Real Talk on Struggling with Macro Counting and Weight Loss
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Are you feeling overwhelmed by the demands of macro counting?
Welcome to Embrace Your Real podcast. In this episode, I’m addressing common hurdles encountered in macro counting and provide practical strategies to overcome them. Inspired by a comment in the Movement with Julie Community, I dive into the complexities of balancing nutrition goals with family meals, time constraints, and misconceptions about age-related metabolism changes.
What I discuss:
Don’t count your macros at dinner.
Pre-track your food every night for the next day.
Meal prep! Take the load of yourself to get the scale out daily.
Remember the scale doesn’t tell you much about what’s going on with you body.
Muscle weighs more than fat.
You can see results at any age.
Most often a slow metabolism is due to yo-yo dieting and not aging.
You can’t live in fat loss mode
If you loved this episode, be sure to tune in to…
Episode 88: 5 Steps to Finding Your “Why”
If you want more from me, be sure to check out...
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human you're listening to Embrace Your Real With Me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I get you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:27][21.0]
[00:00:27] Welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast. I'm really excited about today's episode. We're going to be diving into kind of some macro counting roadblocks and how to overcome them. This episode was actually inspired by a comment that I saw inside the Movement with Julie private Facebook group for my Movement with Julie subscribers, and I just kind of want to read you the comment so that you can kind of get the basis of what the question is, what her struggle is, and then I'm going to really dive into this obstacle and hopefully give you some tips, some pointers and some encouragement if you find yourself in this situation. So the comment reads, anyone else feel like macro canning is so stressful? I'm getting eating the same breakfast, lunch and snacks and doing all the measuring. But supper is really hard. I just want to eat with my family. I don't want to have to use the food scale and stress about my numbers being off. At the end of the day, whether that's not enough or going over. I started on December 29th and no scale changes yet. I'm not sure if I cut too much or not enough. Or is it my hormones? Maybe my age? I love working out. The macro counting feels so time consuming and hard, and I'm really only trying to tone up and lose about 5 pounds. [00:01:29][61.7]
[00:01:30] So again, if you are struggling with any of this or any of this comment resonated with you, listen up. This podcast is going to be for you, because I'm going to dive into this and try to help you through each obstacle that was mentioned in this comment. Before we dive in though, I want to share this review. It comes from Thick Girl 0417. She gave a five star review and said, best podcast. Love this podcast. I was introduced to Julie by a friend during a rough season of life. I was on a path of under eating, overtraining, and daily negative body image talk. This podcast is a daily step for healing on my walks. I'm so thankful for you Julie. I love this so much. Thank you so much to your friend for number one, giving you the recommendation to tune in to the podcast. And then also thank you for taking time out of your day to send in this review. Their views do really mean so much to me and our team. Just kind of know how this podcast in general is helping you, or if there's a specific episode that has helped you, we would love to hear about it. Also, people who stumble upon the podcast, whether that's them hearing about it from a friend, or maybe they're just searching through Apple Podcasts and they come across it a lot of times before people choose to tune in, they look at the reviews first. So every review helps. And I really, really, really appreciate you guys taking the time out of your day to send in a review, you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts free on any Apple device. It is the purple icon. And then just type in Embrace Your Real. [00:02:51][81.8]
[00:02:52] First, make sure you subscribe so that you never miss an episode. And then once you're on there, you can scroll all the way down and leave a rating interview. Okay, so let's dive into this comment. And I just kind of, again want to walk you through this up, these obstacles mentioned and give you some just kind of encouragement, as well as some tips and pointers. Based on just my decade plus experience of macro counting myself, as well as coaching thousands of women in the last decade. So number one, you don't need to track every meal. It's really about finding what works best for you. So if you're great at tracking breakfast and lunch, keep doing that. Don't stress about dinner. Remember that we are about creating a lifestyle, and so you need to find what works best for you and do that long term, because that's what you're going to stick to long term, right? If you can't see yourself doing it in five years, then you need to find something that you can actually see yourself doing in five years. It's not about doing it perfectly, it's about doing it imperfectly, but doing it consistently. Right. And so I think