{"id":62,"date":"2017-04-27T20:36:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T01:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emilyfield.flywheelsites.com\/flexible-dieting-myths\/"},"modified":"2022-11-16T14:46:38","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T19:46:38","slug":"macro-myths-i-believed-how-about-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/blog\/macro-myths-i-believed-how-about-you\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Macro Myths I Used To Believe"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Donuts, burgers, pizza, ice cream\u00a0<\/span>AND<\/span>\u00a0abs? No way.<\/span><\/p>

Tracking macronutrients (proteins, fats and carbohydrates) and eating them in the right balance is one of the most efficient and effective ways to lose body fat while maintaining or gaining lean, strong muscle.<\/span><\/p>

Another term for tracking macros is “flexible dieting<\/a>“. And when I first learned about the movement, I didn’t always support it because I let social media teach me what it was all about!<\/p>

If you search #iifym, #ifitfitsyourmacros or #macros tags on Instagram, you\u2019re bound to start forming your own opinion about what \u201cflexible dieting\u201d means for people who practice it.<\/p>

Read on to find the three\u00a0macro myths I believed before I dove deeper and experimented with it myself.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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macro myth: \"flexible dieting\" and \"healthy dieting\" can't be used synonymously<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This macro myth had me assuming that if you COULD fit burgers and pizza into your macro prescription for the day – why wouldn\u2019t you? And therefore, a flexible dieter couldn\u2019t be \u201chealthy\u201d because they\u2019d only be focused on the appearance of their abs and not on the overall health and function of their body. I now realize that flexible dieters need to reach for a variety of whole, real foods (and still pizza occasionally) to hit their macro goals on a daily basis.<\/p>

And fortunately, I\u2019ve got plenty of data to show amazing whole-body improvements including better skin, deeper sleep, more consistently energy, improved mental clarity and fewer mood swings. I also witnessed mindset changes around food. Because it turns out that removing the \u201cgoods\u201d, \u201cbads\u201d, \u201callowed\u201d or \u201coff limits\u201d labels we often put on foods makes for a much more enjoyable eating experience for many, especially chronic dieters.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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macro myth: flexible dieting is used by bodybuilders - not us \"regular people\"<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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I mean, can you blame me? The only people I saw promoting the style were contest prep bodybuilders. I appreciated their being so vocal on social media, though. Because of them, eventually I started to see that these flexible eating athletes were taking a much more balanced approach to fat loss than I realized and that lead to me to realize this macro myth was not true at all!<\/p>

Macro tracking, the once-secret-weapon in the bodybuilding world, is here to stay and it\u2019s spreading into the mainstream. It absolutely can work for anyone who applies the science and puts in some time to see change.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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macro myth: flexible dieters think that eating whole fruits and vegetables is the same as sugary cereal or any other processed carb<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Truth be told, I am a little embarrassed I thought this one for a hot second.<\/p>

This argument is born out of the \u201ceverything gets broken down to protein, fat and carbohydrates in the body\u201d so therefore, the source of the macronutrient doesn\u2019t matter (and, in that same vein, food quality doesn\u2019t matter). There are indeed some [loud] science-illiterate individuals out there making this argument. Most of the #flexibledieting pictures we see are of treats, sweets and cheats because it\u2019s super boring to scroll through the lean proteins, complex carbs and vegetables that make up the majority calories.<\/p>

Just like you\u2019re snapping selfies on a good hair day – they\u2019re showing off the fun foods that make appearances in their eating pattern 10-20% of the time. We only know a snippit of someone’s life via the window they want us to see, so it’s important to remember social media is often an incomplete and sometimes exaggerated version of the flexible dieting reality.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Now that I’ve had time to practice a flexible dieting approach for myself, things are different! I know much better than to believe these (nonsense) macro myths, and I’m embracing macro tracking most days of the week so I can feel, look and perform my best. Since incorporating a macros approach into my practice, my clients are ditching depriving diet behaviors and nonsense food rules<\/a> and finally seeing the results they’ve been looking for.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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need help calculating your macros?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdownload my free DIY Macros Guide<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I believed these three things, which turned out to be macro myths, about flexible dieting before I dove deeper and experimented with it myself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":74747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[148],"tags":[152],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-myth-busting","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78214,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions\/78214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}