Tracking Your Macros 101

I gained about 13 pounds during treatment.

I’ve always been very fit + active, so going from living an active, healthy lifestyle to being a full time cancer patient was pretty jarring to say the least.

Research shows that physical activity and a low body fat percentage are keys to reducing the risk of cancer recurrence. I talk about my workout routine in this post, so let me introduce you to the “diet” I’ve followed for 3 years here.

Now before you click away, I’m not going to convince you to cut out sugar or carbs forever because… that’s just crazy talk and not at all sustainable in the long term. What if I told you you could lose weight, build muscle AND EAT ICE CREAM all at the same time?? Sound too good to be true? It’s not. Let me introduce you to the “diet” I’ve followed for about 4 years now.

I call it a “diet” because it’s not really a diet at all. I can technically eat + drink whatever I want, as long as I keep my carbs, protein and fat within a certain range.

I track my macros - the diet most often referred to as “IIFYM”, or “if it fits your macros”. The nutrients we get from food are divided into two categories - micronutrients and macronutrients. Micronutrients are things like vitamins and minerals, where macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Getting Started

Use a calculator like this one to determine your macro goals. As you stick to tracking, you’ll learn what may need to be tweaked. For me, the protein goal the calculator gives is always low, so I start by setting my goal in grams to equal my weight in pounds, and tweak my carb and fat goals from there. So if I weigh 125 pounds, then my daily protein goal is 125g.

Then, download the MyFitnessPal app to set your macro goals + keep track of your habits. The app makes it super easy to track what you’re eating, with a barcode scanner + lots of preloaded options for when you’re dining out.

When you first start tracking your macros, I recommend eating as you normally would for 1-2 weeks to see how your current eating habits stack against your new goals. The results might surprise you! When I first started, I was pretty surprised to see how low my protein intake was + how high my fat intake was - I thought I was eating super healthy with salads and such! I was also shocked at just how much I had to eat to hit my macro goals. This is one diet that you won’t go hungry on, that’s for sure.

The first several months you start tracking your macros, I recommend measuring everything out with measuring cups, measuring spoons + a food scale. You can buy the ones I use on my Amazon shopping list! We tend to have a pretty warped view of a serving size (especially here in America!) so this will help you to better eyeball things as you move forward. Since I’ve been tracking for so long, I’m able to eyeball measurements and, unless I’m following a recipe, don’t usually measure out my meals anymore. If you’re training for competition or another big fitness goal, then accurate measurements are key! But for most of us, learning to eyeball is sufficient + helpful for when you’re dining out.

My Typical Day of Eating

I’m frequently on the go, so I tend to stick to a very similar daily meal plan. Something like the below is my go-to + doesn’t require me to track everything in my app if I’m particularly busy because I know it works.

Breakfast: 1.5 cups of cereal (usually Cinnamon Life)

Lunch: 3 tablespoons of egg whites, scrambled with 1 whole egg, 1 tablespoon of milk, 1 tablespoon of feta cheese + a hearty sprinkle of red pepper flakes, plus 2 slices of turkey bacon. I’ll also sometimes add on a bagel thin with Greek yogurt cream cheese OR 2 high protein frozen pancakes or frozen waffles from Kodiak Cakes.

Dinner: Brown rice + chicken bowl. I meal prep this at the beginning of the week + mix up the flavors of the bowl to fit my mood. A favorite of mine is a Mediterranean bowl, where I add grape tomatoes, baby spinach, lemon herb vinaigrette, feta cheese + a spoonful of hummus. YUM.

Snacks: Protein bar (favorite brands include ONE, think! and Power Crunch). Protein shake (12 oz of fat free + lactose free milk, 1 scoop of Optimum Nutrition double rich chocolate whey protein, 2 scoops of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides).

Dessert: I have a sweet tooth and MUST have dessert. Sometimes it’s a cookie, sometimes it’s ice cream, sometimes it’s cookie dough… but an easy go-to that I always have in my freezer is Dove Dark Chocolate squares!