Macro Tracking Q&A: Weighing Food, Alcohol and Soreness

Nikkiey: Hey everybody, Nikkiey here, and welcome to our WarriorBabe Wednesday live Q&A time together. I am excited to hang out with you guys for a little bit here on this Wednesday evening. I hope you guys are having an awesome day so far. As you guys are joining in, comment, say hey, what's up, let me know that you guys are here, or give me the wave emoji. Plus, we have a lot of new members this week, so the more that you guys comment underneath this video, the more this is going to push the video to the top of our community, so that anybody who is new or doesn't know how to tune into this live Q&A can see the video, click on it, hear me speaking and participate in this Q&A time together.

All right, so as you guys are joining in, say hello, say what's up, let me know you guys are here, and we will kick off this Q&A in just a few minutes. Before we do, if you guys are tuning in after this live is done, type the hashtag replay and leave all of the questions that you have that pertain to this Q&A beneath here in the comment thread. So give me hashtag replay and leave any questions you have here in one area, so that Kate can come back after this Q&A is done and answer any questions that were left behind or left after this live was complete.

What's up, Jocelyn? Hey there. What's up, babe? Nice, you're a new babe. Beautiful. Hey, Lara. Hey, Jessica. Hey, Michelle. Good to see you here. Hello, Heather. What's up, you guys? I am stoked to be here and hang out with you guys for a little bit and kick off this Q&A. If you guys do have any questions, you can start commenting them, because there is a little bit of a lag time between the Zoom that I use and Facebook. So I'm ahead of you guys, which is so weird. But you can start commenting your questions and we will kick off this Q&A in just a few seconds.

Before we do, since Jocelyn is a new babe, I know there are more new babes listening to this Q&A, so I want to give a huge, huge welcome. Our community is growing. All of our communities are growing, and it is so freaking exciting. Everybody who is new, welcome. You are a part of a community of thousands of women who are getting toned and becoming a stronger, more confident version of themselves. WarriorBabe is where strong is the new sexy, and I'm stoked that you guys are a part of this amazing, supportive, inspiring community. We're all here working on the same goals and we're doing it together.

There are WarriorBabes who wake up in the morning and they know that another WarriorBabe is out there doing this same workout. Which, by the way, Kate's workouts are freaking killer. I love seeing you guys comment about the workouts and seeing that you're being demolished by them, which is hilarious. We were talking about the workouts on the team meeting on Tuesday, and Kate definitely deserves the hashtag evil genius, or the devil emoji, because these workouts are fire. So I'm glad they're kicking all of your asses.

Like I'm saying, it's a community where all of us women are doing these workouts on a daily basis, and we know there's another WarriorBabe doing the same thing. Look around the gym to see if there are other women who might be a WarriorBabe doing the workout, because there have been women inside this community who have walked up to each other in the gym and said, "Are you a WarriorBabe?" And they're like, "Yep." Which is so cool to see and so cool to hear.

Plus, I love that the majority of the reason our community is growing is because you guys are referring your friends, your family members, your sisters, your sisters-in-law. It's really cool to see WarriorBabe constantly growing and more women getting the truth of what it actually takes to build a body that they love. So welcome to all of you new babes. I am so excited that you guys are here, and so is everybody else on the WarriorBabe team.

Two things before we dive into this Q&A. You can start leaving your questions in the comment thread. But before we do, if you guys are new to WarriorBabe, please make sure that you are going through the WarriorBabe Revolution blast-off emails. They are so important. It's just one task that's sent to you via email per day for the first 14 days that you're here inside this program. I like to look at it as a transition into this program and a transition into this lifestyle.

You're going to run through setting your goals for yourself, eliminating anything that you've ever done or tried in the past, and creating an open mind for what I'm providing you here inside this community and inside this program, because I can guarantee you that what I'm going to have you doing here is 10 times different than what you've ever done before. I am on a mission to shatter your belief systems about the things you've done before. There's a reason why you're here, right? You're not getting the results that you want. So keep an open mind about what I'm providing you in this program, and understand that if you do that, more results will come and you won't second-guess what I'm trying to provide you.

It's worked for thousands of women and it can work for you if you keep an open mind. In the blast-off, you'll run through setting your goals. You'll run through creating affirmations for yourself, getting rid of any negatives and turning them into positives. You'll run through macros. You'll run through workout information. For the first 14 days, they're sent to you via email, so I highly recommend that you run through each day. It's just one task. It takes five to seven minutes max to complete. Take it fucking seriously.

