Up until around a year ago, I was religiously tracking my macros; I believed that if I was ever under or (god forbid) over my macros I would somehow wake up and all my results would be lost. It wasn’t until I decided that living in this way was not only unhealthy for my body, mind and soul it was also detrimental to my training due to the amount of cortisol my body would have been producing stressing over irrelevant numbers of an app.
I have never been one of those #IIFYM people that fits 4 krispy kremes into their daily intake along with 2 protein shakes and says that’s the equivalent of 5 meals of chicken, rice and cashews. Common sense should tell you that’s not true therefore, I have always eaten healthy micronutrient dense foods however, you can’t have a healthy body if your mind isn’t healthy too.
Tracking macros taught me so much in terms of the amount of carbs, fat and protein in foods and most importantly what works well for my body. Although this way of eating is scientifically proven, and there’s the whole calories in vs calorie out debate, it just didn’t work for my mind. I found myself restricting and weighing out fruit and veggies due to sugars and carbs and then over eating and binging if I finished the day slightly over my macros. For me, it was a vicious circle and although tracking food has its place in contest prep or a cut, it’s not necessary for living day to day.
Using my knowledge of macros to ensure I am eating enough protein, I now eat according to how I want my body to feel which is being fuelled to the best of it’s potential. Fresh fruits, vegetables, warm bowls of oats, organic cereals, potatoes, eggs, fresh salads and herbs and spices all support how I want my body to feel and give me the fuel and energy to perform at my best. I find yoghurts, pastries, refined sugar, processed, greasy and oily foods do not make me feel how I want to feel and instead I feel tired, sluggish, dirty and unsatisfied. That’s not to say I cut out these foods all together because I’d be lying if I said I didn’t occasionally have some chocolate however, the difference is now I do not punish myself or go in to a binge as it’s just being human and balance is key!
I know from my experiences that without making a commitment to learn to love myself enough to listen to my body, I would never have healed my destructive eating patterns. You’ll find when you do love your body you’ll want to do what is best for her; workout and train to make her stronger, not just for ‘abs’ and eat healthy hearty wholesome and nutritious foods to fuel her and feel energised!
Create the life you want by choosing exactly how your body feels from the foods you eat- it’s all down to listening to your body – it’s much smarter than you might think!
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