My Experience With Counting Macros

We are half way through the week! I hope you’re week is going well and I know that you will finish this week on a good note. That being said, let’s jump into today’s topic. Changes are you’ve heard about counting macros if you follow certain people on Instagram or you’re REALLY into nutrition. Like most things, I was clueless until I saw some hashtags. Once I found out what it meant to “count macros”, I began to do some more research.

What does it mean to “count macros”?

Counting your macros means tracking the macro nutrients (Carbs, Fat, and Protein) in your meals and hitting certain benchmarks. Depending on what your activity level and whether you are trying to lose, gain, or maintain, these macros look different for everybody. There’s plenty of calculators online and you can also get this information from your doctor.

My experience with macros

My doctor suggested I keep track of my protein count because she was sure I wasn’t eating enough. I figured since I was keeping track of grams of protein, why not make sure I’m eating enough fat and carbohydrates as well? Using MyFitnessPal, I entered in my meals diligently and made sure I was eating enough food. It was a tedious process but I made it a habit.

Using this system, I felt some freedom with food that I hadn’t felt before. Counting macros taught me what portions should look like and how eat a balanced diet. After I got over the initial learning curve, eating wasn’t so hard for me.

However, I soon realized that it was way to similar to counting calories for me. I began to dread having to track everything and it often made social events difficult. I was doing my best to eat a balanced meal but the numbers were making everything hard for me.

Related: Why I Stopped Counting Calories

Overall, counting macros was too much of a mental game for me. I used it to keep my nutrition in check while training for a race but once race day came, I began to give myself more grace. To this day, I still remember the good principals that I learned and I strive to eating a balanced diet. I eat more intuitively nowadays and I feel the best that I have ever felt!

Counting macros is a great resource to help you reach your goals. If you are at a plateau, I would consider giving this a try! Sometimes a small shift in nutrition is just what we need to give our bodies the push in the right direction.

Have you counted macros before? What was your experience?