Fasted Cardio, Cheat Meals and Late Eating: Macro Q&A

Nikkiey: What's up, WarriorBabes? Hey, everyone. Nikkiey here for our live WarriorBabe Wednesday Q&A time together. I am so excited to be here with you guys. I freaking love coming in here on Wednesday evenings and getting to chat with you, helping you with any questions that you have and giving you some clarity moving forward. So that's what we do every single Wednesday at this time, coming here to hang out with you babes and spend a little Q&A time together.

So as you guys join in, please comment and say, hey, what's up, so that I can see who's here. Plus, the more comments we get coming in, it keeps our video towards the top of the group so that the other babes can join in when they see this live happening. So guys, comment and let me know as you're joining. Say, hey, what's up? And if you're joining at a later time after this is live, then just give me the hashtag replay.

And any questions that you have as you're listening to this at a later date, just leave the questions all here in one area so that Kate and I can come back in here and answer your questions after this has already been done live.

So before we get started on this session, I want to first say hey to Victoria, who missed my last two Q&As. Excited to be back. Awesome, I'm so excited to hear. Hi, Narcia. Hi, babes. I love being here with you on Wednesdays. I'm full of so much energy.

Anyway, make sure you say, hey, what's up as you're joining. We'll start this live Q&A in a second. Hey, Kimberly, what's up? As you guys have any questions, you can definitely start leaving them inside the comments thread, and I'll get to them in a second.

But first, I wanted to give a huge shout out. Let's give an amazing round of applause for this babe, Kelly. She shared her testimonial pictures inside the group, I want to say a week or so ago. Two months of being a WarriorBabe. She lost six pounds, she lost 16 inches, 1.8% body fat, and she went from a size 10 to a size 6 in pants. That is so freaking amazing. Everybody give Kelly the high five emoji, so that once she joins or listens to this, we can all be cheering her on. Now, on top of her success, she was able to come off of her blood pressure medication and her anxiety medication. That is so amazing. Way to go, Kelly. We are so proud of you.

I see a couple questions coming in. Hi, guys. Brooke says, hi, everyone, I love being here on this Q&A time. Yes, all the high fives for Kelly. I love it.

Before we get started, I want to first welcome all of the new WarriorBabes. There's so many of you in here and I freaking love it. I hope that you guys are ready for this journey ahead. So excited that you're here. We do this Q&A every single Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. And we also do rally calls on the weekends.

Even the newbies, even the veterans, you want to make sure that you are plugging into everything that is here with WarriorBabe. You want to make sure you're in the Facebook community, absorbing all the knowledge inside of the application, going through the blast off emails, and plugging into these Q&As. This Q&A space is so freaking valuable to you guys moving forward. This is where you come and get your questions answered and have clarity moving forward. I'm here hanging out with you guys. Take advantage of this time. Literally, tell Siri, hey Siri, remind me that I have the WarriorBabe Q&A every Wednesday at 6:30. It didn't really pick it up. But you can tell Siri to schedule this in every single week so that you can tune into these Q&As. I think I made my point that you don't want to miss this.

So welcome to all you babes. Rally calls, and the Q&A is here every single Wednesday. We should start hashtagging you guys on Instagram. If you're sharing any of your success stories on Instagram or Facebook, hashtag strongisthenewsexy so that we can get it out to everybody. I love the little hearts. So that everybody out there knows we've got a community that understands muscle is the way to go. We're all working towards that. So let's start hashtagging strongisthenewsexy. Let's do it.

Okay, so let's dive into these questions. Allison: "I feel like I am an ecto, but I still score a couple points under meso. Is this a hybrid or do I go straight ecto? Macros are so different. I want to make sure I am starting off right." Well, babe, you are definitely starting off right here. You're going to have all your macros dialed in down to your biotype. If you are an ecto-meso and you have a couple points leading towards that, that means you're a hybrid. I talk about the hybrids inside the module. So you can listen to that section, and only that section, for your biotype so you don't get confused about all the other body types. Then you'll know exactly what you need to do, and you follow the calculator to get yourself set up.

