Are you struggling to hit your macro targets on an almost daily basis, maybe protein is too low, or fats and carbs are too high during a fat loss phase, making it difficult to hit your target calories without somehow being off balance or going over. Today, I'm revealing five foolproof strategies to hit your macros consistently. Welcome to the Wits & Weights podcast. I'm your host, Philip Pape. And this twice a week podcast is dedicated to helping you achieve physical self mastery by getting stronger, optimizing your nutrition and upgrading your body composition. We'll uncover science backed strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle and mindset with a skeptical eye on the fitness industry. So you can look and feel your absolute best. Let's dive right in Wits & Weights community Welcome to another solo episode of the Wits & Weights podcast. I'm your host, Philip Pape. And in our last episode 141 Why I'm getting fluffy before I get jacked. I discussed the emotions that you might feel about your body when gaining weight to build muscle and getting a little fluffy on the way I shared my personal journey regarding body image and strategies to help you navigate these challenges. Today for episode 142 Five foolproof strategies to hit your macros. And finally master fat loss, we are diving into the art of macro tracking for effective fat loss, you will learn five foolproof strategies to accurately hit your macro targets, which is an essential skill to develop when you first start tracking, whether it's during the initial awareness stage, or going after a goal like fat loss or building muscle. Now my goal for this episode is to include some strategies that you may not have thought of, but are some that I commonly recommend to my clients. And the fun thing about this podcast is occasionally I think of topics that are really annoying people every day when they reach out to me, things that are should be simple, should be foundational, and yet they get stuck. And the purpose of this podcast is to get you the information you need to get to that foundational skill level, you know, I want you to be able to be training and eating the way you want for your goals, tracking for awareness, all the things we talked about here, before you would ever think about picking up the phone for coaching from me because my goal is not to take you from zero to 80. It's to take you from 80 to 95 or 99. And what I mean by that is I value action takers. I'm an action taker, I love to try to do it myself early on, and build some of those basic skills. And that's why as a coach, I'm not big into recipes and meal plans and things like that. I'm more about helping you go from good to great and optimize the things you've already started to do. So for example, when people when people reach out to me, they're already doing pretty good, and somewhat consistent with things. But now they want to go to the next level to get to that 95 99%. So the fun thing about some of these episodes is they give you all the information for free on how to build those basic foundational skills. And when I hear that people are frustrated in a particular area. As with some of these basics of macro tracking, this is the perfect way to get you those answers. So earlier this week, a client sent me a message after we had used one of these strategies to help with meal planning. Because in my weekly check in one of the questions I asked is, What are your wins for the week? I asked about your momentum builders your lessons. And rather than say, here's how you should do it. I like to ask clients, how would you do it or given the different options I've given you? What is the one that works best for you in your life and your lifestyle, very personal approach because we want it to be sustainable. So here's what she said, quote, clearly, it's easier if I plan a day ahead, what I think I'm going to eat, I'm not one of those people that has to eat with a feel in the moment. So it's very doable, I just have to put time into it for the whole day, instead of just one meal. I did enjoy cooking some chicken breasts and flavored them really nicely. Working from home, it's sometimes hours before I think of eating because there's no one to eat with or nowhere to go. It's very satisfying to plan the meals a day before and see the totals and know that it's going to be better than winging it. Now, this is basic meal planning. And she had already had lots of success, this client with tracking and shifting HER protein and strength training. And she wanted me to work with her because there was just some some nagging areas that were keeping her stuck and preventing her from fully optimizing exactly what she wanted to be where she wanted to be on a consistent basis. And so I helped her use some very simple strategies and hacks to track better and this was meal planning specifically, which is one of the strategies I'm going to talk about today, but I'm going to mention one Very simple hack to make it easy. And she used that, to take it forward. So I'm gonna give that to you for free today. Like anything else, it's a skill. And if you're feeling overwhelmed, even after listening to this episode, and you want a few personalized ideas, just like I shared about my client, just reach out and set up a free call with me, use the link in my show notes for a 30 minute results breakthrough session, and we're just going to hop on a zoom and answer your questions. More importantly, I think is we're going to get you clarity on the next steps so that you can make progress. So you might be stuck not sharing where to go, not sure where to go next. On that call, it's just you and me, you know, no selling