Nervous To Try Macro Cycling And Feeling Overwhelmed?
These 4 Tips Will Help Simplify Macro Cycling To Help You Get Started!
Often we overcomplicate things. We start micro managing or getting overwhelmed by the details when we first need to focus on the big picture.
But I want you to take a step back and breathe. First, understand that you aren’t going to be PERFECT. That learning to eat differently is a process.
Second, understand that you’ve got to give something a chance to work! You can’t get frustrated after one day. Every change takes time for us to adapt. And everything worth having takes time and hard work.
It may look like it came easy to someone else…But trust me…It didn’t. They put in the hard work!
That doesn’t mean though that there aren’t tips and tricks to make things easier and help us get started. Here are four tips I use to help my clients easily get started with Macro Cycling…
1. Focus on protein at every meal! Start by thinking about adding protein to each and every meal and snack you eat.
While I’d love for you to map things out and hit 40% right in that first week, it may not happen. Especially if you have been following the average diet recommendations of 20% protein.
So where you should start is just by trying to add more protein into every meal. Add some whey or eggs or egg whites into your breakfast. Make sure your lunch is focused on protein. Add some protein into your afternoon snack…maybe try some greek yogurt and peanut butter and berries!
Just start by focusing on protein at every meal. And then LOG what you are eating. This will allow you to make changes and keep improving.
But don’t get stressed out by perfection. Focus on making improvements!
2. Tweak dishes you love and PREP! Start by making swaps to meals you already prep. This way you can still enjoy the foods you love and you don’t even have to start any crazy new meal prep!
And when you pick these meals, focus on things that make leftovers so you can do less work for the week!
I even just prep some protein with seasonings and then use it in different ways throughout the week. I may grill up chicken and then store it in the fridge and use it for tacos one night. With spaghetti squash in a marinara the next. Or in omelets. Or stir fries. Or stuffed peppers.
The point is by prepping the meat, I have a huge part done and then I can use it in any other ways I want all week so that I don’t get bored. I can even prep some of the other stuff ahead of time so I have options readily and EASILY available when I need them (because often if we don’t, we use this as an excuse to eat something horrible for us).
Don’t force yourself to eat chicken and broccoli if you hate that. Focus on changing up your macros while still eating meals that you love!
3. Eat when you are hungry! First off, when we change up our diet and adjust from running off carbs as our central energy source, you can feel hungry. I won’t lie to you. But if you eat enough protein and fat and hit that 40/30/30 ratio, it will not last long and you’ll start to feel freaking so much better than you did before.
Most of my clients report their energy improving once they adjusted!
And we have to recognize that part of it is also mental. We eat out of boredom. Out of stress. We think we are hungry when we aren’t.
So part of learning to eat well is also learning your triggers and learning to eat when you are hungry.
And at the beginning, that may mean having an extra snack on hand when the cravings hit. It will also mean figuring out when you get most hungry.
For instance, I work late. I’m hungry late. So I eat late. In the morning, I’m not hungry. I may not eat till 11, 12 or sometimes even 1 or 2 pm.
HOWEVER, there are some mornings I wake up famished and I eat immediately.
I listen to my body and know when I’m hungry.
If you are hungry, EAT. Just make the decision to eat a snack that will help you hit the macros or help you stay on track.
(And you can always make one of my sweet treats that come with the Macro Shred if you need to satisfy a craving but don’t want to complete indulge…Like these delicious brownies…I’m a dessert person…grew up eating it every night!)
The point is, listen to your body!
4. Don’t try to hit the ratios every meal! Ok so over the day you want your food to hit 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat. That doesn’t mean every meal has to have those macros.
Honestly, most of my meals don’t.
But over the course of the day I hit that.
It’s because I have protein only meals, like a protein and coffee shake to start the day, but then may have meals with only carbs and fat, like my rice cakes with peanut butter and honey and banana.
In between I may have tacos or stir fries or spaghetti squash dishes (really into those right now)…I change them up based on the other things I’m craving and the macros I have left.
This ability to make things as needed is key to long-term results because it allows you to eat out and indulge in parties.
You can simply map out your food beforehand so that it all fits!
Using these 4 tips, you can really start working to make Macro Cycling work for you!
Ready to start Macro Cycling? –> LEARN MORE!