Look at all those high fives. Waving hands. Pound it. I love it. So this is our Q&A time together. Anybody that has any questions for me, start leaving them in the comment section. That's what the Q&A time is for. I don't want you guys to just assume that you know the answer to your question, because if you assume, it may not be the right thing that you should be doing moving forward. That's why I'm here, and why Kate is inside the Facebook group answering everybody's questions, to give you that clarity along your journey, so that no questions go unanswered. If any fall through the cracks inside the Facebook group, because Kate doesn't get to everybody, that's why I'm here on Wednesdays giving answers to all the questions you have.

Jenny: "Hey, I'm finally not working out this time." Wow, that's the first one, Jenny. I feel like every single time you're here on these Q&As, you're working out. Well, I'm happy that you can be here for this Q&A. Pamela: "Sorry I'm late." Girl, you are just on time. We are just getting started.

Allison: "Thank you. Yes, I listened to the module and I'm adjusting my macros to meso." Boom. Got it, girl. What's up, Ashley? Hi, everyone. I see everybody's joining now. I love it. So if you have any questions, let's rock and roll. Every single Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, mark it in your calendar. Set an alarm for five minutes before. I'm usually always right on time. Literally, all you have to do is plug in your headphones and listen to me answer questions. And if you feel like you have one, just type it in there and I'll get it answered.

Marcia: "I'm a meso. I've lost over 30 pounds since I joined this program. I just started the hypertrophy training. Do the macros stay the same or do I need to adjust?" Hey, babe. I freaking love your success. You have shared your story with us inside the group and you've done an amazing job transforming your body. I remember your first 12 weeks and it was like, holy crap. So what you would do in this instance, and I believe we talked about it in the last Q&A sessions: if you go to warriorbabe.helpscoutdocs.com, you'll learn how to adjust your macros to the baseline area and start focusing on that as you move into the maintenance phase, doing the hypertrophy side of things and putting on more muscle. That's a broad overview of how to adjust your macros moving into that phase, but I dive like 10,000 times deeper inside the Blueprint program. Go to warriorbabe.helpscoutdocs.com, go to the macros or nutrition section, and that's going to help you understand how to adjust your macros to not lose any more weight and just start building muscle.

Brittany: "On your quiz, I got three, three, four, which is almost an even mix. On the bodybuilding side, I got endo, meso, ecto. I'm planning on sharing pics later to get some input, but would it be safe to bet on a meso-endo plan?" Yes. By those numbers and those percentages, it sounds like you are a meso-endo. I would definitely share your pictures with the Facebook group. The babes are here to help you out and give you any support that you need in figuring out which biotype is definitely for you.

Gina: "How much water should you consume daily? So many people say different things." In our world, and what we are working and striving to do, at least a gallon of water is a safe bet for us. That water hydrates every single cell in our body and, most importantly, our muscles. With the way that we work out and this lifestyle, we need all that water.

Lindsay: "I just made the hamburger helper meal." Ah, yes, the healthier version of a hamburger helper meal. I love it. Guys, what I love about the application is that you know your macros, and if you don't want to think about your meals, you can use the weekly meal plan. You can copy those meals but adjust the amounts according to whatever fits in your own macros. Or if you don't like what's on that weekly plan, you can go into the hundreds of different recipes inside the application, choose what sounds good to you and make it work into your macros. It's freaking amazing.

Michelle: "Nikkiey, how much time do you spend in the gym a day? How many days?" Currently I am doing half an hour of cardio in the morning, fasted cardio, five days a week. Then I go back in the afternoon and spend 45 minutes lifting, maybe an hour max. So give or take, it's a little over an hour a day, five days a week.

