macros for weight loss bad?
This blog post is going to help you bring your macro knowledge up a notch so that you can understand the four female health factors that a personal training certification or a macro certification actually doesn't teach you. This post is going to be especially helpful to your clients who have a menstrual cycle.
My name is omega. I am the founder of the confident menstrual cycle coach academy, where I help personal trainers optimize their client's hormones so that they can serve women more effectively. And if you wanna know more about that, you can follow this link to book an application interview.
So this is one of my personal training students, Tam, who used to count macros, go to the gym four times a week. And when she stopped, she actually felt less bloated and less inflamed. And she also did some things that I am going to talk about in this video, too, in regards to macros and how macros wasn't helpful to overall mental health. So having your client count macros may seem like an easy fix to help them get to your goals. But let me be the first to tell you that looking good does not equal good health. Fitness does not equal health. This is a picture of me as a third place competitor, and I was not healthy. And I'm sure you are in the business of helping people live healthier lives, empowering them and helping them be more in control of their bodies. So let's dive into those four aspects of health that macros do not account for the first one is fiber counting. Counting macros do not take fiber into account. So this is a less sexy sub macronutrient nestled under the carb macro on nutrition labels. Fiber is important for hormone and gut health, and here's why fiber feeds the colon with butyric acid, which increases serotonin
And fiber also helps detoxify estrogen via your bowels. When your client has excess estrogen, she might experience period pain, premenstrual, anxiety, depression, or breast tenderness. And the cool part is that certain fibers can actually help reduce estrogen. As my client showed, she experienced two fibers from brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. Those all help detoxify estrogen. And when your client has less estrogen to deal with that actually helps with fat mobilization, making fat easier to burn. So as a coach, consider making targeted fiber goals for your client. And if they deal with any of the premenstrual symptoms that I just mentioned, increase their intake of brassicas and document, just see how that helps them month over month.
The second aspect of macros that no one is talking about is the oxidative of stress of simple carbs. If we're encouraging our clients to eat anything, they want the #IIFYM…And they rely on simple carbs, pop tarts, white bread and donuts. They are giving their body a huge glycemic load, which causes oxidative stress. So everyone has a different tolerance for simple sugars. A lot of that is genetic, but what we know is that stress from stress to the pancreas, from eating high amounts of simple carbs leads to glucose intolerance, or even type two diabetes.
So stress to the cells via oxidation can also lead to that puffy or inflamed look that my client Tam had, which tells us that there is some toxin in the body that's having a hard time being metabolized. So here's what to do, including antioxidants into your client's recommendations is the best way to help them protect their cells, reduce glucose load and further encourage healthy habits, eating antioxidants that are high in color, colorful fruits and veggies like dark leafy greens actually assists with the oxidative stress cleanup that happens in our day to day life.
So our body naturally does it. We just have to give it the right things to do that. It's like a recipe! For me, some antioxidant staples that I just keep around the house are dark leafy greens, red fruit, like strawberries, cherries, and berries, cabbage, broccoli, and carrots. And I should note that antioxidants are best eaten raw. Now let's get into those micronutrients. So if you count macros, you’re not taking into account micronutrients.
I made this video on micronutrients for hormone health and you can watch that after you finish up here. First, the long term effect of the female body, not getting antioxidants, omega threes, fiber vitamin D. Those can all lead to worsen PMS symptoms and even a worse period. And those are two indicators that hormone health is being disrupted. Omega 3s are in the fat category. And when a person with a period doesn't get enough of those, they might have more cramps. A lack of vitamin D can lead to more intense, emotional oriented PMS and not having enough fiber that can lead to a buildup of estrogen. Like we just talked about not getting antioxidants can lead to a worsening of inflammation related PMS, like cramps and headaches too.
Those are just the tip of the micronutrient iceberg as to why micros are important to hormone health. And just like this confident menstrual cycle coaching academy student points out when hormones are in balance, we actually are able to get to our goals with greater consistency. Macros just don't teach us to have a good relationship with food. In the short term, counting macros may give some short term benefits like a slimmer waistline or losing weight or building that booty. But do you think that you and your clients can successfully count macros forever in the long term, counting macros will and does foster a poor relationship with food? You end up looking at food, like it's a number versus a nutrient and you end up creating a mechanistic relationship with food. That's what my student pointed out in the beginning of this video.
So how many of you have ever done this? I know I did - weighing food, not going out with friends because you wanted to fit your macros, restricting yourself at dinner parties. Like I've done that…and everyone who's counted macros has done that! When we restrict food to a macro range, caloric intake, or certain food groups, the outcome is all the same. It leads to a feeling that you're out of control, even though you're controlling this one little thing, leaving you or your client where you started when it comes to your fitness goals. So if you want to empower your clients to support their hormones, while learning a ton about optimizing hormones apply for the confident menstrual cycle coaching academy, in the academy, personal trainers get confident in assessing, addressing and correcting hormonal balance.
That's a three step method to get you, the personal trainer serving more women more effectively.