5 things to try if you're tracking macros and not losing weight

If you’ve been following me or reading my blog posts for a while you would know that I am a huge fan of tracking macros. It is the best way to lose weight or see any sort of fitness progress.

You may be experiencing some struggles in trying to do it on your own or hitting some roadblocks. So I’m going to help you navigate those and help you find the bottleneck that’s preventing you from results.

Something that is important to understand first is that tracking macros is a tool not a ball and chain. so if it’s not working there are plenty of things that you could make adjustments on to work for you. So don’t be too discouraged, let’s get some answers!

The first thing you should address is are you tracking everything. It’s so easy to get lazy in tracking if you’ve been doing it for some time. It’s not impossible for those just getting started either. For example when you cook are you using oil? That needs to be included in your calculations because a few tablespoons of oil is a-lot of fat! Let’s say you’re making your kids lunches and you’re taking a few bites here and there. Giving them some chips and taking a few for yourself, cutting up apple slices and taking a few for yourself. There’s nothing wrong with snacking and using oil for cooking. There’s also nothing wrong with not tracking every little thing. But, if you’re not seeing progress that could be a reason why.

Second this is are you tracking everything accurately. One way to know if your calculations are accurate is using a food scale and measuring cups. But something to keep in mind is 1/2 cup of meat is not as accurate as weighing it out. Or let’s say you cover your salad in dressing. Eyeing it out it seems like only a tablespoon or two. But, if you were to actually weigh it it could be way more than you thought.

Third thing to consider is your exercise. Could you be incorporating more movement into your day. Are you working out an average of 2 days a week and then relatively sedentary for the rest? Try adding on a few walks during the week or another day of exercise.

Fourth thing to ask yourself is what are your weekends looking like. Do you “ lose control “ on the weekends and disregard tracking all together? Do you give the excuse of “ well it’s the weekend” and let a lot of things slip? I want to emphasize I am not opposed to taking weekends off from tracking. But if you find that leads you to unhealthy patterns I would encourage you to reconsider. There is nothing wrong with structure and if you have a specific goal you should prioritize it. That may mean tracking over the weekends.

Fifth and final point is have you been in a deficit for too long. In other words have you been trying to cut back calories for more than 12-16 weeks? If so it may be time to bring your to a maintenance. Maybe it hasn’t been that many weeks but your body just wasn’t ready to drop. That’s ok. It’s important to listen to what we need, where we’re at right now. So if you’re constantly going over in numbers or unmotivated to cut back, don’t. Take that into consideration and change your game plan.

I was to reiterate that some of these things will not prevent you from success. For example I’ve had clients that don’t track everything (in fact I teach on that specific topic) and have seen great results. But it is an area to consider if you are not making progress.

I hope this helps you find a root to what might be preventing progress for you.