Brooke: "I am meso-endo. My issue is my fat-burning calories are 1,243. Working out as hard as I do, this sometimes doesn't seem like enough, especially on days where I burn 800 calories by my watch. Should I just deal with it?" Meso-endos, y'all, this is literally one of my favorite biotypes. I'm a meso-endo too. So make sure, Brooke, that you are following the cheat meal policy for us. Listen to the reward system module, because us meso-endos get those cheat meals during the week. It's almost like we're doing a carb cycle with them, because we're so low carb on normal days. Then we throw in a big meal, a cheat meal, and that ramps up our carb intake so we can utilize that for a couple days until our body needs another cheat meal. So make sure you're incorporating the cheat meals.

On top of that, make sure that your activity level is set to 1.55. It sounds like you're active and burning a lot throughout the day. The calculator is auto set to 1.32, but I walk you through it at the top: make sure that your activity level matches what you are on a daily basis. So I recommend changing that 1.32 to 1.55 and making sure that you're getting enough food there. First check the activity level. Then, if you haven't already, listen to the reward system and make sure that you are implementing the cheat meals I recommend for your specific body type.

That goes for every single person inside this group: listen to the reward system and understand how to implement the right kind of reward, via cheat meal or refeed, for you. Don't ignore those. I go into depth about why they are so important. It's not about freaking out that they're going to ruin your progress. Cheat meals are so important. My goal with WarriorBabe is to teach you as much information as possible so you can apply it to your own lifestyle, your own body type, your own workouts and the cardio regime for that specific body type, and how many cheat meals you're supposed to have. You're getting basically everything I teach my high-level clients, except with them I'm in control of their programming. This is you being in control, but coming into the community for support and help and utilizing these Q&As to make sure you're doing the right thing.

Lindsay: "According to the quizzes, I'm an ecto-meso, but I know that I need more carbs, so the 30% carbs is not going to work for me. I'm going to do the ecto macro percentages. But should I do the hypertrophy or the regular workouts?" Lindsay, how long did you give yourself to see if those macros actually work for you, and did you implement the kind of cheat meals I recommend? 30% carbs on a normal day, if you're working out, is going to feel low. But if you allow your body to get used to those percentages and to the cheat meals I recommend, your body is going to get used to it and know how to shuttle it and decrease the body fat that you want it to. If you've given your body time to adjust and it's not working for you, then you can follow the ecto percentages, and then you can do the workouts that are best recommended for the meso body type.

Kimberly: "Love your enthusiasm with coaching us." Yes, I hope you guys do. I love giving you all of my energy and enthusiasm so you know that, A, I'm here for you babes. B, I want the best out of all of you and the best outcome for you all. And C, I'm going to give you some tough love along the way, and you're going to be challenged. Who was it the other day? Anne-Marie left a comment about doing the shoulder circles and said she was cursing my name. I love that. I'm going to be here pushing you to do things that are not comfortable, that are outside of your comfort zone. That is the only way transformation and change is going to happen: you do something you're not comfortable with, something that's challenging. All the hearts, I love it. That's my enthusiasm and tough love. I love you guys to death, but I want the best for you, and that means you're going to have to push through your excuses, push through your bullshit, push through things you've never done before. And on the other side, you'll be like, Nikkiey, thank you. That's what I'm here for.

"Hi, I've been on the program since June." Awesome. Brooke: "I get 300 more calories. I feel like it's Christmas." Yes. More food. Those muscles love food. Just think about how we grew up as kids. The way we all grew up was by building our bodies and eating food. Now we're doing the same thing, but we're doing it a different way, the right way: how many macros we specifically need right now, where we are, to get to the body that we want to achieve. Food is fuel. Hashtag strongisthenewsexy. Hashtag foodisfuel.

Lindsay: "Not long." Okay, listen, you guys. This is what I've stated to my Blueprint VIP babes. The second that you implement something with your body, don't expect changes to happen within five, six or even seven days. You have to allow your body to adjust to what you're doing before you start making any changes. If you start making changes when you're not allowing your metabolism and your body to adjust to something new, you're going to be sending your body Morse code. It's going to be like, what are you doing? It's not going to recognize what you're trying to do to it. So it needs time to get used to something before you shuttle it.