The other thing is questions. Please don't be a new babe who comes into our community and floods it with questions that can easily be answered inside the application. When I personally see that, when my team sees it, the community managers see it, the other babes see it, we know that you're not taking the time to go through the content. There are tons of informational tidbits, golden nuggets, all the resources and tools that you need provided inside this program, and especially inside that application.

So if you're new, take the time to go through it. Look at the workout guidelines. Read the workout guidelines. If you're confused about training, dive into the calculators and go step by step through the calculator. This is personalized to you. You're going to figure out your macros. You're going to figure out what training split you want to follow. It's all inside the application, but you need to read through it and get yourself oriented with WarriorBabe. Don't be the person who comes in and wants results yesterday. I'm going to be upfront and brutally honest with you: if that's you, maybe this program is not for you, because you're not going to get results yesterday.

You need to come into this program and create foundations for yourself that are going to set you up for long-term success. That is exactly what my blast-off sequence is doing for you, and that's what the application does. There's literally a "Start Here." All you have to do is start there and follow the videos that I have programmed inside the app for you. Now, if your questions can't be answered inside the app, go to the home screen and click on "Need Help."

That brings you to our frequently asked questions resource page, which is an entire platform that my team is currently updating to make it more simplified for you. You can use a search engine: what question do you have? It brings you to an article with full-blown pictures and text answering it. But let's say, which is unlikely, you can't find the answer in the app and you can't find the answer in the FAQ section. Then it comes to the Facebook group for support.

Come to these Q&As, guys. These Q&As are so vital to your entire success inside this program. They're so valuable because you're asking me questions. I'm the creator of the program. I'm the one who's been through it for the past five years and created the results I've created for myself. On top of that, I've been coaching for three to four years and I have a nursing background. You're able to use my time here to get clarification on any questions you have. So come to these Q&As on a weekly basis and show up to them.

The joke's on you if you don't show up. The joke's on you if you assume the answer without actually getting clarification from me or the Facebook group for support. If you have a question and you can't attend these Q&As, go inside the Facebook group for support and ask your question. I guarantee you somebody will be on it, and Kate will be on it within 24 hours answering your question so that you have support.

Last thing before we dive in: please do not direct message me, and don't direct message my team. I say that because your direct message will just get lost. I don't monitor my DMs here on Facebook. There are just way too many, and I don't want my active WarriorBabes to get lost in the DM shuffle. So come to the community. The community is where I'm always at, especially on these Q&As. The same goes for my team. Don't send them DMs. Come to the community. It's not just because it's a personal boundary; I bet you that another babe has the same question that you have.

So ask it inside the community, ask it on these Q&As, so that you're helping another babe get clarification as well. I guarantee it. So with that being said, I'm stoked to kick off this Q&A. Ah, Kate's here joining us. She says hello. What's up, Kate? Hello, Kimberly. Hello, Tanya. Hello, everybody. Super stoked to be here with you guys.

So let's kick off this Q&A. If you have a question, first of all, there's no silly or stupid question. If you need clarification on something, ask it. I don't bite, but I will employ tough love. If I hear an excuse or read an excuse, I will give you tough love. I will call it point blank for what it is, because that's what's going to create the change for you to get the results that you want.

First off is Carolyn: "I'm a little confused about which training sessions I should be doing." Well, what is your goal, Carolyn? If it's to tone and shape, then you're following the Burn programming. If it's to maintain your current weight and build muscle, then you follow the Build programming.

Laura says Kate does an awesome job on the workouts. Yes, she does. We love reading your comments inside the group, you guys. She is definitely getting that recognition as an evil genius.

Michelle: "I just read that the data we scan for raw protein is vastly different than cooked. Is this info I've read incorrect? Because I know you said weigh everything after cooking except oatmeal." Yes, correct. If you're weighing something raw, which I don't recommend, it's drastically different than weighing something cooked.

So you need to always weigh any of your protein, any of your rice, sweet potatoes, all that kind of stuff, after they're cooked. The only thing that you weigh dry is oatmeal. Everything else, pastas, rice, chicken, proteins, sweet potatoes, potatoes, anything, you weigh after it's been cooked. Vegetables, you weigh after they've been cooked. And Michelle, I think I saw this question inside the Blueprint community too. Remember, you guys, please keep Revolution questions in the Revolution community and Blueprint questions in the Blueprint community.