oftentimes people get into this mindset where it has to be perfect. And so maybe they're perfect for 1 or 2 days or 1 or 2 meals, but they're super inconsistent over the course of the week or over a month. Whereas I'd rather you be doing it imperfectly but consistently. Right. And so in this scenario, if dinner is hard, then dinner will be the thing that you do and perfectly, consistently. Maybe at dinner you really just try to focus on making sure that you're getting an adequate amount of protein, and then you're just overall mindful about how many carbs and fats you eat without actually counting it just kind of make sure that you go into dinner having a decent amount of macros allotted so that you know that you know, you're not just left with, you know, 60g of protein and ten grams of carbs and seven grams fat, that's likely not going to give you a good, satisfying large dinner. [00:04:39][107.5]
[00:04:40] And so again, just that comes with making sure that you're planning out if you're good at planning out breakfast, lunch, and snacks, that you're really prioritizing that protein and leaving a decent amount of carbs and fats as well as, you know, a semi amount, decent amount of protein left. So 20 to 35g of protein left for your dinner. And that way you are able to still fall likely within your macro range. But again, you don't have to count it perfectly and it doesn't have to be this all or nothing. I think that, I mean, if you've tuned in to any length of time on this podcast, you know that I am a huge believer in doing what you can with what you have and letting that be enough. And so this all or nothing mindset is just going to set you up to fail. And so a great kind of analogy, if you've heard of this before, maybe you've. Heard of it, but you didn't really know what it meant. 8020 rule 7030 rule. So 80% of your day is planned out, 80% of your day. You're very thoughtful in terms of reaching your protein, carbs and fats. And then, you know, 20%. That's life. That's life happening. That's. Yeah. You not having time to make dinner. And so you're driving through Chick-Fil-A and you're, you know, you're still being mindful of that, but you're not letting that hinder you. So your dinner is about 20%. Right. So, you know, again, you're counting your macros for breakfast, lunch and snacks, which are about 80% of your day. And then the rest of the day, 20% for that kind of imperfection time, that time where you don't have to stress so much about it. All this to say, I don't want you to beat yourself up. [00:06:05][85.3]
[00:06:05] If you are consistent with breakfast and lunch, you're already doing an amazing job. It is not a race to lose that 5 pounds. It's a journey. And again, the lifestyle aspect of this is so important. Creating and finding a sustainable lifestyle that you can stick with long term. And so this is going to be trial and error. Again like you know, if you just started getting into macro counting it's already going to feel like something new, like when you first got on your bike with training rails. Right? Like it was it was hard. It was sticky. You were trying to understand it or trying to understand the mechanism of the bike, how to stay on without falling off. And then if you remember the actual time that your training wheels were taken off, that's a whole nother step in the learning experience as you got better on your bike, more comfortable with the training wheels now that they're off. It's a whole kind of almost relearning, but you have that muscle memory. And so I just want to encourage you that as long as you are staying consistent, you are being imperfectly consistent, you will get there. A couple of other tips that you can kind of implement. If you're only going to count your macros during the day and not for dinner, is to, number one, eat balanced meals, so don't skimp, ensuring that you're really filling up on those meals. That's overall going to reduce that hunger and craving once you get to dinner. I know so many women who try to eat as little as possible during the day, and then they go super big at night because they just become so hungry. And I personally think just speaking from experience, but also working with thousands of women over the last decade, it's so much better and so much more realistic to eat more throughout the day so that you don't go into dinner feeling like, oh my gosh, I am so hungry I could eat everything in sight. [00:07:40][94.4]
[00:07:40] A second tip for this is really making sure that at dinner, you have at least a palm sized serving of protein, and this is a really simple way to ensure that you're getting a good serving of protein without having to whip out that scale. So again, like I mentioned earlier, you know, leaving about 25 to 35g of protein left. And so if you again, don't want to use the food scale, a palm size of protein, at the very least for your dinner is going to be adequate. And number three, if you like to snack throughout the day, try to just make it protein focused like a protein smoothie. Greek yogurt is great. Light string cheese is great. Protein bars are fabulous. I mean, just really prioritizing both the foods that are primarily protein, but also those secondary protein sources. I have a podcast episode that I don't remember the the number right now, but I will be sure to link it in the show notes. But it's all about secondary protein, and I think that that you'll find that episode really helpful if you haven't tuned in, or maybe you haven't tuned into it in a while, but I give examples of foods that might be a carb or fat dominant food source, but they have a decent amount of protein. And so as a result, really prioritizing that secondary protein in 1 or 2 meals or 1 or 2 snacks, you'll see that that adds up over time to your overall protein goal for the day. Number two, you have to remember that macro counting doesn't need to be time consuming. So I have a few tricks that I personally use that I think you might find helpful. Number one, I regularly, like you had mentioned in this comment, you eat the same, you know, breakfast and lunch, meals and snacks. [00:09:14][93.6]