How many of you babes who have been in here for three, four or five months have already heard me say this, and Kate say this, and other babes say this? You came in, and after one month you didn't see any changes. But maybe after six or seven weeks, your body adjusted, and now you're seeing the results you want. This shit takes time, and you have to allow your body to adjust before you start throwing things at it that are just going to throw it for another loop. I can't stress that enough.

Michelle: "I hit send too early. Do you recommend doing the fasted cardio, and is it too much to stay and do weights fasted?" That's an awesome question, Michelle. I totally recommend fasted cardio. I do fasted cardio. I think it's great to get in there first thing in the morning when you're just waking up and get your cardio over and done with, completely fasted. If you want to sip on some coffee, perfectly fine. Then afterwards you would have your first meal of the day.

I do not recommend doing weights fasted. The reason is that you're just going to elevate your cortisol levels beyond where they are normally at a natural level. And when you raise cortisol levels, that is an easy sign for fat storage. It's an easy magnet for your fat to be stored as unwanted body fat. When cortisol levels are raised, unwanted body fat will stick to your body. If you lift weights and push your body to a stressful level without food in your system, you're just an easy target for unwanted body fat. So do not lift weights fasted. My methodology makes sense scientifically to me, with my nursing background and understanding this whole philosophy: lifting weights fasted is not okay. You want to make sure you have food in your body, as food is our fuel. But cardio is perfectly fine to do fasted.

Ashley: "I'm struggling to hit my fat. What do you recommend to help hit that number? I currently get 137 carbs, 71 fats, 160 protein." What I recommend for easy fat macros is olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil. I think across the board they have 14 grams of fat per serving. Easy. Peanut butter has some carbs and some protein in it, but that's another delicious way to get some fats in. Avocados are another delicious way. They have some carbs, but you can make it work.

What I can say with that is just keep attempting every day to hit those numbers. Some of you may nail it right off the bat. That's awesome. That's great. But for some of you this may take time, and it's okay. This is a lifestyle. This isn't something that's going to be done in 30 days or 60 days or 90 days. You are all learning new, long-forming habits that are going to set you up for long-term success, and you're building on that learning every single day. So every day, just try to do your best with hitting the macros. Then one day it's going to be like, yes, I did it, I hit my macros. Then you're going to feed that momentum, and every day is going to get better and better.

Allison: "Hi, I'm a meso-endo." We have a lot of meso-endos in this group. That's so awesome. "I'm fairly certain I ruined my metabolism with years of restricted diets. I had a hard time the first few weeks getting the right macros. I'd come up short, but I figured maybe it's good so I'm not a fat magnet, but I haven't changed much in composition. I do feel better with so much more protein. How do I know when my metabolism has ramped back up?"

I love the way you asked about that. I recommend to all the new babes: if you haven't listened to resetting your baseline macros and resetting your metabolism, that's the best way to do it. I've seen so many babes come in and just start gung-ho with their macros, and their body turned into a fat magnet. I'm going to tell you I told you so if you didn't listen to resetting your baseline macros. Definitely start there if you are coming off of restricted diets, because then you can work your way up to the macros I recommend for you inside this program.

Now, one way you can tell that your metabolism has ramped up and is back on track is that in between your meals, you are feeling hungry and you're ready for that next meal. With those small meals, you're allowing your metabolism to break the meal down and give your body what it needs. When it's broken down and you notice you're getting hungry in that window, about two and a half to three hours between meals, that's when you'll know your metabolism is ramping back up and getting up to speed.

Kimberly: "I loved your recent rally call on traveling. I do need some more tips for work trips where I will be flying to locations. I know you mentioned that Kate has a lot of experience with this, so I can reach out to her as well. Also, there will be some mixers, functions and dinners with customers that I have to attend. I am so determined not to get off my schedule in the program. I would really appreciate any suggestions and tips for these types of situations."

