{"id":69218,"date":"2020-02-19T15:43:30","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T20:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/?p=69218"},"modified":"2020-03-03T09:09:36","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T14:09:36","slug":"counting-macros-is-the-most-effective-way-to-get-lean-strong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/blog\/counting-macros-is-the-most-effective-way-to-get-lean-strong\/","title":{"rendered":"Counting macros is the most effective way to get lean + strong \u2014 and here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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If you\u2019ve learned about nutrition through the lens of a diet, you\u2019re used to hearing what you can\u2019t eat. And while that may work for weight loss in the short term, deprivation doesn\u2019t lead to a fitter, leaner or stronger physique.\u00a0<\/p>

The most sustainable alternative? Macro-tracking \u2014 and here\u2019s why…<\/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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Macros ensure you\u2019re getting enough protein to support fat loss and lean muscle gain<\/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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If calories are king for determining changes to weight, macros are king for determining changes to body composition. As an active, strength-training woman, your needs for calories and protein are higher than your office buddy whose only suggestion for an after-work activity is hitting up happy hour. You know that building muscle to develop a strong-but-curvy body only happens when you lift heavy \u2014 but if you don\u2019t have energy to put in that work, you will never be able to add another pound to the bar on leg day.\u00a0<\/p>

For your goals, it matters that you eat enough muscle-building foods. Tracking macros \u2014 particularly protein macros \u2014 ensures you strengthen and maintain muscle in the pursuit of an athletic physique + weight room prowess.<\/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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Macros ensure you keep your hormones happy<\/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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Maybe you\u2019re in the minority who can manage to stick with that low-cal plan for a while. But coupled with spin classes, boot camps or high intensity training it was a recipe for hormone disaster! PMS became out of control and you were breaking out like a teenager again!<\/span><\/p>

Hormones rule female fat loss \u2014 period. (No pun intended.) To keep those hormones happy, it\u2019s important to never dip below a <\/span>slight<\/span><\/i> calorie deficit. Instead of eating dramatically less food than your body needs, you\u2019ll eat slightly less (but in many cases more!), so that your body doesn\u2019t react by thinking it\u2019s in survival mode.<\/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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Macros ensure you can maintain this \u201cdiet\u201d long-term<\/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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No one likes to hear that healthy, consistent fat loss takes time But, the reality is you didn\u2019t gain the weight overnight, so you won\u2019t lose it overnight \u2014 no matter what those \u201cfit teas\u201d or detox shakes would have you believe. Here\u2019s what we do know: People who lose weight and keep it off <\/span>for good<\/span><\/i> are consistent with their eating pattern. So, while they might be making slight changes to their usual order, they aren\u2019t skipping the entire outing to sit at home and eat plain chicken and rice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In order to be consistent in anything, you\u2019ve probably gotta enjoy the process and this absolutely goes for nutrition. If you see the opportunities to meet your goals and options to eat yummy foods at meal times, the weeks of this new \u201cdiet\u201d will turn into months \u2014 and eventually into your second nature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Will that happen if you <\/span>start<\/span><\/i> with frivolous food rules like \u201cno eating at 8 p.m.\u201d or \u201cno carbs past noon\u201d? In 99% of cases, NO. In contrast, tracking macros strips away the nonsense rules and leaves you with only what matters: eating enough of the right stuff to support a strong physique.\u00a0<\/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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Macros ensure you\u2019re eating enough to fuel challenging activity\n<\/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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Look, you can\u2019t develop a strong physique without a few bicep curls. You\u2019re going to have to put in work in the gym, but that\u2019s totally fine because fitness has never been the issue. Your issue is that the harder you push yourself in the gym, the hungrier you feel, and the lower your willpower to avoid treats and sweets becomes. It\u2019s the same cycle\u2014get a great rhythm going in the gym, start to clean up your food choices, and experience more cravings. In a good streak, you\u2019ll make it a couple months before eating<\/del> inhaling the contents of the pantry.\u00a0<\/p>

It takes proper nutrition (read: enough macros!) to build muscle so you can\u2019t be chronically dieting and expect to get a butt like J-Lo. If you\u2019ve ever wondered how many calories it takes to turn your muffin top into toned obliques, downloading my DIY Macro Guide<\/a> is the first step.\u00a0<\/p>

We know that the two biggest factors for getting that strong are (1) lifting heavy and (2) eating enough protein. And, the two biggest mistakes I see women make in their pursuit of a leaner physique are (1) not lifting heavy enough and (2) not eating enough protein. You can use a macros approach to know exactly how much you need to eat to deliver the booty building nutrients your body needs and you can tell your trainer to \u201cadd more weight please!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Find your Personal targets today with the DIY Macro GUide<\/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\tClick Here for the 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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When you’re trying to lose weight, you’re used to hearing what you can\u2019t eat. This might short term, but deprivation doesn\u2019t lead to a strong lean physique.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":69221,"comment_status":"closed","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":[142],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-macro-tracking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69218"}],"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=69218"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69305,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69218\/revisions\/69305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emilyfieldrd.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}