Your Fitness Tracker Is Lying to You (And It Might Be Sabotaging Your Progress)

00:00Fitness trackers aren't evil. They aren't bad, like I said. A photo can't tell you how much oil was used to make that meal. It can't tell you the difference between if you're looking at four ounces of chicken or six ounces of chicken. It doesn't know if the rice is cooked, dry, half stuck under the sauce. It doesn't know that. That means that you're not tracking. You are pretending.

00:30Yo, yo, yo. What's going on, you guys? Hey, everyone. Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkie 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, Nikkie Stott, and welcome to episode number 282. And my friends, today we are going to get into something that's literally low-key, driving me absolutely nuts.

01:06And I alluded to this in the last episode. So if you listened to the last episode, you probably know what I'm going to get into. If you didn't, drumroll, today's topic is fitness trackers. Or maybe you probably already know because you read the title of the episode, the podcast. So anyway, fitness trackers, calorie counters, these new AI food apps, all of it. And I want to say in preface before we get into the episode, it's not that they're bad.

01:38It's that most women are using them wrong or worse. They're blindly trusting them like they are the gospel truth. Okay, and I'm talking like the Apple Watches, I'm talking Fitbits, I'm even talking like these things that I use, Oura Rings. And now, like I alluded to in the last episode, apps that claim they can tell you how many macros are in your food just by snapping a photo of your plate. Yeah.

02:09You guys didn't know? That is a real thing. So we're going to talk all about it today. Here's the problem. We've outsourced our bodies to algorithms, which is wild when you think about it in that context. And most women are struggling not because they're lazy or they're inconsistent, but because they're getting their information from the wrong source. So what I want to talk about with you guys today is what your fitness tracker can't tell you and what you need to know.

02:45I want to talk about like why AI apps are dangerous AF for your long term goals and how to start thinking for yourself again when it comes to food, when it comes to your fitness routine, when it comes to your progress. And what to track instead, like the real data that actually tells the truth for you. So my friend, and I've been there too, like let me just say that. But like if you've ever said like, but I closed my rings or I need to close my rings or my app said that I'm still in a deficit or like I turned my calorie exercises on or my exercise calories burned on in my fitness pal and you still don't have results.

03:26This is for you, my friends. This is for you. Okay. Let's get something straight. Out of the gate. Fitness trackers aren't evil. They aren't bad, like I said. And as I said, I wear one. Plenty of warrior babes wear one. They can be absolutely freaking amazing for keeping you aware of things like your steps, like your movement, like your general activity levels. But here is where they fail. They don't know you. They don't know your body fat percentage.

03:57They don't know how metabolically adapted your body is after 20 years of yo-yo dieting. They don't know the muscle mass on your body, how much you do have or how much you don't have. They don't know that you're on your period or how stressed you are or how little sleep that you got last night. And yet this is crazy. Like you're using it to decide how much food that you should eat or you're literally using it to tell you basically what to do for the next day.

04:33Like if you didn't get enough sleep, this is how you would act the next day. Like you're solely relying on these algorithms, this data and these apps to dictate your next move. And that's a problem. Because this is the thing. Most trackers are using this formula that's called METs, a metabolic equivalent. So it's based on things like your age, like your weight, like and your heart rate. They're trying to estimate how many calories you're burning in a day.

05:06But if you dive even deeper, and maybe some of you guys already knew this, but studies have shown that these devices can be off as much as like 20 to 80% when it comes to your actual calorie burn. So think about that. Like you think you burn 600 calories in a workout when in reality, you maybe only burn 350. But now you're eating more because you quote unquote earned it. And then the scale isn't moving.

05:38And then you feel stuck. And then you feel like your body is broken. But really, you're just trusting a broken calculator. Like you're trusting an algorithm to tell you to know you, to know you. And the saddest part is like, women are probably you guys are probably working your ass off. You're in the gym, you're meal prepping, you're putting in the putting in the time, putting in the work. And it's not paying off because your foundation is literally built off of guesswork.

06:09That's not your fault. That's what we've been taught. It's like track everything. Close your rings. Watch your burn. See how many calories you burned in a workout. Try and burn as many calories as possible. But you guys know that what I love to do is I love to call BS on all of that. Because until you guys understand how your body works, no device can give you guys what you need. Okay, so let me take you like behind the scenes for a sec. And just dive in a little bit deeper with you guys on this from a real story human experience.