I love that. I'm so glad you enjoyed the rally call from this past weekend, and guys, that recording is up and live. First, let's talk about workouts. The way I plan this is, if I know exactly where I'm staying, for example a hotel, I'll look at what their gym has to offer. If there's not a picture of the gym, call them: hey, what equipment do you have? It's a freaking five-minute phone call that's going to set you up for major success while you're away. That's exactly what one of my babes did. She's going on an Alaskan cruise, and she called the cruise line and asked what kind of equipment they had in their gym. Amazing. I love that thought process. I didn't even tell her to do it. She just did it.

So that's one way if you're at a hotel: see what equipment they have. The second is what I did this past weekend. I was staying at a friend's house, so I mapped out the gyms around where I was staying. Boom. There's always a local gym. So always plan ahead. Be five to 10 steps ahead of your own next actions. That's a huge thing I've come to realize within myself. That way you can plan accordingly.

The second thing, when you're away and have functions with dinners and customers, and I talk about this inside the Blueprint: do your best to load up on veggies and protein throughout your day leading up to that event. Have all your protein and vegetables, say five meals of just protein and straight vegetables, or maybe mix in a little bit of carbs, but save the majority of your fats and carbs, and some protein, for that dinner at nighttime. Look, you may be a little off at that dinner, not knowing exactly what's there, but you did your damn best leading up to it. You stayed on track during the day. Then at night you're treating it as, okay, I don't know exactly what's here, but I've saved carbs, fats and proteins for this dinner.

This is where the perfectionist mentality has to be left at the door for one day. One day is not going to kill you, as long as you set yourself up during the day. Then at night it's like, okay, this is what I'm working with. You can log what you worked with, and after the dinner function is done, if you still have macros left over, treat yourself to something. Or you can treat that dinner as a cheat meal. There are so many ways, you guys, so I'm not going to take excuses like, I had a customer's event or a dinner, or I'm traveling, I'm going away. Those are excuses you're allowing to get in the way of the goals you want.

If you think outside of the box and really strategize your trip, if you truly want this... Kimberly, I can't hear you, but I can read it through your comment: I'm determined not to get off schedule. You're determined, you've set yourself these goals, and you've committed to a decision to power through. All these ideas are going to come into your mind: okay, I can map this out, or I can track all this during the day and then hit this at night, or it's a cheat meal, I can have this cheat meal. There are so many different ways to do it. Kimberly, I hope that helped. And if you haven't listened to the rally call from this past weekend, do it. I know we're all on vacations and traveling this summer. That's still not an excuse to not be where you want to be. So listen to that rally call.

Ashley: "Awesome. I'm big on meal prep, so I'll add those oils into more of my meals to help. Thanks, chick." You're welcome. And guys, on top of that, with oils like olive oil and avocado oil, don't cook with them. Don't put them in the pan, heat it up and cook your food in it. Drizzle them on top of your food after. When you heat them up and cook with them, you're eliminating nutrients, so it's not going to be as nutrient dense when you actually eat it as when you drizzle it on top afterwards.

Amy: "With this program, I have so much more energy. I always just ate when I was hungry and sometimes only ate 850 calories per day. I have to make myself eat so much more, but it's awesome." I love hearing that. Food is energy. Food is fuel. Y'all are all going to be saying that. We're going to have t-shirts that say that. When we just mindlessly eat throughout the day, you may notice you only have three meals, and you're trying to keep it healthy, and healthy is typically lower calorie, so it only adds up to 850. But when you actually pay attention to how much you're really fueling your body, it makes a massive difference.

Taylor: "For the workout reps, if by set four I can only get eight to 10 reps but hit 15 on previous sets, am I better off dropping weight for the final set or just getting as many reps as I can with the original weight?" Drop your weight for the final set and focus on getting that 15.

Brittany: "I'm still working through the videos, so maybe I haven't gotten to it yet, but what leeway, if any, is there on macros?" Gotcha. It's plus or minus five of each macro. You can be plus or minus five on protein, plus or minus five on fats, and plus or minus five on carbs. You do not have to be at zero across the board. That's some macro genius stuff. But you can be plus or minus five within all macros.

