:47To figure out how to get the result that I wanted of obviously keeping my body composition the way that I wanted to be, but living in a more sustainable fashion and realistic fashion for myself with food and, you know, feeling satisfied and not restricted from my food choices. So, like, that post, that's you guys. Like, I know. I hear you. I understand you. I feel you. But, like, you got to get rid and change your current routine or lifestyle that's leading you to where you are right now in order to figure out how to get, you know, the results that you want,

09:26which obviously you aren't getting by what you're doing right now. So, that's like a little rant of why I love macro so much and why it's a skill set that will serve you for the rest of your life. And also why I love macro so much is with that skill set, you learn portion sizes. So you're able to, when you're consistently tracking for a set amount of time, right, I would give it like a year, year and a half, two years of like really, and that's like two years of your entire life. Come on, you guys. Like, that's such a small window of time to be able to build and develop this skill.

09:57But every time you're tracking and you're weighing your food and you're looking at the food that you're putting into like you're on your plate or you're putting together for meal prep or X, Y, and Z, you become accustomed to recognizing how much food you are consuming or how much food equals this portion size. And over time, by continually doing that after a year, year and a half, two years, three years, four years, in my respect, five years going on, it's like I know what food consists of and I know what portion sizes look like.

10:28And so I don't need to meticulously track all of my food anymore. For a fact, I've, for the last probably like, I don't know, six, eight, almost to a year, I've been intuitively eating because I can look at food and I can recognize this is how much said, like it's not maybe dialed in to like exactly tracking the macros, but I know that this equates to maybe this ballpark amount of carbs and fats and protein. And I know that I need to consume, you know, my protein, my body weight and protein.

10:59And I know how much that is when it comes to like chicken or ground beef or egg whites or protein shake or yogurt. And so like I can just intuitively look at food and know it, but I can only do that because of me tracking macronutrients for a set amount of time. It's like people kind of want to dive into the intuitive eating without getting that one thing, without tracking macronutrients. I'm like, you can't do that. How can you do that? You can't look at food and know what it is without like being able to, to without tracking macronutrients for X amount of time.

11:32Hey, 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. If 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. It's one of the reasons why I love it. But another reason why I love it is because it's impact on your body composition. Macronutrients directly affect your body composition. So why like calories, the thing about a calorie, right?

12:03Because I want to talk about really quick the difference between a calorie and a macronutrients. Calories focus on, counting calories focus on like the total energy take with, without paying particular attention to where those calories come from. So this approach, it totally can be extremely useful if you are somebody that just wants to focus on weight loss, right? Or, yeah, focus on weight loss, right? Like maybe you are 200 pounds, you know, or like 250 or 300, right?

12:33You could just focus on like losing weight. And you can focus on just getting rid of the bad habits that you're honing in on right now. And just be able to focus on a caloric goal for the day. Because you're probably over consuming. And that's great. That'll work. However, once you get down to like, once you lose some weight, it's better to try and focus on the macros and strengthening at the same time. Because it's going to two-handed, foldably, like kill two birds with one stone, get you to your goals optimally faster with changing body composition, right?

13:07Fat loss and weight loss. Like there's a difference between the two. Okay? But the thing with calories is it doesn't take into account the one nutritional quality of the food, right? For example, like a calorie from protein has a different impact on your body than a calorie from fat or carbohydrates. Totally different impact. They do different things. They break down different ways inside of the body. Now tracking macros on the other hand, right? You're focusing on protein, fats, and carbohydrates. It not only looks at the total calorie intake, but also where those calories are coming from, right?

13:40So here's my personal main distinction between counting calories and macronutrients. Counting calories does not consider the quality or nutritional composition of foods that you are consuming. For instance, example, sugary soft drink, piece of fruit, right? They have similar calorie counts, but their nutritional values are vastly different. Tracking macros focuses on the quality of the calories that you consume, ensuring that you get the right balance of the protein, the fats, and the carbohydrates.

14:11So it recognizes that not all calories are created equal. For example, protein calories can help you build muscle. Carbohydrate calories help provide your body energy. And fat calories support cell health and hormonal production. So by focusing on macros, you can ensure that your body is getting the nutrients that it needs to function optimally, which can lead to improved health. And then also you're feeding the right mechanisms of your body to produce the results that you want, right?

14:42It's also worth just like dropping this note here that counting calories inherently involves counting or counting macros inherently involves counting calories, right? But however, the emphasis is not on the total caloric intake, but rather the distribution of the calories across the different types of the nutrients that you are consuming. Protein, you may consume about like 400 calories of your total daily intake from protein and then 500 calories of your total daily intake from carbohydrates and then like 300 calories.

15:16And this is totally just like ballpark throwing numbers at you right now because that would probably only make up 13 or 1200 calories. But you can see that each of these the breakdown they focus on counting calories, but the emphasis isn't on that it's on the distribution of the calories that you are consuming that can that have different types of nutrients that do different things for your body. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause?

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16:21Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com forward slash apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. And that is how it directly to like calories. Cool. You can use it as a tool to focus on weight loss. But by understanding the roles that protein, carbohydrates and fat play, you can tailor your diet.

16:54You can tailor your nutrition to optimize your body composition. The more protein you have, the more muscle you're going to be able to repair and build. Which protein is the number one macronutrient that a lot of women and people lack eating? Because mainly their consumption is carbs and fats. And they think that like having eight grams of protein in a protein bar is good. Like I ate protein today. That's not enough. So just let this be a little eye-opening to you, right? If you want to directly change your body composition, you have to focus on the breakdown of the macronutrients that you are consuming.