06:42As I alluded in the last podcast, I was just at a conference in DC. Super cool event. One of my good friends through the event. And as I was speaking, it was very interactive. Speaking engagement. People in the audience were talking about this new app, Cal AI, and how it's like the future food tracking. And the way it works is pretty freaking wild. Like you take a photo of your plate and it tells you how many calories are in it. How much of it is protein, fats, and carbs. Like all of that. And like people were obsessed.

07:13Like it turned into this whole room downloading this app. And guys, I love innovation. Like I'm the first person to be on board with innovation. I'm always down for using tech to make life easier when it's accurate. But here's what made me want to flip the damn table. Because after like a week of downloading this app, putting it to work, trying it for myself. Keep in mind, I know what my breakfast macros and calories are because I've been eating the same breakfast pretty much for the last two and a half years.

07:51When I took a picture of my breakfast with this app, it was completely wrong. It showed me that I had 12 grams of protein with my egg whites, my egg, whole egg. And then with oatmeal or sometimes I have a bagel with cream cheese. It told me I had 12 grams of protein. I was like, this is bonkers. And then I continued to go on with taking a picture of my yogurt and fruit the next round, the next meal.

08:24It told me that I had 16 grams of protein. And I know that that protein has 22, maybe even 25 grams of protein in it. I'm like, this is fucking bonkers. And this is the thing, guys. They're marketing it to the general population. They are including women who are already overwhelmed. They're confused. They're unsure what or how to eat. And now you're going to tell them to take a picture of their lasagna. And it's enough to get the numbers right. No.

08:55Like, it drives me up a wall. Like, let me break this down for you. A photo can't tell you how much oil was used to make that meal. It can't tell clearly from what I took a picture of and what I know with the egg whites. It can't tell you the difference between if you're looking at four ounces of chicken or six ounces of chicken. It doesn't know if the rice is cooked, dry, half stuck under the sauce. It doesn't know that. It doesn't factor in food density. It doesn't factor in moisture.

09:26It doesn't factor in sauces mixed in. And you guys know what that means, right? Like, that means that you're not tracking. You are pretending. And then when you don't get the results that you thought that you would by following this up, you think that you failed when really you never had the right data to begin with. It is a digital illusion. And honestly, my friends, it's so dangerous because for women who have spent years under eating or yo-yo dieting or trying every diet under the sun,

10:04tools like this just further disconnect you from your body. You're not learning anything. Anything. You're outsourcing your responsibility and it's just keeping you stuck. You guys can probably feel how this stuff makes me just want to. Like, it's driving me nuts. Because the real problem is like you start using these tools because they seem easier. They give you these quick answers, the dopamine hits.

10:38You're like, you're getting this confirmation. Like, you're doing good. Like, I just took a picture of my food. And I'm tracking my food, taking it and slogging all of my meals in here. You're not making any decisions without them. You're going to find yourself using these tools, relying on these tools, relying on these apps. And you're not going to make any decisions without them. You're not tuning into your actual hunger. You're not checking into how you feel. You're not even celebrating non-scale victories anymore because your tracker didn't log it.

11:09Like, it's like this. You could have an amazing strength workout. You could PR your squat. You could push even harder. But if your Apple Watch says you only burned 180 calories, now you're disappointed. I have heard so many women say, why am I only burning 200 calories during an arm or shoulder workout? I'm like, okay, well, let me break it down for you. It's not just only 200 calories. Just you need to take in mind, in consideration, that these are smaller muscle groups. So the calorie expenditure may not be as elevated as maybe you going for a five-mile run

11:45or you doing a leg day. But what matters the most is, did you push yourself in that workout? Did you have amazing strength gains? Did you PR anything, a shoulder press? You see what I mean? When did we start, like, valuing these fake numbers more than your real progress? This is why so many women come to Warrior Babe feeling so stuck because they've been so focused on what their tracker says that they forgot to focus on what actually matters.

12:19How is your energy today? Are you getting stronger over a period of time? Is your sleep better? Are you showing up consistently? Are you eating more and still dropping inches? That is real transformation, not some, like, red, green, what's the other tracker? Red, green, blue, whatever, like, the color of the rings are on your wrist. Hey, while you're listening, if you're getting value from this episode, take a moment to tap

12:49that review button or share this podcast with a friend. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more women find their way to feeling stronger and more confident in their skin. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to support this show. So your tracker can't be trusted for, like, if it can't be trusted for calories, and it can't be trusted for calories, but if it can be trusted for calories, then what should you guys focus on instead? And I'm probably going to sound like a freaking broken record at this point within all of these

13:23episodes that I've shared and spoken to you guys about because it literally just comes down to the basics. You need to be tracking progress photos weekly, biweekly, monthly, depending on your relationship with the photos. It's totally different from starting to being six months into your journey to being a year into your journey because the scale lies. But you know what doesn't? The mirror doesn't. You need to be taking measurements, waist, hips, thighs.