Pamela: "This is a really weird question." I love weird questions. "I have a continuous glucose monitor because I'm diabetic. I check it all the time between sets and especially during cardio when I'm fasted. I've noticed sometimes my sugars actually go up. My current working theory is that I know I'm in fat-burning mode when I'm tired but, instead of my sugar dropping, it goes up, especially because I know I've used up my pre-workout meal. If it drops, I know it's time for a cheat meal. That usually happens twice a week. Does that make any sense, or am I just making shit up?"

Wow. Honestly, I don't think I've ever heard this before. I've always heard of sugars dropping, especially if you're diabetic, because you're burning through the carbs you had beforehand. I always tell diabetics to have something fast acting on them when they're working out, like orange juice or candy, so that during your workout you can quickly get your blood sugar back up. I've never heard of blood sugar increasing. I would log this, pay attention to it, and definitely ask your doctor, hey, why is this happening? I'm actually super curious to know more about that too.

Marion: "Hey, new to the program and loving it. Thank you." You're welcome. Welcome, babe. I'm excited that you're here. Pam: "Hi Nikkiey, working out and listening to you." I love that you tune into these even when you're working out in the gym. Pam, you get it. Crush that next set. "I am six weeks in and from taking pictures, I see major progress." Yes, that is awesome, babe. If you haven't already, share your pictures with the group. I want to see these pictures.

Bobbi Jo: "Drizzle. Shoot. We'll do it right next time." Oh God, I love you, girl. She's one of my VIP babes.

Kimberly: "Thank you so much. That helps so much. I will do this. My vision of my future self is not wavering or negotiable. I am dedicated and determined." Oh my God, Kimberly. That is so freaking awesome. What an affirmation. Guys, I know affirmations are a part of the blast off emails; it's one of the tasks I have you do. That is a hell of an affirmation, Kimberly. My vision of my future self is not wavering or negotiable. I am dedicated and determined. You just gave me some major goosebumps. I love that kind of energy. You are going to be unstoppable. Everyone, be like Kimberly. That is so badass.

Affirmations are huge. We can get in our own way. Instead of allowing the common excuses we tell ourselves on a daily basis to take control of her actions, she's like, no, my vision of my future self is not wavering or negotiable, I'm dedicated and determined. So instead of saying, oh, I'm tired, I'm not motivated, she can tell herself, I'm dedicated and determined, because I'm not wavering and I'm not negotiating on what my future self wants. Damn, girl.

Pamela: "I know I'm so weird. I'll get back to you." I love it. Yes, please get back to me. Ashley: "Yes, ma'am."

Cheryl, another one of my VIP babes: "Hey Nikkiey, pumping my glutes and listening." Get it, girl. We just had a shout out for Cheryl in the VIP group. In six weeks she has gone from 138 to 133. Cheryl, you shared your pictures with us. I know the feed is so active that they've probably moved down, but you're more than welcome to share again to let the girls know what you've done. Her transformation is so amazing right now, and she's one of the older VIP babes that I have. So age is just a number. It's not something that should get in the way of the goals you want. Plus, Cheryl has some hormonal imbalances that she's getting leveled out, and she's still making progress. She's killing it. Oh God, what a cute screenshot.

Marianne: "On workout days, I really want to decrease fats and increase carbs because I'm ravenous for carbs. Can I adjust macros that way and keep my calories the same?" I'm so hesitant to give this kind of information. A, I don't know what your body looks like. This is where VIP comes in, and I see you just asked how one becomes a VIP. That's where I go into great detail and would be able to thoroughly answer that question. I'm not someone who's going to say, yeah, do that, that's perfectly fine, without scientifically understanding whether it will actually work for you and understanding your situation.

To help you, though: A, if you're not utilizing cheat meals, I would recommend it, because you're going to fulfill those carb cravings in your cheat meals. Two, I know that inside the modules I say the refeed strategy is best for ectomorphs, but that doesn't eliminate it for every other body type. You can try refeeds and see how your body likes it. Refeeds are the days where your fat numbers drop and your carbs increase. I just did refeed numbers for one of my VIP babes, and she was at about 420 carbs.