If you are scanning a barcode, what I would personally recommend for chicken, ground turkey and ground beef is inside the modules, inside the Blueprint, Michelle. I wouldn't even recommend scanning the chicken or the ground turkey or the ground beef. What you can do is type into the MyFitnessPal search engine "cooked chicken breast," and you're going to get one with a verified checkmark.

That verified checkmark means it's verified proof that the nutrition facts are real. So you would use that in order to track. I would recommend using the search engine for cooked chicken breast, cooked white rice, cooked brown rice, cooked pasta. I speak about that inside the modules, but that's a solid answer to your question there.

What's up, Becky? Mandy, hey, what's up? "Question just to clarify: should I adjust macros for calories burned during workouts, or just hit the numbers whether I work out or not?" No. You want to make sure that inside MyFitnessPal the exercise toggle is toggled off. You don't want whatever you're using to sync into MyFitnessPal for your exercise so that your macros and calories go up. You do not do that.

You toggle it off, you don't account for it, and you don't adjust macros for calories burned. Mandy says, "Good. I haven't adjusted them, but then wondered if I was supposed to. I don't do endurance training, by the way. I love the program." Nice. Awesome. Thanks, babe, I'm glad that you love it. It's good that you haven't done that, so you're doing it right.

Chrissy: "Who is the evil genius behind the dumbbell lateral 21s at the end of the shoulder workout?" Props to Kate. Kate is fire right now with the workouts, you guys. I know that she loves when you guys provide this kind of feedback, because you feed her evil genius even more.

I did see a question inside the community today about lowering reps or lowering weights. Maybe that was inside the Blueprint program. The comment was something like, "I don't want to lower down to tens if I've been using fifteens for side laterals."

Well, remember the intensity and the volume that you're adding with 21s. You're adding six more repetitions with 21 side laterals, so you're going to have to lower your weight, and that's okay. Remove the ego from the number on the weight. Don't lock yourself into saying, "Oh my God, I have to do this weight." No, it's not like that. What matters most is that you create resistance on the muscle that you're working with a challenging weight.

The weight you can push and handle is always going to fluctuate based on sleep, based on your period, based on whether you got enough water, whether you stuck with your macros the day before. The weight is always going to fluctuate. Just focus on the resistance that's being created and the challenge that you're creating with that weight. If you're maintaining form and your form is good, but you're not challenged, up your weight.

If it's too heavy and you're losing your form, drop down a little bit. Remove the ego from the number.

Michelle: "That's what I've always done. But if we scan a bag of chicken breasts, is the data they're giving us cooked data?" It depends on the brands. This is why WarriorBabe is the way it is: it leaves the foods up to you guys. But it depends on the brands across the whole United States and what brands you use.

There are going to be some that are weighing in raw, and there might be some that are weighing in cooked. I'm not too sure, honestly, on that answer. Maybe somebody else can provide that kind of information. I personally don't scan chicken. I always personally use the cooked chicken breast entry inside MyFitnessPal. Mandy says, "Got it, awesome, thanks." You're welcome, babe. Awesome. Cool.

Oh my God, I'm not going to end our Q&A after 20 minutes. You guys have to have more questions. So if you do have more questions, fire them off. I'm here to hang out with you for a little bit. My hair doesn't know what it wants to do.

Come on, somebody has got questions. Jessica: "I need some tough love when it comes to alcohol." Well, babe, if you're doing it every single day, you're seriously hindering your results.

"I started drinking within my macros, but then I always keep going." Yeah, I don't personally struggle with this, but you've got to keep your goal in mind. You've got to have a strong fucking why, a really strong why, and a big enough goal that you don't have this kind of situation, where you're sitting there going, "Oh, well, I can have another drink." If that's happening, your why and your goals are not big enough.

So get a bigger goal, get a bigger why. Then when you come across that situation where you're about to pour yourself another drink, you're going to be like, "Nope, this does not support my goals." You have to become disciplined in order to do that. That starts within you. Me telling you this, I'm helping you, providing you tough love, but you actually have to be the action taker in that situation. I hope that you're going to be able to hear my voice when you're in that situation.

I'm trying to embed it in your brain. When you're in that situation, ask yourself, "Is this supporting my goals?" No? Okay, then put the fucking bottle down. And what I personally think too is, I have a glass of wine every once in a while here and there, but me personally, I'd rather consume my calories via food than via alcohol.

