Hi there! If you’re now around here, I’m Katie. Here’s a little snapshot of what I’ve been up to the past several months in quarantine!⠀
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My goals didn’t end once I hit the bottom of my last cut, which was sometime in early 2018.⠀
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I reversed for maybe 8 weeks to build up calories and trust in the process. ⠀
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I lived in maintenance for over a year, and my strength increased exponentially, along with my food freedom.⠀
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Then came a surplus for 12 glorious weeks over the holidays last year, building and learning that it was actually possible to feel satisfied, pushing a partially eaten plate away, after coming off an extended period of fueling myself adequately for the first time, maybe ever.⠀
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(I have lots of old posts documenting this process if you scroll!)⠀
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When that ended, I went back to a very slight deficit from my maintenance calories. I turned back to more high volume foods (they just taste so dang good!), which brought me to a very real place of feeling and looking overly full because I was consuming them at relatively high calories.⠀
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This is super common for a lot of people as they master the art of a deficit by working in lots of high volume foods, coupled with some ingredients that may cause bloating. And this may be TOTALLY worth it for the sake of managing hunger during a hypo-caloric phase, but for me, as I began to reverse out and eat more, I hit the point of diminishing returns. ⠀
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(I am looking at you riced cauliflower and zero-calorie sweeteners - even those in gum and protein powder can wreck your gut if you are sensitive or consume in excess).⠀
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Cut to March of 2020 and I had a bit of a situation.⠀
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Loving the food I was eating, but in order to maintain my caloric intake, I HAD to reduce the volume.⠀
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So I turned to my friends @tailoredcoachingmethod to help me find a way to make it all come together synergistically. ⠀
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My coach @carolineofenstein_tcm switched up my macros but made sure I was in maintenance since fat loss was not a goal. Protein came down to around 1.2g/pp of bodyweight, leaving more room for carbs and fat, which conveniently also happened to be denser and when well-selected, very easy to digest.⠀
You can see that over time, nothing has changed on my body, other than the distended belly. And I’ll always have a little reminder that I am a mama to three, and I could NOT be prouder to flaunt that.
Macro counting can have so much application beyond fat loss, though it certainly has become synonymous with that.
And while I don’t think anyone wants or should include this tool every day or every way, there is a benefit to understanding how your macros can support your goals beyond their ability to torch fat.
Strength. Digestion. Performance. Longevity. Recovery. Understanding portions.
All very under-appreciated but legitimate goals for a macro counter.
Have you ever tried tailoring a set of macros to a goal other than fat loss?