FWTFL Part 2 – Macronutrient Tracking
I fell in love with nutrition in college during an Introduction to Nutrition course I enrolled in order to fulfill my general education requirements. I was also a teenager obsessed with the caloric content of food and learned how many calories were in a gram of carbs, fats, and protein way before I understood human metabolism. I was always trying to eat less and eat foods will fewer CALORIES. Fast forward to my Master’s program in Nutrition, I learned all the science, the macro- and micro-nutrients, pathophysiology and gained experience applying my knowledge in the clinic I worked at. However, I was discouraged by my mentors to have my clients track their calories – and I agreed that teaching how and what to eat for fuel wasn’t necessarily going to come with counting calories. Thus, I meal planned with client, some kept food journals but I personally have never counted how many GRAMS of carbs, fats and protein I was consuming nor did I have my clients do it.
Enter macronutrient counting. I signed up for the FASTer Way program unaware that I would be doing it. I looked at it and saw that I would be intermittent fasting and be given workouts I can do on my own and signed up. I just needed something easy. Day 1 came around and low and behold, I learn that I will be tracking all my foods.
When I started logging everything it was really eye opening. I thought I would intuitively know what and how much of each macro to eat. Even though my protein goal was generally met, the years of following a moderate carb diet (with lots of fresh veggies) that emphasized getting good fats in – left me generally eating too many grams of fat and not enough carbs. That is the perfect combo to keep the fat on your body! I knew this and I was completely unaware that I was doing it.
If you’ve never looked at what you are eating, start tracking. We use the app My Fitness Pal. One you get a hang of it, start planning your meals in your app to make it that much easier to meal prep!
Read Part 3 –> Carb cycling paired with strategic workouts.