13:56Even when the scale, like, stalls, you might still be losing inches. You need to be focusing on your lifts. Are they improving? That means your body is building muscle. How is your biofeedback? Are you sleeping better? Do you know what it feels like to be hungry? How's your energy? How's your mood? How's your recovery? Are you really sore the next day? Are you recovering really well? These tell you what your metabolism is really saying.

14:30Something that a fitness tracker cannot tell you accurately. I would say if I had to pick one because it's just coming to me right now, the only fitness tracker that I have used that is accurate is the Oura Ring. But that is only on sleep. And sometimes it's not, like, I would say it's about, like, 80%. Because sometimes it picks up when you sit down on the couch and you're relaxing and you

15:00have the just a time of when you fell asleep. Sometimes with, for art, for women, we can track our periods on it. Sometimes it's inaccurate when it thinks your period is coming. But out of all of the things I've used, that's probably the most accurate. And that's only for sleep. It's not making any recommendations for how many calories. It does make calorie burned or how many steps you're doing. But I don't, me personally, I don't even look at those numbers anymore because I know that they're mostly probably not 100% accurate.

15:31But these fitness trackers aren't telling you, most importantly, what your metabolism is saying. It doesn't know you. It doesn't know your body fat percentage. It doesn't know your stress levels. It doesn't know if you are on your period or it doesn't know. It doesn't know a lot of things. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause?

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16:34Take 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. Okay. And then another thing is, is that what you should be tracking is your consistency. This last one is an absolute game changer. Like, are you hitting your macros 85 to 90% of the time?

17:10You're not eyeballing it. You're not guesstimating. You're actually tracking and you're actually logging your food. Because if you're not consistent, you can't adjust. And if you're not adjusting, then you're not progressing. And what I mean by that for someone wondering what I even mean by adjusting, if you are just guesstimating and you're like, oh, I need to like eat less today. You can't do that because you don't have accurate, consistent data to go off of if you are tracking

17:48your meals on a daily basis consistently in the 85 to 90% of the time. For those of you that are inside of warrior babe, and you go to your coach and you're like, I haven't been consistent in like the last week. Or like, maybe you don't even say that because we're the ones that have to like detect that. And you're like, I think we should slash calories. The coaches on that team are going to look you straight in the eyeball and be like, I hear you. But that's not going to happen. Because if we do that, we are only going to wreck your internal metabolism even more because

18:21you haven't been consistent. So what can we adjust? We can't adjust anything or else you're still going to be looking or you're still going to be like, you know, eating less, working out. And you're still not going to be getting the progress that you want. You're not progressing. And if and most women don't need to eat less or move more. They what you guys know is that you need better habits. You need better awareness. You need better data. You need real data, not AI fantasies.

18:52And this is a way of which the world is going to which just boggles my freaking mind. Because when I like firsthand being in that experience of being talking about Cal AI and everyone craving and raving and loving it, and then me actually putting it into play and me being like, holy shit, this is crazy. This is not good. It's only going to be making things worse for women that are not progressing or spent years yo-yo dieting, spent years under eating. Because think about it that way. Like that app, if it's not accurately tracking what how many macros are actually in that meal

19:25that you're eating based off of a freaking photo. Like, come on guys. Like logistically. Logically. How does that make sense? That doesn't make any sense. But if it's not accurately doing, you're either under eating or you could be over eating. And that could be a cause to why you're not seeing the progress that you want. Okay? Like, this is what I want you guys to think of. If this is something that you are, like you are relying on your trackers for all the things of which I'm talking about today. What we do inside of worry babies, we teach our babes how to use tools without depending

19:58on them. So because what our ultimate goal is, is to give long-term success to our clients. We know that they have been in this frustration, this confusion. What do I eat? How do I eat it? I'm not getting the results I want, even though I'm putting in the work or I think that I'm eating healthy, but I'm still not getting the results in my body. We give them these types of tools I'm talking about, but we help them not depend on them. What I mean by that is we use MyFitnessPal to track macros. But what these babes are doing on a daily basis is they're weighing their food.