So how does one become a VIP? Right now my VIP list is on a waitlist, but you can go to warriorbabeblueprint.com/VIP and put yourself on that waitlist so you're the first to know when VIP opens. It'll most likely be the first two weeks of August that I'm accepting new VIP members.

Cheryl: "I'm the granny of the group, LOL, 64 years." Well, Cheryl, you're not the oldest in the VIP huddles that we do. We have a 72-year-old who's part of the VIP group too. So you're the second, at 64 years young. And that's another thing I forgot to mention about her success: she is a grandma, and she's still killing it. Amazing.

Marianne: "Makes sense. Thank you." You're welcome.

Lindsay: "So a cheat meal is just one meal. How does tracking your food for that day go, then?" Great question. Yes, a cheat meal is just one meal. It is not an entire day, ladies. So how does tracking go that day? I like to say you track all the way up until your last meal, and usually I'm leaving maybe a couple hundred calories, like 300 calories, open. Then that last meal is a full-blown cheat meal. You don't have to track any of those macros. This is why I love it. Hashtag balance. You have your cheat meal, you have whatever you want. What I recommend is getting your cravings out of the way. That's what a cheat meal is for.

Charlene: "I don't know if this has been asked in a while. Late to the Q&A. With our carbs, are we counting all carbs, or factoring in net carbs and fiber? Because in MyFitnessPal, if we factor in fiber, it puts my carbs way over the give or take five in each category." This is always one of the questions we get on the live Q&As. At warriorbabe.helpscoutdocs.com, which is in the description above this video, there's a frequently asked question I've answered. It's a whole article about how to track what I like to call true carbs, the actual carb number when you take fiber away. I definitely recommend reading that article so you understand exactly how to track them.

"Also, endo means do not get a cheat meal, correct?" For endos, initially, for the first two or three weeks, while you're allowing your body to transition to this lifestyle and get used to these macro numbers, I do not recommend having a cheat meal. Once you see progress, once you're moving in the right direction, then I recommend throwing in a cheat meal and treating yourself for the progress you're making.

I'm trying to see who gave me that angry face. I hover over it and, Kate, you gave me an angry face. I wonder why. Okay, anyway.

Viviana: "What is your favorite cheat meal? And should we work out on that day to help offset it?" Great question, and I talk about this in the refeed system module. My favorite cheat meal is a plethora of different things. I love sushi. I love a burger and fries, specifically sweet potato fries. That's my go-to, a burger and sweet potato fries. And I always treat myself to some organic homemade gelato. We have a place where I live that we go to all the time. If you follow me, you probably see Jameli on my stories all the time. That's my favorite spot. So that's what my cheat meal looks like. And as I talk about in the refeed system, you should work out on those days, and it should be a vigorous workout, like leg day or back day, where you're burning more calories. That is what I recommend.

Becky: "Hi, I'm three days into the program. I just want to make sure I don't start counting macros until week two, correct? I'm logging how I usually eat in MyFitnessPal for the first week and then starting my macros next week." Yes. Star student, Becky. This is what I highly recommend. Take your time with this program. Again, it's a lifestyle. It's not 30 days or 12 weeks. You're going to take your time getting used to everything: listening to the modules, tracking yourself, seeing where you are the first week and figuring out your baseline macros. Then you'll learn how to transition to the macros I recommend for you and your body type. Great awareness right there, just seeing where you're actually sitting right now. Then listen to the blast off emails. Absorb all of that, and all the tasks I give you to complete, like getting super clear on your goals, why you're here and what you want to accomplish for yourself. But yes, correct. You're just logging first, and then you apply your macros next week. Perfect way to go about it. You're setting yourself up for long-term success.

Lindsay: "The carb article is where?" It's in the description above this video: warriorbabe.helpscoutdocs.com. If you click on that, it's our frequently asked questions resource page, where we plug in all the questions we get from you babes over time, so that if somebody asked something before and you're new and wondering, it's there. You can type net carbs at the top and the keyword search will bring you right to that article.