17:32You have to focus on protein. You have to focus on carbs. You have to focus on carbohydrates. Now, outside of just, you know, the aesthetics of the body and the ability to develop a skill set, another reason why I love macronutrients so freaking much is because it prevents and it helps to manage any type of health condition that you may be at risk of

18:03or that you are currently diagnosed with. When you are focused on eating a balanced nutritional intake of protein, fats, and carbs, you can prevent and or control diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cholesterol, blood pressure, hormones, thyroid, Hashimoto's, all of these things. And I can say that because I have seen the direct correlation of having a focus on macronutrients and these positive changes happening in women.

18:41I have read testimonials. I have seen pictures. I have a plethora of evidence to support what I just said from our Warrior Babe community. Because of their emphasis on eating macronutrients and focusing on protein, fats, and carbs, their doctors are usually asking them what they're doing because cholesterol is better. Their A1C is better. Their blood sugar or blood pressure is better. Their thyroid, their hormones are becoming more balanced.

19:14And they get to decrease their dosages of medication that they're on to either be lower or to not even be needed anymore. And that is so freaking cool. And that's because of macronutrients. It's because of focusing on the things that the body needs to work internally better. And then the next layer as to why I love macronutrients so much is, you know, I just talked to aesthetics.

19:45I talked to skill set. I talked to managing conditions and preventing conditions, especially if they run in your family, you guys. If you guys know that mom, dad, uncle, X, Y, and Z has a history of this. That is why it is so important for you to really commit to eating the right way for yourself and for your future generations. And the other thing that I read is why I love it is with nutritional, having a good focus on what I'm saying, protein, fats, and carbs, that has a significant impact on your mental health.

20:20Like a significant impact. It improves your mood. It improves your energy levels. It improves your cognitive function. It improves to just overall better mental well-being. And I've seen this, again, many testimonials, many pictures, many just confirmation of what I just said from the warrior babe community. And also I've seen it from myself too as well. People are always like, how do you have so much energy, Nikki? And I'm like, because I feel my body with what it needs and my body directly connects to my brain and my mind.

20:54And that's why I can just everlasting go forever. So I want this all for you too, guys. Like I want this, like everything I'm sharing with you about this world, like why I broke it down. It's like I get why at the beginning it can be a little like daunting and time consuming. But like, isn't it worth it with what I just shared? Like, isn't it worth it to prevent, manage health conditions? Isn't it worth it to have a better mental and emotional well-being?

21:27Isn't it better? Isn't it worth it to develop a skill set that obviously right now something isn't working for you? So you need to figure out how you can develop something that can work for you. Isn't that worth it? To get you the results that you want. And then isn't it worth it to be more toned, be more lean, achieve the aesthetics of what you want with your body. Isn't that worth it? Because if it is all worth it, then time, busy, and, you know, every excuse under the book to not want to try and track macronutrients or to resist tracking macronutrients.

22:00Because every excuse under the book, if this is worth it, then that should be, that should be like not even a narrative going on in your brain. It should be like, okay, accepting for what it is. It's going to be hard. It's going to take some time. And you're accepting those facts so that when you accept it, you can move on and you can do the things that will support you in all of these aspects. Come on, guys.

22:32Am I right? Yes. Yes. So that is, that is what I wanted. That podcast actually turned out, that turned out really freaking awesome. So I'm glad that I just kind of sat down, hit record, and just word prominent because that is why I love macronutrients. I hear you. I understand you. I know it's frustrating at the beginning. However, it's worth it because all of the things of what I said macros can do for you. So take this podcast for what it is, you guys.

23:03Figure out how and where you can just start small and implement this if you're, you know, especially with the new year coming up. It's like, all right, Nikki, I get it. Like this past year, like, you know, I've heard of macronutrients. It's something I'm unsure of. I know it's going to be, you know, you're accepting that it's going to be a new skill to learn. Check out warriorbabe.com because we are a macronutrient-based company. Now, we don't set you up exactly right away with tracking protein, fats, and carbs if you've never tracked macros before.

23:38However, we will lead you in the direction as a North Star to get to that point. So if you don't want to think about how to do it, you know, you have these feelings and thoughts about it, but you want accountability and support along the way, warriorbabe.com. Apply for the VIP program so you can work one-on-one with our expert coaches. They will hold you accountable to this aspect all along the way till you get into that North Star. So that's where I would say start. But if you don't become a warrior, babe, then I would say start small. Just start incrementally.

24:10Like, download MyFitnessPal. Go around your kitchen and barcode scan some things. Try and formulate one day of how you would want to eat with the foods you enjoy and making sure that it's quality food. And, like, protein, fats, carbohydrates. And put that in, play macro Tetris. And then what I would say is, like, use that planned meal because there's a feature inside of MyFitnessPal that you can copy and add it to future days. So just use that same plan for, like, the next five, seven days.

24:42And then, like, then you can start tweaking it. So that's what I would say. Just start small. All right, you guys? Hope you enjoyed this podcast. I appreciate you guys all listening to this. You have no idea. Like, my sincere – I know I said this in previous podcasts, but, like, my sincere gratitude for you listeners listening in to every episode and just gaining so much value from it or just, like, taking it and sharing it with other people. Like, I just appreciate you guys so much. So thank you so much for listening, and I will see you inside the next episode.

25:13Peace out. Real 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.