[00:09:14] You kind of have some go tos on rotation that you know, you know, make you feel good, that taste good, and that overall are quick and easy. And you just know that they're going to give you the energy, they're going to give you that satisfaction that you need. And so I again, just regularly eat the same meals and snacks. I'm personally a creature of habit. And by doing this, I know you know the amount of protein, carbs and fats in that meal or snack or, a guesstimate of that at the very least. And so I don't have to count them throughout the day. So the more that you have kind of some meals and snacks on rotation that, you know up front, it takes time to enter into that macro tracking app if you are using macro tracking app. But once they're in there, I mean, you have a food database and you can pull from that easily. Also, if you're eating the same meals and snacks I mean, as yesterday, just copy what yesterday's tracking information was into today. And that's super easy to do. At least I personally use the Macros Plus app. And it's a super easy way to just, you know, literally copy what you tracked yesterday into today. And you can continue to do that moving forward. If you're eating around around the same things, if you don't like eating the same thing, I have a few things you know that you a few tips that can help. Help help you in that. And that's just kind of to cycle through some meals and snacks. So maybe you're like, yeah, I do have some meals and snacks, but I don't want to eat that same exact thing every single day. [00:10:36][82.2]
[00:10:37] That's totally fine. You know, again, creating that food database and having maybe 5 to 7 breakfast meals on rotation that you're using, and maybe that changes every couple months, right? Or, you know, every month or every two months you're adding another recipe or adding another breakfast idea into the mix and seeing how that you know how you feel. Is it feeling you? Are you feeling satisfied? And then that over time is going to build your bank of meals and snacks. Number three is to pre track. So you have a plan. So the night before you can already add in what you're eating for breakfast, lunch and snacks and really pack the food the night before. So if you're already doing this for your kids maybe you're packing their meals, you're packing their snacks for school the next day, or for, you know, daycare or wherever they're going. You can do that with yourself as well. And during that time, you can just add it into your macro tracking app. Again, if it's the same thing as yesterday or if it's a meal on rotation, you can go into your food database, you can go into your recipe bank, and you can literally just copy it to whatever day. And that way when you wake up in the morning, you not only have it in your macro tracking app, but it's also you have it planned out for you. You've already set aside if it's overnight oats or you're getting everything ready for you. So in the morning, you know it's maybe an oatmeal bowl. So you have your bowl, you have your spoon, you have your oatmeal, whatever toppings. They're probably likely in the fridge, but any toppings that are not in the fridge you can lay out on the counter. [00:12:02][84.9]
[00:12:02] And so that way it's super easy, super efficient, and you have it planned out. Number four, you can pre track what you want for dinner. Now this is something that I recommend especially people if they're wanting to track what they're eating when they go out to eat I always say okay start with your biggest meal. Start with the meal that maybe you're most stressed about, and start with that first, enter that into your macro tracking app and then work backwards from there. So that way you know when you go out to eat, if you want that margarita, if you want those fajitas or whatever, whatever meal or snack it is, you know that that's already entered into your macro tracking app. So then the rest of the day, which is going to likely be the start of your day, unless you're going out for a big breakfast and then, you know, you plan that first. But most of the time it's, you know, at dinner. And so you're putting that into your macro tracking app first, and then you're planning the rest of your day around that. This will help you to feel not so mentally drained by the time that you get to dinner. You know, you already know what you're getting, it's already entered in there, and you've already eaten accordingly prior to that, knowing that this has already fit into your macros. And so that's great. And, you know, sometimes you can get a great, you know, exactly what the protein, carbs and fats is for that meal. Other times you have no idea. And I just want to encourage you that a rough estimate is better than no estimate at all. And lastly, number five meal prep. So I personally don't make anything complicated. [00:13:21][79.4]
