5 Tips for Tracking Macros

Tracking your macros is a great tool to help you lose fat, gain muscle, get tone, improve performance and recovery, and learn about what foods—in what amounts—keep you feeling your best.

Despite all of the nutrition and body comp goals that tracking macros can be useful for, doing so can also be a bit overwhelming when you first get started.

We’ve been there and so have many of the women we coach! Luckily, we’ve also had plenty of practice with what works and are sharing a few of those tips with you today. That way, your macro tracking journey will feel a bit less cumbersome and a lot more successful!

Tip #1: Keep it simple! Try to create meals from single ingredient foods. No, this doesn’t mean you should just eat plain chicken breasts and steamed broccoli, though, you can if you want to!

Think about what types of foods provide your the best source of each macronutrient. For example, rice, oatmeal, other grains, starchy veggies, and fruits are excellent sources of carbs.

Rather than choosing a pre-made oatmeal mix, you might choose plain rolled oats that you can then add cinnamon, raisins, and other toppings to in amounts that work for your macros.

You can build delicious meals one ingredient at a time and easily meet your macro goals without stressing about if you estimated the amounts correctly because you will have measured each thing out.

Tip #2: Find ways to use less fat in your cooking. Fat is more than twice the number of calories per gram than carbs and protein so it’s usually one of the easier macros to meet and exceed without even trying.

Finding ways to use less fat when you cook will make it easier to meet your overall calorie and macro goals. Options like lean cuts of meat and low fat/fat free dairy are especially useful in getting enough protein while staying within your calorie budget for the day.

You can also try using the spray versions of olive oil and avocado oil. This will allow you to lightly spray veggies before you roast or saute them. You’ll still get the effect of having oil on the veggies without having to douse them in an entire tablespoon or two of fat.

Have a peanut butter craving? Powdered peanut butter, while not exactly the same, can help satisfy your craving with only a fraction of the fat.

You might also find it useful to use chopped nuts and shredded cheeses when adding them as toppings. It’s easier to get the flavor spread through the entire meal while using much less than you might normally need to.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and get creative!

Tip #3: Spread your macros evenly between meals. This will require a bit of planning, or at least practice, but it will also make hitting your macro goals each day a whole lot easier.

By evenly, or as close to even as you can, dividing your daily macros by the number of meals you like to have you’ll avoid having odd amounts to meet at the end of the day.

To do this, you will likely want to plan out and even log what your meals will be ahead of time. You can then choose to have them ready to go or simply have the ingredients on hand to put them together as you go. Either way, you just have to measure and go once you’ve already decided what they are going to be.

Weighing, measuring, and tracking as you go versus doing a little planning is definitely possible but you’ll likely find that you’re throwing together weird combos at the end of the day to get all of your protein in, or struggling to stay within your fat and carb goals because your earlier meals took up a large majority of your target amount.

Tip #4: Herbs, spices, and zero calorie sauces are your friend. This is especially true if you are tracking macros for the purpose of fat loss. All of the things you might add to foods to make them more flavorful can quickly add to your macro totals so using zero or low calorie options is super helpful.

Mint and cilantro in salads add a delicious extra zing, you can use various spice mixes to make plain chicken into a taco salad, asian stir fry, or southern BBQ vibe in no time.

Many spice mixes do have added sugar so be sure to pay attention to the ingredients. Not to worry though, there are lots of options out there that will spice—pun definitely intended—up your life!

Salsa, hot sauce, sriracha, mustard, and some vinegars—my fave is balsamic—are other super low or no calorie options to add a ton of flavor without messing up your macros.

Tip #5: Log special meals and drinks ahead of time. Going out to eat or have a few drinks with friends? No prob! Just take a few mins to check the menu and decide what you want to have ahead of time. Then simply add it to your log for the day so that it’s already taken out of your macro/calorie budget and you know what you have left for your other meals.

One of the great things about tracking macros is that it gives you a ton of flexibility with what types of foods you can enjoy while still maintaining a physique and lifestyle you enjoy too!

Many restaurants now have calories listed on their menus and you can also find full nutrition facts for many right in MyFitnessPal or the good old Google. The measurements may not be perfect but you’ll come pretty darn close and can spend your time enjoying your friends and family instead of stressing about your macros.

We regularly implement all of these tips when tracking our own macros and when working with clients. Give them a try to see if they work for you!