20:32They're not eyeballing it or photo snapping it and putting it into MyFitnessPal. They're wearing trackers like an Apple Watch like I do for steps in movement, but they're not eating back their calories burned. And then the only thing that I do too when I look at my Apple Watch and I'm working out, I could give a rat's butt about how many calories I burn in a workout. The only thing I'm looking at is a time because I want to be efficient and I don't need to be

21:03there for three hours. And I'm looking at my heart rate so that I can keep my heart rate in a solid zone. Okay, that I'm not just dipping into and going through the motions being at like 95 beats per minute or 105 beats per minute. Like I'm up in the 120, 130, 140, maybe even sometimes 150. And then another thing that we help these babies do is they're logging their strength sessions after they – to monitor their performance after they work out. But what they're learning is that they're tuning into the recovery.

21:33They're not obsessing over the calorie burn. They're watching, okay, like I pushed this much weight and tracked that in my workout in the app. We even rate like how was the – how was the workout? One to ten. Was it strong? Was it good? Or was it like pretty simple and pretty easy? And that will help them tune into the recovery. Because over time what this does and what we're teaching them and what maybe if you are relying on fitness trackers or apps, what those aren't doing, what we're helping these women do is

22:06build body awareness. You learn what hunger actually feels like. You can estimate portion sizes better because you practiced. That's what drives me nuts about this Cal AI is these guys have never – I shouldn't say never. These guys maybe haven't practiced how to weigh their food and what XYZ looks like on a plate

22:37to be able to learn what portions look like. But what babes can do because we don't have them depend on these things is they can estimate portions better because they have practiced weighing things on a scale and putting them on a plate and seeing what it looks like. For those of you guys that think that weighing or tracking is restrictive, I want you guys to change that narrative and be aware of what it's actually helping women do which is introducing them to food freedom because of all the things that they're able to learn by developing the

23:08skill set of tracking and weighing their food on a daily basis. You don't need to do it for the rest of your life but you need to do it just like you're developing a new skill. And then these women also they stop obsessing over 1200 calories and they start building a body that feels powerful and feels alive and feels so strong because here's the truth. You guys are not a robot and your transformation isn't a formula. It's about as I've always said becoming a new version of you one habit one skill set at a

23:43time on a regular daily basis consistently over time and when you do that it's all going to compound and you're going to look back a year later you're going to look a year to where you start and be like wow I'm drastically a whole different person I've obtained so much more education so much knowledge and so much understanding and that is that new version of you. Okay so I'll leave you guys with this one. If your fitness tracker disappeared tomorrow would you still know how to take care of your

24:17body? Would you know how much to eat? Would you know how to structure your workouts? Would you know how to check in on yourself? Would you know what hunger feels like? Would you know what portions are being put onto your plate if you can't track in an app? If not then that's your starting point because once you take back that power and you understand how to do those things you take back the power from the devices and the fancy apps that's when

24:53you finally start seeing results at last and I don't want to get either just confused because you guys know that I love data and data is important but it's data that you don't depend on. You look at it you take it into account but you don't rely on it telling you how to take and make your next moves. Okay when you are able to stop relying on those things and stop playing the guessing game and stop overthinking every meal and stop blaming your body and start trusting it that is a true

25:27real flex and when you develop these types of skill sets that I'm talking about away from depending on your fitness tracker solely that is a real flex when you know and understand these tools but don't depend on them and you know how to have body awareness you know what it act like what hunger actually feels like you know portion sizes look like you know how uh how well you slept you know what stress you're under you know you there ain't nobody else

25:58in this world or any type of AI device or any type of fitness tracker that knows you better but that's what these things try and do is they try to say that they know you they don't know you okay so don't let that don't let those run the show remember you do and you know what's best for your body okay all right guys well I hoped that this episode helped you all and uh if it did screenshot it tag me on instagram at The WarriorBabe Show

26:30at Nikki stat let me know like what device or if you are something that relies on there's no judgment at all like I hope this podcast helped you but I want to know because I read every single one of those um tagged stories I get tagged in but I want to know like what what which fitness tracker is it for you which one do you solely rely on and how are you going to build more body awareness for yourself okay love y'all see you next episode real quick if this episode resonated with you or gave you the push

27:00that you needed I'd love for you to pay it forward drop a quick rating and review share the podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep spreading the word your feedback and that only helps to show grow but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation thank you so so so much for your support

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