How to Not Get Discouraged With Macros When You Naturally Enjoy High Fat Diets
When you hear the word macros, what kind of diet do you think of?
When I first started tracking I full heartedly believed that macros was low fat, high carb/protein diet. I thought the only way I could track my success was by limiting the foods I was eating. I remember one time in specific when I went through EIGHT different macro calculators online just to make sure I got my numbers perfect.
And I was so disappointed and frustrated when every calculator I used was different.
At the time I was also under the impression that fatty foods made you fat and I did not want to increase them more than 55g a day.
I wouldn’t use any butter, oils, etc. because I was so scared to put on body fat.
Have you ever felt that way too? Scared to eat certain things based on the belief they would make you gain weight?
Man, if I could go back and tell younger me to just put the peanut butter on the bread, I would.
I’m so thankful I learned more and am able to coach my clients differently today than I did 2 years ago when I started.
There’s still this underlying notion that if you count macros you can’t eat any fat or your fat number has to be really low.
Fat tastes good. It’s hard to cut out. It’s difficult to say no to butter, oil, nuts, avocados, etc. because they are what make food taste good! Plus, fat is needed for SO many things inside of our bodies. Especially as women, we need fat to have healthy hormones. This graphic below is just a few things that fat is responsible for in our body.
So why then do we fear fat so much? And why do we feel the need to not eat any of it, or little amounts of it in order to see results?
I’m not sure why but somewhere along the line we have bought into this narrative.
If you truly do have specific body composition or fitness related goals, tracking macros is going to be highly effective in helping you reach them.
So part of you is going to need to sacrifice some things in order to hit your numbers.
Unless I have someone in a deeper diet, I love to keep fats right around the 55-65 + grams a day. But even that seems low to some women who naturally love higher fat foods. So what do you do? How do you restrict those foods and not get de-motivated with tracking macros when it feels as though you have to deprive yourself of the foods you love?
Here are a few of my tips :
- Find a macro split that works for you. At the end of the day, unless you have super specific composition or fitness goals, it’s okay to balance your carbs/fats more evenly while keeping protein intake steady at .8 – 1.0g / pound of body weight. Keep your calories at the same intake but adjust your carbs down and your fats up to balance it out.
- Find substitutes for fatty foods / additives that still taste good. Examples :
- yogurt based ranch vs regular ranch
- 90% beef vs 85% fat beef
- sandwich thins vs brioche buns
- Take out processed foods. A lot of processed foods have a lot of fat in them and can add up quickly. Yes, you love your deep fried fries, but exchange them for regular potatoes you cut up with a little olive oil on them.
- Understand that your deficit won’t last forever. If you are dieting for more than 8-12 weeks, that is too long for your body and you need to utilize diet breaks. You are going to want to come out of your diet for 7-28 days before going back down into your deficit. During this time, add in more fat calories than others.
- Find other markers to measure your success. We get discouraged when we don’t see results. It is really hard to stick to a diet that isn’t working, so make sure you’re checking in with a coach or yourself weekly to track how your body is progressing!
- Build substantial meals. Just because you’re on a ‘diet’ doesn’t mean you have to restrict yourself. Make the most out of your macros. Fat is a highly satiating food, so if you’re craving higher fat foods that may mean you aren’t staying full from your other meals. Make sure each meal is balanced with carbs, fats, and protein to get the most bang for your buck.
- Analyze your hunger cues. If you know you really love having a higher fat dinner, then save more macros for the end of the night. If you really love your eggs and bacon in the morning, then your breakfast may be fattier than the rest of your meals.
- If you want to see results, you’re going to have to make sacrifices at some point so you can’t eat like you do now and expect different results. But, you don’t have to give up all of it in order to see those results.
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