Macro Cheat Sheet: How People Achieve Success With Macros

A macro-based approach to weight loss and muscle-building is:

No foods are off-limits, just stay within your daily targets (of carbs, fats, and protein).

There are no ‘bad foods’; a concept that can really mess up your relationship with food.

However, meeting daily targets can be challenging until you understand appropriate food amounts.

What are some of the techniques used by the most successful macro counters?

1. Any exercise is good exercise
2. Make some boring and predictable food routines
3. Use fitness devices to manage stress (not just exercise)
4. Take breaks from tracking macros
5. Don’t be afraid to set boundaries when out
6. Planned hedonic deviations – not cheat meals
7. Set 5-pound goals
8. Don’t let a day of poor eating worry you

1. Any exercise is good exercise

While it’s perfectly possible to lose weight without exercise, any increase in activity will help.

Ignore the pressure to do the ‘perfect exercise’. Just learning to be more of a fidget can help.

This is called NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) [1]. It’s the energy you expend when you are NOT exercising, sleeping, or eating.

Yes, the person who goes to the supermarket every day is burning a lot more energy than you.

Doing chores. Folding clothes. Gardening. Vacuuming. Laundry.

Pretty much anything that doesn’t include sitting on the couch scrolling the phone.

2. Make some boring and predictable food routines

It’s not exciting, but successful macro counters tend to have one or two regular meal routines.

The easy one is breakfast.

You don’t have to freestyle breakfast every day. The morning routine could be:

• Water / juice
• Walk or exercise
• Bowl of oatmeal

Every day.

Nailing one part of your day can make the whole process easier.

It removes some of the cognitive strain (what am I going to eat? Am I sticking to the right amounts?).

Or, you might have 3 different lunches that you alternate through each day. But they are the same lunches (again, removing the guesswork).

3. Use fitness devices to manage stress (not just exercise)

Trackers aren’t that good at measuring calories burned (there’s a lot of guesswork involved). But they can be good for two things:

1. Step counting (remember the NEAT thing we just talked about?)
2. Stress indicators

Tracking heart rate and sleep can provide an estimated stress rating.

If you have multiple days of stress, then avoid a heavy workout (which is all about stressing the muscles). Cortisol (the stress hormone) is not kind to the fat-burning process [2]

4. Take breaks from tracking macros

Stay consistent with your tracking, but don’t hesitate to take breaks when needed.

Do you travel now and then?

Don’t be afraid to stop tracking macros. While it might be hard to disconnect from the routine, it might be helpful in the long run.

Just pick it up when you get back.

Macro tracking will already have helped to show what your appropriate amounts of food look like.

The ultimate goal is to know your body so well that you can intuitively choose your foods.

5. Don’t be afraid to set boundaries when eating out

Obsessive counting and extreme restrictions are unhealthy: “I’m stressed! I have to find 10 more grams of protein today”.

Conversely, do not be afraid to limit what you eat or drink when out with others.

Don’t feel obligated to follow the whims of others.

• Stick to one drink.
• Say no if you don’t want to split the pizza with your friend.
• Say no to the all-you-can-eat buffet: “No, I don’t want to eat there.”

You can explain your reasons. But you don’t need to. These are called boundaries, and they are good for us.

6. Planned hedonic deviations, not cheat meals

Seen the #cheatmeal hashtag?

Used by millions: pictures of scantily-clad ripped or muscular people overindulging in food to ‘cheat’ on a usually restrictive eating regime [6].

While it’s not the end of the world, the psychology is not helpful (there’s a fine line between the cheat meal phenomenon and binge-eating disorder [4])

Planned hedonic deviations [3]

A hedonic deviation is a small deviation from a goal-striving behavior – that’s built into the plan to increase enjoyment.

Planning to indulge can be helpful. A 2016 study showed improved self-regulatory ability and motivation when these planned deviations from the usual diet were present.

We’ve found this can be achieved by having two sets of macros — one for normal days and one for heavy workout days.

The heavy workout days have a whole lot more food intake – allowing for a little bit of the pleasurable indulgence of food.

7. Set 5-pound goals

Have you heard of SMART goal setting? Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Let’s change this up. Rather than timebound, set a goal (it could be to gain or lose weight) in just 5-pound (or 2 kg) increments.

When you reach the goal, celebrate the win, redo the macros and reset.

8. Don’t let a day of poor eating worry you. Not for one moment

Have you ever tried meditating or practised mindfulness?

Your mind wandered, didn’t it? Just 20 seconds in, you were planning what to have for lunch. Or going over that conversation you had with your boss.

What is the advice when meditating? Gently return to the present.

Gently. Return.

No inner monologue or judgment: “I failed at this. I suck. This is too hard. I’m useless at this”.

It’s the same thing when your eating hasn’t been great today:

Gently. Return.

Don’t add any extra stress or emotion. This is a long process. One day of poor eating is a drop in the bucket.

Now, proceed with purpose…

These have been insights from those who achieved great results with macro counting. While it’s not for everyone, there are techniques you can learn to make the process successful.

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