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Working Out Hard but Body Not Changing? Try Macros

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This video is part ofMacros & Macro Tracking231 lessons · where to start, common questions and more

In this video

If you are putting in the work at the gym and your body still is not changing, this short video will sound familiar. The coach was teaching six or seven group fitness classes a week and seeing nothing. She realized she was paying a lot of attention to her workouts and no real attention to being specific with her nutrition.

In 2015 she came across macro counting: carbs, fat and protein, how the body uses each one differently, and why you need the right amount of each. It struck her as the fundamentals of nutrition. She made it her New Year's resolution in 2016, four babies in, and moved from what she calls "healthy eating" to fueling her body for the result she wanted.

In about eight to 10 weeks she lost about 10 pounds and saw visible abs for the first time in her life. She is clear that it was not hard or miserable. She ate ice cream every single night of her cut.

Key takeaways

  • Training hard is not enough on its own: the coach taught six or seven group fitness classes a week and saw nothing change until she got specific with her nutrition.
  • Macros are carbs, fat and protein, and your body uses each of them differently.
  • Getting the right amount of each nutrient for your body is, in her words, the fundamentals of nutrition.
  • Moving from general healthy eating to specific fueling for the result you want can change your body fast.
  • Within about eight to 10 weeks of counting macros she lost about 10 pounds and saw visible abs for the first time, after four babies.
  • Counting macros does not have to be miserable: she ate ice cream every night of her cut.

Questions answered

Why am I working out so much but my body isn't changing?

The coach was teaching six or seven group fitness classes a week with nothing changing. She realized she was paying a lot of attention to her workouts and no real attention to being specific with her nutrition.

What is macro counting?

It means tracking carbs, fat and protein. She explains that the body uses each of them differently, and you need the right amount of each nutrient for your body.

How fast can counting macros change your body?

For her it was about eight to 10 weeks. She did not have a ton of fat to lose, but she lost about 10 pounds and saw visible abs for the first time in her life, after four babies.

Can you eat ice cream while counting macros?

She did. She says it was not hard or miserable, and she ate ice cream every single night of her cut.

Ask WarriorBabe

Questions this video helps answer, answered across everything WarriorBabe teaches.

  • Macros & Macro Tracking

    Does counting macros really work for weight loss after 40?

    Yes, for many women it does, because it replaces guesswork with structure. On The WarriorBabe Show, women over 40 describe losing fat and building muscle once they tracked macros and lifted. One nuance: guest Jordan Syatt says that for pure fat loss, calories, protein and fiber matter most, and full macros are optional.

    Read the answer →

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Full transcript

Coach: I felt like I was doing so much work in the gym, teaching six, seven group fitness classes a week, and nothing was really changing in my body. I knew enough that I realized I was paying a lot of attention to my workouts and not any real attention to being very specific with my nutrition.

So I remember very clearly, it was in 2015, I was scrolling through Pinterest, and I stumbled upon a pin, and it took me to this blog, and there was this woman talking about macro counting. I had never heard this term: carbs, fat and protein. She was talking about how our body uses each of them differently and how we need to make sure that we have the right amount of nutrients for our body.

And as I'm reading this, I'm like, freak, this makes so much sense. This is the fundamentals of nutrition. This is how our bodies work.

So I set a goal in 2016. This was my New Year's resolution. And mind you, by this time, I'd had four babies. And Nikkiey, I was freaking blown away, when I went from just quote-unquote healthy eating to actually being very specific about how to fuel my body in a way that drove the result I wanted, by how fast my body changed. I think it was about eight to 10 weeks later. I didn't have a ton of fat to lose, but I lost about 10 pounds and was able to see visible abs for the first time in my life. And I was shocked.

Post four babies. Post four babies.

And it wasn't hard, and I wasn't miserable, and I ate ice cream every single night of my cut. Post four babies. And my jaw just dropped to the floor.

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