So develop a stronger goal, develop a stronger why. And when you're in that situation, be disciplined enough for you and for the goals that you're working to accomplish. Be strong enough for your future self. Because the more you do it on a daily basis, you're literally stalling the point of you reaching your goals and the point of you becoming that next best version of yourself, the stronger, more confident version of yourself. You're stalling your results.

Laura: "Any swag updates?" Since I had to move into rebuilding the content, which I absolutely love now, rebuilding the entire Blueprint program and adding 20-plus new modules and new workout programs that are more personalized to you guys has taken up about two months of my time. Honestly, with the last situation, I received my samples, but it took a month to get to me.

For me, my standard of customer service is that you're not going to put in an order and then wait a month for it to arrive. That's just not going to happen, and it's not what we want to represent as WarriorBabe. So once I'm finished with this Blueprint content, which will be this week, I'm moving out of where I'm living right now, and then I'm going to be able to go full force into swag and merchandise and choosing the company that we want to use for the branding.

I think that a few of us on my team are actually going to be the fulfillment center, and we're going to fulfill all of your orders. That's the plan right now. That's what we've been talking about. Within the next two weeks, I'm really going to be deep diving into that next project. By Christmas, you guys are going to have the ability to purchase swag and purchase gifts with WarriorBabe swag and all that kind of stuff. So I'm super excited for that next project with WarriorBabe.

Debbie: "I'm enjoying the workouts in this heat. I increased my water intake substantially, including on the squats and lunges." That's awesome. Cool. Good job, babe.

Chrissy: "Is there a goal number of calories burned that we're shooting for during the lift sessions?" No, because honestly, the muscles that you're working out during that session... Oh, you're talking about lifts. My apologies, I was thinking about the cardio sessions.

You're going to range anywhere from 200 to 400 calories, but keep in mind, detach yourself from the numbers, you guys. With the workouts that you're doing inside this program, your muscles are active tissue, so they are constantly burning calories. Me sitting here, me sleeping at night, me cooking, me working, me talking, my body's always burning calories. So rid yourself of those numbers. That really doesn't matter that much. I don't even really pay attention to that.

Jessica: "Thank you. I needed a kick in the ass. I had been so good, but started to slide. Your words have helped." Amazing. And Laura shared a little tough love for you as well, Jessica: "Alcohol equals empty calories. Food is better. Food provides energy and substance and aids in recovery to work towards your goals. Ultimately you feel better." A hundred percent.

Jamie: "Good reminder for us all to tap into our why, whether it's for choices with food, alcohol, exercise, et cetera. Needed to hear that today." Absolutely, you guys. If you find yourself wanting extra snacks, or you find yourself not planning ahead, it's like, well, why? What are you working towards?

If you're not working towards anything, you're going to get lost in extra snacks. You're going to get lost not planning ahead. You won't care that much. But if you have a really strong goal and why for yourself... For me personally, at this stage of my career with competitions and where I'm at, my why is just sustaining my health and keeping my physique lean and strong.

In order for me to do that, I can't slip up. I can't have a day where I fuck up. That's my why, and my goal is to maintain this. I always think about that whenever I want another piece of chocolate. Sometimes I fit in Dove chocolate at the end of the night, and whenever I want another one, it's like, well, what is your goal and what is your why? So remember that kind of stuff, guys, in any given situation, like Jamie's saying: food, alcohol, exercise, anything.

Laura says that sounds awesome, looking forward to it. Yes. Chrissy, thumbs up. Julie, hello. What's up, babe?

Karen: "I thought I was an intermediate when I came to working out. Your program proved otherwise." I'm so sorry. Kate's happy to hear that. Yes, Karen. I'm sure Kate's happy, and I'm happy to hear that. Good.

Let that expectation for yourself also go into the macros and the food. This program is probably not something you've done before. Maybe you've done supersets, great. But have you done the intensity, the splits that we do, the uniqueness behind all of the workouts and all the exercises? And when it comes to macros, I know that everybody has not been eating enough.

Keep that in mind when you embark on this program. We have about 4,000 members inside this program right now, but only a thousand-plus are super active and super on point. That's because some don't give this program enough time to amount to the results they're expecting within a two- or three-week timeframe. But what I was just talking to Kate about the other day is that we've been seeing veterans share their progress over one entire year.

One year ago, these women came into the program. They put their heads down. They put their headphones in. They put their minds into WarriorBabe and they believed it. They trusted the process. And now, a year later, they're ahead of everybody else who gave up. A year later, we see you guys sharing your progress photos and it's like, holy shit. So let me tell anybody who's new and needs to hear this.

