Why Macros Count More Than Calories
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Trying to lose weight? Or, maybe you want to get more toned? Let me guess...you're counting your calories to help you get there, right?
Alright sister, if you’re in that weight loss or trying to tone up mindset, I know you’re also probably in that “I need to count every calorie” mindset. That's why in this episode of Embrace Your Real, I want to chat with you about why calories aren’t what you should be focusing on and why macros are so much more important.
If you loved this episode, you will also love episode 19: What Happens When You Don’t Eat Enough.
In this episode, I give you a deep understanding as to why eating less causes way more problems than you realize and doesn’t actually help you lose weight.
Ready to start counting your macros? Let me help you out! Click here for my Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip 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 in and let's go.
Do you only focus on the amount of calories that you're eating or how many calories a food has? If so you are not alone, but I'm about to let you in on a little secret. There's actually no such thing as a good or bad calorie. And counting calories alone, won't bring you the results that you want. In this bonus episode of Embrace Your Real, I'm going to explain why. Plus why counting macros is much more effective than just counting your calories. But before I dive into the episode, I had to share the super-sweet review. Comes from Chris Lee 320. She says, "Great way to start each day. I started listening to this show every day since I started my morning hour long walks, it's really helped my mindset toward my body and self-confidence. I've really enjoyed every episode I've listened to. Thanks, Julie."
Thank you so much for the review. If you haven't already rated and reviewed the podcast, it takes less than 20 seconds, but it helps the growth tremendously of the podcast. So if you could, you can scooch over to Apple Podcasts first and make sure you subscribe to the show so that you never miss an episode. And secondly, you can scroll down and click that rate and review.
So let me start by explaining what a calorie actually is because I'm guessing many of you don't know what it actually is, and the definition of it. I know for me, I didn't. So the super technical definition is a calorie is a unit of energy defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of a quantity of water by one degree. Simply put though, calories are units of energy that your body utilizes to function properly. And that's why all calories are created equal because a calorie is actually a calorie. They're all just units of energy. Just how a pound is a pound, a mile is a mile, a calorie is just a calorie. Thus, the calories from a donut will be processed in the same way as calories from an apple will be processed.
The key point here is that the unit of measurement does not change regardless of the food. All nutrients contain calories however nutrients are within categories that are not created equal because nutrients are utilized differently in the body, depending on the nutrients available in the food. What I'm referring to here are macronutrients, which include protein, carbs and fats. While yes, your body does need a certain amount of calories per day, your body more importantly needs these three different macronutrients in certain amounts each day. Here's an example of what would happen if you only counted calories and not macros. You could eat all the calories from carbs only. However, carbs only come with a limited amount of function that your body needs. It can also hinder you from being able to eat foods from the other two macronutrients, protein and fat, because they contribute important nutrients that carbs do not have in order for your body to function optimally.
For example, if you're working out and trying to build muscle or tone your body, your body will never have the nutrients it needs to see the results that you want. Protein is the building blocks of muscle. So without enough protein, you won't have the fuel that you need to build it. So if you're working out and not eating enough protein, it's like trying to walk up an escalator that's going down. You might eventually get to the top, but you're making it extremely hard on yourself to get there.
On the flip side, if you eat all of your calories from protein and fat and don't eat enough carbs, you'll start to battle fatigue and brain fog. Sometimes it can cause serious issues by interfering with the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal, which is also known as the HPA access, which actually controls your stress levels, mood, emotion, digestion, immune system, sex drive, metabolism, energy levels and more. So this is why counting calories isn't enough, because you can eat enough calories for your body without actually nourishing it with what it needs. Each macronutrient performs a certain task. Protein helps with the overall health and muscle preservation, carbs are the body's main source of energy, and fat can help balance and regulate hormones. When you focus on reaching your macronutrient goals, you are ensuring that you're not neglecting specific duties that each macronutrient does in your body. Plus by focusing on eating the specific macronutrients that your body needs, depending on your goal, you can achieve endless results. You can build lean muscle and get strong, you can burn body fat and lose weight, you can increase energy and vitality, increase performance and tons of more benefits.
And here's something extremely important for you to remember. When you focus on reaching your daily macro intake goals, your calories will actually automatically add up. So by counting your macros, you can customize your nutritional intake to fit the foods that you love into your daily allotment. This is a sustainable approach because you won't feel the need to restrict or label foods as good or bad. Instead, you're able to enjoy all foods in moderation instead of deprivation, all without hindering your progress. So there you have it. That is why counting macros is much more sustainable and effective than just counting calories. If you want to learn more about macros, how to count them, what the specific macros are, protein, carbs, and fats for your body and your goals, the science behind it and everything else, I highly suggest you checking out my Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy.
You can either click the link in the show notes, or you can go to www.macrocountingmadesimple.com. Again, that's www.macrocountingmadesimple.com. And on that website, you'll be able to learn all about what is included in this Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy. I look forward to seeing you on the inside of the academy. I hope that you enjoy this episode. I hope that you learned something from it. If you have somebody in your life that you feel like would really benefit from this episode, I just ask that you share it out with them. You can copy the link, text it to them, you can screenshot this, post it up on your story. Be sure to tag me and tag Embrace Your Real account. We appreciate you. I love you. Thank you so much for tuning in and I'll talk to you guys in the next episode.
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 your real because you're worth it.