Wanda: "What is the best schedule for someone who works until 5 p.m.? How do you schedule pre-workout, workout, post-workout, then supper?" This all depends on your wake-up time. Say you have your breakfast at 8 a.m. Three hours later is 11 a.m. Three hours later is 2 p.m. Then you'd have your pre-workout meal at 5, go to the gym at 6 or 5:30, depending on what time you work out, and have your post-workout as soon as you're done. Say you're in the gym about an hour, until around 7 or 7:30. Then about an hour later you can have your dinner. So: 8, 11, 2, 5 pre-workout, post-workout, then dinner.

Charlene: "I'll definitely read that, thanks. Whoops, I meant endo-meso hybrid." Oh, so for cheat meals: endo means no cheat meal at first. For meso-endos, guys, listen to the reward system video. I talk exactly about the cheat meals per biotype and what you should do as a meso-endo when it comes to cheat meals.

Amy: "How and when does alcohol fit in?" That is a great question, and you know what? Now that I'm thinking about it, I took that out of our modules, so I need to get it back in. It's on my to-do list. I'll get it back in so you know how to enjoy yourself with alcohol while tracking macros, because alcohol is a macro and there's a way to factor it in. You can take it away from carbs or you can take it away from fats. There's a whole mathematical equation to do that. So I will work on getting that back in since I realized I took it out.

Ashley: "Is it ever too late to eat, within reason?" It's never too late to eat. Our metabolism is always moving. Think about it like this: our metabolism doesn't stop. It may slow down as we're sleeping through the night, but it's always moving. These rules like stop eating at 7 p.m., stop eating at 8 p.m., are bullshit. It's an old myth. It's never too late to eat.

Becky: "Perfect, thank you. I'm so wonderfully sore today." Yes. I love it. Success.

Ashley: "Sometimes I don't get home from the gym until around 8 p.m. and I still have quite a high number of macros to hit, and I'm retraining my brain, so I'm curious if it's ever too late to eat." Never too late to eat. It's also just trial and error. Maybe move some macros around during the day so you don't have that. Don't macro hoard. Guys, macro hoarding is a thing. I've seen it with my VIP babes. You don't want to macro hoard, because you're shoving all this food into your system at once. It's like you're throwing a brick at your metabolism, and it has to work through it like quicksand. It's going to take so long. So don't macro hoard. Play around with your macro numbers throughout the day.

Kate: "My bad, I dropped my phone and must have accidentally hit it." I guess so. I was like, who gave me an angry face? Okay. Guys, excuse the typos.

Marianne: "If I fit a restaurant meal into my macros, does that count as a cheat meal? Are all restaurant meals considered cheat meals? Asking for a friend." I love that. My cat just meowed. She's helping you out, Marianne. If you fit a meal from a restaurant into your macros, that is fine. If it fits your macros, it fits your macros. I just did it today with a burrito. Brian and I went to, I forget what it's called, a healthy fast food restaurant on the main strip where I live. It was delicious, and it had all the macros so I was able to plug it in. So if it fits in your macros, it fits in your macros. It's not considered a cheat meal.

Now, this doesn't mean you go and fit in donuts and muffins and gelato and rice crisps, unless they're around your workout, or candy, all that kind of stuff, on a daily basis. Think of those still as treats.

Brooke: "Macro hoarding, next reality show." Yes, that is awesome.

Janet: "I have autoimmune issues and follow the autoimmune protocol for meal prep: no dairy, gluten, soy or sugar. Any ideas on pre- and post-workout meals? I do have a dairy-free shake for my breakfast meal." Yeah, absolutely. You can still do oatmeal; you can get gluten-free oatmeal. I still highly recommend that as a pre-workout complex carb. It totally works. Then post-workout, you could do the dairy-free protein shake. And I guess you can't do any fruit, because it has sugar in it? Is it bad sugar you're avoiding, or is fruit okay? Because if fruit is okay, I totally recommend having fruit after your workout. So I think that's a great option.