[00:13:22] I prep big things of carbs, whether that be rice, whether that be a big thing, a protein, whether that be a big thing, a veggies. You know, those are all things that can easily be put into a macro tracking app. But also it takes you, you know, maybe 20 to 30 minutes on a Sunday. So, you know, dumping some rice into a rice cooker done in 20 minutes, filling a pan with some chicken breasts and seasoning done in 20 minutes. Fill another pan with veggies and seasoning done in 15 minutes. Like doing that at the start of the week or maybe midweek. That way you have some batches and you can make multiple different meals and snacks throughout the week with those batches. And so when you go to make a meal, you're actually not cooking the chicken from, you know, scratch or it's you're just taking it from the batch. And then if you want to season it accordingly to whatever type of meal you're eating, that can be super fast and super efficient. So that's another great kind of tip that I've just learned over the years. And again, not overcomplicating it because I again, I'm a person of habit, a creature of habit, but I'm also a person that if it's not realistic, then I won't stick with it. And I know that. And so over the years I've found, you know, okay, is this realistic for me? If it is, then I can stick with it long term. If it's if it's stressing me out and I'm trying, you know, five different recipes on a Sunday to prep for the following week. And I personally don't enjoy, you know, recipe developing. Like it's not something that is a passion of mine. [00:14:46][84.0]
[00:14:47] I like trying new recipes, but it's not something that fuels me, that I know that I'm not going to stick with it. And so again, if that's you, if you love, you know, finding new recipes and hanging out in the kitchen for long periods of time, by all means do it. But if you're a busy person and that's just not a season of life that you're in, or that's not an interest that you have, that's totally okay learning to work around that. Number three, why no scale changes? So she had mentioned in this comment that she hasn't seen changes since December 29th. Is it her hormones? Is it her age? She was just kind of asking like why she hasn't seen scale changes. So I kind of want to dive into that. This is a loaded question. And there's kind of. Three things that you need to know about the scale in changing your body. Number one, the scale does not show body fat, and it also does not have anything to do with body fat. Right? It's weighing muscles, it's weighing organs, fat, waterway, etc.. So the scale fluctuation from day to day or even week to week is very, very normal considering the fact that we hold more muscle in certain times of the month, depending on where we are in our menstrual cycle, depending on the stress that we have or don't have the sleep that we got or didn't get, and so many other life factors, and that can cause us to holding more water, which as a result, the number on the scale will go up. Right. So the scale is not a reliable source of progress when it's used by itself. The scale is a great tool for tracking data points, but you have to take in weekly averages and only compare those averages over a few months time to really determine the progress. [00:16:18][91.6]
[00:16:19] And again, you have to be very cognizant of where you are in your cycle. And if you are weighing a few days before your cycle, it's likely going to be, you know, 3 to 7 pounds heavier than normal, maybe even more. We carry a good a bit of water, especially leading into a cycle. Or if you're on your cycle, you know, the week or two after a cycle, it just the week or two after a cycle. We tend to feel amazing. But the week leading up to our cycle, on our cycle, that's when we are just feeling like we're retaining more water. And again, that's why averages are so important because it really does show the bigger picture. Now with some people, the scale is just too much of a mind jungle. And if that's you don't step on the scale, you don't have to step on the scale. There's so many other ways to monitor your progress. Use progress photos. You can do body measurements. I mean, there's so many other ways to monitor your progress other than stepping on the scale. And that's personally what I do. Like I have found that I don't really need to step on the scale to, you know, the number is the number. I would much rather take a progress photo, see how I'm improving, or see how my body is changing in certain areas, or take body measurements, or not even do either of those. You know, I do personally like those. But again, if that's going to be a mind jungle for you, then go off of how you're feeling. Rate your energy from day to day, rate how your lifts are going. Do you feel like you're stronger? Do you feel like you're able to push more weight? Right. [00:17:42][83.4]