You won't get results in two weeks. You won't get results in three weeks. Maybe you do get results in two weeks, but remember, you've got to think about where you're starting from. Some of you won't get results until three weeks in or four weeks in, or maybe even five weeks in. You just need to make a committed decision that you are going to follow through with this no matter what. Because even in a week of not making progress, you've got to tell yourself you still made progress. You're probably eating more food than you were a week ago.

You're probably hitting your workouts and your cardio more than you were a week ago. You've got to invest yourself in the long game that it actually takes to change your body composition. Building muscle is not going to happen overnight. Changing your body composition is not going to happen overnight. The reason why a thousand people inside this program may not be active anymore is because they weren't willing to commit, because this program has helped thousands of women, well above just one thousand.

So if you just put in the work now, I guarantee you will get the results that you want. You just have to invest in and be committed to yourself. That's what it comes down to. It's not that keto works for people or paleo works for people or intermittent fasting works for people. It's the committed decision to follow through at the end of the day, on something that's sustainable and realistic.

This is something I've been following for five-plus years now, and until somebody comes up and shows me that there's a different way, I do not believe them. This is the only thing that makes sense scientifically and sustainably. I can have chocolate. I can have whatever the hell I want. I don't have to eat just chicken, broccoli and rice. I can have cookie butter. By the way, guys, I don't know if you follow me on Instagram, but I shared the cookie butter about a month ago, and I just finished it.

That's discipline. But you can have whatever you want, so there's no restriction. So you should be able to follow through. You just have to make a committed decision, and that's it. "Preach, Nikkiey. This is fire and truth." Yes. Good. That's what I'm bringing to you guys right now.

Manny: "Should I be sore regularly? I feel like if I'm not sore, I didn't work hard enough, even though I feel like I push myself pretty hard." No, because your muscles will get used to some of the workouts. That's why we change up our workouts on a monthly basis, to confuse your muscles, to provide different angles, to create that challenge on your body so that muscle can grow. So you won't always find yourself sore, especially maybe the third or fourth week into a new phase or a new program.

The thing you have to ask yourself, and it sounds like you are, is: are you pushing yourself? Are you creating a mind-muscle connection? Do you feel the burn while you're working out? That's all that matters. You're probably really good at recovering, Manny, which is great. So just keep that in mind.

All right. Does anybody else have any more questions? All right, rock stars, this has been a heck of a freaking Q&A. Oh, one more: "Isn't it harder to meal prep if you're weighing the meat after it's cooked?" No, absolutely not. This is the way I do it, guys. I cook everything. I cook the chicken, I cook the ground turkey, I cook the vegetables on the stove.

Maybe I put some sweet potatoes in the oven. Then I put it all, in bulk, into Tupperware inside the fridge. The night before the next day, I plan and set myself up for success. I take out the chicken and the ground turkey, I get my little Pyrex containers, I put the container on the scale, break the chicken apart, weigh it out, and put the meals I've just prepared inside the fridge so I can just grab them and go.

It's not as complicated as you're making it. Humans always overcomplicate everything. It's really freaking simple. Batch cook everything and put it in Tupperware in the fridge. Then the night before every new day, first plug your foods into MyFitnessPal. Play around in MyFitnessPal. When you've got your meals planned in MyFitnessPal, all you need to do is go to the kitchen, weigh it and pack it. It's as easy as that, guys.

Bo: "Hey Nikkiey, just a question out of curiosity. Are you doing maintenance, or do you still cycle between building and cutting?" I was in a cut phase for a bit and I got super freaking lean. I don't know if you guys follow me on Instagram, but I shared a bunch of that. I did this through quarantine and I was really happy with my results. So right now I'm working my way back up to focus on maintenance, just chill-out maintenance.

Honestly, I'm really happy with my body composition right now and I don't want to lose any more. I'm happy with the leanness I'm at, so I'm kind of just coasting in maintenance.

All right, babes, on that note, I am going to end our Q&A. That was a lot of fun. I brought some fire for you guys and gave you some tough love. The moral of this entire Q&A is: remember to create a big enough why and a big enough goal for yourself. Make a committed decision that you're going to follow through. And don't overcomplicate everything. It's way more simple than you're making it out to be.

So on that note, I'm going to tune out of our Q&A. Have an awesome rest of your evening. Keep crushing it. Keep showing up for yourself. It's you versus you at the end of the day. Bye, everybody.