[00:17:42] And so again, there's just so many other ways outside of the scale to monitor how you're doing. And so if that is a stressor for you, you definitely don't have to use any of those. Number two, when losing body fat inches drop before the scale. Almost always so especially for women, right. It's common for women to hold weight for 4 to 6 weeks, even if their body composition is changing and then their scale starts to catch up. And so it's important to not quit over the, quote, lack of progress. Like you're getting discouraged because you're like, oh, you know, I'm staying so consistent with my workouts. I'm saying because so consistent with my nutrition. But why isn't this working? Just remember that it's very, very common for us to just hold that weight for a certain period of time. And then there's eventually going to be a breaking point. And that's when you're going to break through that. You know, the weight, the weight in particular, if you're strength training, it is possible that you're building muscle while losing body fat like that is something that you're able to do. And oftentimes it makes it look like the scales aren't moving because muscle weighs more than fat, right? So when it gets hard due to lack of, you know, progress that you're seeing or not seeing on the scale, I want you to think of this, that your weight is not written across your forehead. No one can tell if you're up 5 pounds, if you're down 5 pounds. But we do see the body composition. And the best way to track your body composition is what I mentioned earlier, which is, you know, progress photos and body measurements. So again, you can completely throw out the scale if that is something that is a trigger for you and it's just not helping you on your journey. [00:19:11][88.1]
[00:19:11] And just focus on the measurements and pictures to help you with this mental aspect. If you know that the scale is going to derail you. Number three fat moves in small increments. Water moves in large increments. So I'm sure that you've heard these people. You know, they said they've lost 5 pounds in a week or 25 pounds in a month. Okay, that sounds great. But any time there's big drops in the scale in a short period of time, it's unfortunately just waterway, right? Those quick 5 pounds are going to come right back as soon as the diet is over. Fat moves in much smaller drops on the scale, in fact dropping on average point five. So half a pound to a pound a week. That is what we consider fantastic progress. That's something if someone is saying I have, you know, consistently been losing half a pound or a little bit less than half a pound or maybe a pound a week, I'm like, that is amazing. Like that is an amazing progress. That's fantastic progress. That's where you should be at. And that's because the reason why that is fantastic is because that means you're maintaining your muscles as much as possible and slowly chipping away at that body fat. Right? When you drop these small increments of fat over time, you end up with major body compositional changes over time. So even though. It feels very slow in the moment. Think about it in three months. Think about it in six months or nine months or a year. That's going to be drastic changes in a year. And the beautiful thing about that is because you've done it slowly, it's much easier to keep off, because what you've been doing is sustainable enough for you to be keep, you know, keep doing it for six plus months, a year, two years, five years, ten years, etc.. [00:20:49][97.7]
[00:20:50] Number four, she had also mentioned age, right? So just remember that age has nothing to do with the results that you see. The concept of a slowing metabolism with age is a common misconception. So many women think that it's impossible to build the body that they want at their age. And that's just not true. Yes, your metabolism can slow down, for lack of a better term, if you don't build and maintain muscle. But if you work on having muscle mass, then you're capable of anything. And I just did a podcast episode on this. I'll be sure to link that in the show notes, but it really just comes down to how much muscle you have and how much muscle you know, comes down to how consistent you are with pushing yourself in your workouts and eating enough protein. So it all kind of builds on one another. And the more muscle that you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate is. In other words, your BMR will be right. Your BMR is the number of calories that your body burns at rest. Not a lot of muscle, not a lot burned at rest. And this makes you feel like you have a slow metabolism, right? So no, it's not about your age. It's about really building and maintaining muscle mass through being consistent with your strength training and making sure that you're fueling your body enough in more cases than not. Again, it has nothing to do with your age, and it really has everything to do with the chronic dieting. Whether this has been for, you know, six months or a year or maybe a decade of chronic dieting, yo yo dieting, restrictive eating, frequent yo yo diets of, you know, putting yourself into starvation mode, slowing down your metabolism in an attempt to conserve energy. [00:22:21][91.7]
[00:22:22] And when women start macro counting and they go straight into a fat loss phase, if they've previously been in a super low restrictive caloric state, that's not going to be optimal for you, right? Which is why I always encourage people to hire a coach if you're unsure of these things, because there's phases in macro counting, right? Macro counting is not a one size fits all. And it also is not just a fat loss phase. There's reverse dieting, there's maintenance, there's muscle building, there's fat loss. So there's four phases of macro counting. So in order for you to heal your metabolism from these crash diets, you need to do a reverse diet back to your maintenance or a little bit past your maintenance so that when you go into a fat loss phase, your body has and your metabolism has adapted to a higher number of calories to them, when you go back into a caloric deficit, you're able to actually see results without having to cut so low. So a great example of this is, you know, I previously would gain weight if I ate anything more than 1200 calories, and that was because I was in a starvation mode for years and years and years and my metabolism, it had to really slow down in an attempt to conserve energy because I was eating such low amount of calories. But when I went in and I reversed dieted, I went from, you know, 1200 calories to 2400 calories over time. This is not just, you know, going from 1200 to 2400 overnight or even in a month. It was over the course of 4 to 6 months, slowly, incrementally doing it. My metabolism. The cool thing about our metabolisms is that they're adaptable so they can adapt in a sense where if you're slowly fueling your body more and more, your metabolism is going to learn, oh, you're actually fueling my body. [00:24:09][106.9]
[00:24:10] Let's make sure that we're utilizing all of this fuel to the best of its ability. And you're able to, you know, in a reverse, I never tell people you might you're not going to gain fat. Likely you will gain some weight, you will gain some fat. But you're also this is a long term strategy, right? You're doing this so that when you get to the end of your reverse diet, you're likely either at maintenance or your past maintenance. So when you go into a fat loss phase, which is typically what I see people do, they reverse diet. And either they stay at their maintenance for a while. They like, you know, where they're at and they like how they feel, the like they like the energy that they're getting, or they reverse diet into maintenance or a little bit past maintenance into a surplus. And then they say, okay, I think I'm ready to do, you know, an eight week or 12 week body fat loss phase. And slowly they go into a caloric deficit from either their caloric surplus or their maintenance into a caloric deficit, and then they're able to lose weight. They're able to lose body fat on a higher number of calories. So instead of them, like previously, just using the example that I said I would gain weight on 1200 calories, well, once I reversed, I added to 2400 calories. And then I started my body fat loss. I had achieved everything that I. Wanted to achieve, which was about 15 pounds, and I was still eating 1700 calories. And so it's just amazing what our bodies can do. And since then, I've done four full reverse diets, and I now live in maintenance mode, and I'm typically eating anywhere from 22 to 2600 calories a day. [00:25:43][93.1]
[00:25:43] And I'm able to maintain my weight. And that's because I have taken the time to reverse diet. So it's not a quick fix. It's not something that is sexy or it's sellable because it takes time. But the most beautiful thing, and at least for me, is knowing that I have a sustainable lifestyle and I have the ability to stick with this long term. And that's what I want for you guys. So if you guys are curious about how all these phases work and what phase we recommend based on where you're at and what your goals are, I do have a program. It's called the Macro Academy. It's simple program. You can check it out at Macro County. Meet simple.com. I will link that in the show notes. But I think again that that's going to be very beneficial for you to learn those phases. And the our whole point of doing this program is to teach you so that you feel empowered to do it yourself, so that you feel like you don't have to rely on a coach for the rest of your life. Right? So I know that might sound overwhelming, it might sound complicated, or hopefully, maybe you got some something from just that tidbit of my personal experience with reverse dieting, but it has transformed my life in so many ways, and it has transformed so many women that I've worked with over the last decade in our community and our movement, my joy community and our macro kind of mean, simple online community. And it is incredible to see just the progress that not only they've made, but they've able to sustain and stick with long term. Okay, so let me quickly recap some ways to make it easier and maybe even presenting some new ideas that you heard. [00:27:12][88.9]
[00:27:12] Number one, don't count your macros at dinner. If anything, just try to hit your protein. Goal number two you could pre track your food, you know, every night for the next day. Maybe that's already planning what you'll cook for your family dinner and then kind of working backwards from there. Number three meal prepping. So really taking the load off yourself to have to get the scale out daily. Like the food scale out daily. That is something meal prepping can be so beneficial. And again just doing easy meal prep batches. So batching protein batching some carbs batching some veggies if you do over overnight oats, you could do a few overnight oats that you already have made up for the week. But again, finding something that sustainable for you. And that's enjoyable. Number four remembering that the scale doesn't tell you much about what actually is going on in your body, the progress photos, body measurements that's going to tell you so much more, as well as just overall tracking your consistency, your energy levels, your strength levels in your workouts. Number five remember that muscle weighs more than fat, so you can be changing your body composition without seeing any movement on the scale. Number six, you absolutely 100% can see results at any age. It's really not about your age. It's about how much muscle you have. And remember, you can be building muscle no matter what age you are. Number seven. Most often the slow metabolism is due to yo yo dieting and not aging. So again, learning the different phases, which kind of leads me into number eight. You can't live in the fat loss mode. You have to kind of cycle through these different phases of macro counting to see optimal results. [00:28:47][94.3]
[00:28:47] So remember there's four phases of macro counting. We have body fat loss reverse dieting maintenance and muscle building. And really cycling through those is so important just for optimal success as well as just sustainability in your results, because it's not realistic for you to stick in a fat loss mode. Nor is it smart or wise in terms of optimal living or fueling your body optimally long term. And so just learning those four different kind of cycles and phases of macro counting will be so beneficial for you. And then lastly, remember this. Give yourself a longer timeline. Don't overestimate what you can do in a month. But also don't underestimate what you can do in a year. A month of tracking consistency is fantastic, right? But if you're trying to change years of bad habits and bad food choices and just the mental stigma that you have maybe around food or around dieting or around workouts, it's going to take much longer than 1 to 2 months to really change those habits. So really setting yourself up with unrealistic timeline that's only going to leave you disappointed. Work on your mindset around these goals. Why do you want to tone up? Why do you want to lose these last 5 pounds? If you don't have a solid why, you're likely going to quickly lose interest in changing your habits and the lack of progress will derail you, right if you shift. Whereas if you shift to work on your mindset and change your habits for overall better, sustainable health, that's going to be so much easier to implement these lifestyle changes. I do have a great episode that I think you'll find very beneficial. It is episode 88 five Steps to Finding. Your why. So if you're struggling with your why. [00:30:26][99.0]
[00:30:26] I will link that in the show notes so that you can easily go tune into that after this episode. And then also the Macro County meet Simple Online Academy. That is going to be the course that will teach you everything that you need to know about the four phases of macro counting. And then we also take into consideration where you're at, what your goals are. Once you purchase the program, you'll get, questionnaire sent to you, and then you're able to kind of share, you know, this is where I'm at, this is what my goals are. And then we will decide what phase of macro counting is right for you based on where you're at and what your goals are. And then also I did mention the Secondary Protein podcast, so I will be sure to link that in the show notes as well. Remember, those secondary protein sources can be so beneficial to just overall reaching your protein goal on a daily basis if that's something that you're struggling with. And I just want to encourage you and remind you that if you feel like your metabolism is broken again, remember at any age you can reach your goals. It's really about building muscle. When you have a sufficient amount of muscle in your body, that is what is going to overall help you towards your health and fitness goals. So if you feel like you're struggling with building muscle, if you feel like you don't really know what to do in your workouts, I do have a program dumbbell only workouts for women. You can check it out at movement with julie.com. I will link the actual page with. That will get you $10 off your first month or three months free if you sign up. [00:31:56][89.7]
[00:31:56] annual. So that's s-a-l-e dot movement with julie.com. I will link that in the show notes as well. So I again hope that you found this helpful. I hope that kind of breaking down this comment was helpful for you in some way, shape or form. Maybe all of it or just some of it. You're you're taking pieces. That's always my goal, my hope, my prayer for you is that you walk away feeling encouraged, empowered, educated in some way, shape or form. If you have a friend or a coworker that you feel like would really benefit from this episode, or just this podcast in general, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can always copy the link, send it to them in text message. You can also screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I love you so dang much. I mean it, I'll talk to you on the next one. [00:32:41][44.8]
[00:32:41] All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:21:36][0.0]