no pitching. And by the way, I'm a pretty friendly and compassionate guy to talk to. So it's the same guy you hear on this podcast. So if you if you like what you hear, it's the same thing. If you don't, then you know, I get it, no hard feelings. So if if you're nervous if you're intimidated about having a call with me for some reason, just remember, I'm a fellow human with the same dreams, the same struggles. And what you learn on this show is what you get in real life. So I invite you to click the link in my show notes to set up that free call. I always have spots available, I keep my calendar open, and then I add new ones as needed. You could also go to wits & weights.com, and click free call at the top and set that up. Okay, let's dive into today's topic. Five foolproof strategies to hit your macros. And finally master fat loss. Here we go. The first strategy is what I call balance the bars. If you use macro factor or another nutrition app, I don't know why you would use another app. But let's just go with Matt macro factor for now. If you don't use it, what are you waiting for? Maybe this is the first time you've ever heard of it, because it's the first episode you listen to. You're really lucky then because I'm envious of you for having heard about macro factor for the first time. Go download it. I'll include the link in the show notes, use my code, Wits &, Weights all one word, to get an extra week on the free trial, it's going to change your life as far as nutrition tracking goes. And by the way, the comments I mentioned earlier about helping you go from 80% to 95, or 99%. Most of my clients are already using macro factor before they start working with me, because I've mentioned it to them and they follow the podcast. And they want to set up that initial awareness. But whether you are or you're not, it's a game changer. So in macro factor when you go to your food log, and you tap the macros at the top, it takes you to a screen called nutrition overview. And on the nutrition overview screen, you can see a lot of things you can see your micronutrients. And you can see your macros, of course, you and it shows you the information for today. You can also view averages for the last few weeks, months, and so on. But just for today, you could see where your macros stand in terms of percentages. So carbs, protein, fat, or I should say fat, or protein, fat carbs and that order. And it will tell you what percentage of each relative to your target you've eaten so far. So there are little horizontal bars, I think of them almost like runners in a race. I wish there was little like, you know, turtle and tortoise and some other animal on the three bars. But you're trying to keep them in line throughout the day, your goal is to keep them more or less in sync, and then adjusting the ones that are farther behind to help them catch up in the race. And I know that sounds kind of trivial, but it really isn't. Because how many times have you gone through the day, and it's now mid afternoon or maybe approaching dinner. And all of a sudden, you have been logging your food, but you haven't really been paying attention to the relative percentages necessarily. And you notice that one macro is far behind, maybe it's carbs, maybe it's protein, for a lot of you it's protein, fats are usually not the issue. And honestly, in my opinion, fats can just land wherever and if they're behind, they're behind, I don't even worry about it. I worry more about carbs and protein, unless you as an individual are the type of person that just avoids fats at all costs. And we need to get more fat in your diet. But that's pretty rare. So what I often see is you fall behind on protein, or if you're in a gaining phase, right? If you're trying to build muscle, you might be falling behind on carbs. That's that's pretty common. That's what's going on with me. Now, during a fat loss phase, it's usually protein. So you look at the percentages, and it's very simple. Balance the bars, when you have breakfast, balanced the bars. Let's say they're not balanced on your next snack or meal. Pick, pick foods that balanced the bars, pick foods that take the ones that are falling behind and helps them catch up. So if protein is behind, then that's your priority for the next meal. If carbs are behind, that's the priority for the next meal. So it's a quick visual takes two seconds, you click on it, check out where you are, okay, you know, proteins behind and we gotta get on top of that. And there you go. The visual tracking aspect of it. There's actually there's research that supports it being a an enhancer to adherence and you know, sticking With things, I just think it's convenient and quick, so it takes less time. And I'm always a fan of things that take less time, rather than trying to figure out the numbers, right? The other thing is by looking at it as relative percentages, you don't have to think in terms of grams necessarily just know that one is behind, and you need more of it. So treat it as this fun daily challenge balanced the bars, and even low in protein at lunch plan, a protein rich dinner, and you'll be all set. Okay, so that's strategy number one. Strategy number two. Now, I don't have fancy names for all these strategies. Strategy number two is just to copy your best days. So this is the meal planning strategy. That's similar to what I used with my client who I quoted earlier. And all you have to do is go find a previous day, when everything just clicked, and you hit your macro targets effortless lessly. You know, you call them an eye, the ideal day or your lucky day or your perfect day. I mean, there's no such thing as perfect. But in terms of quantitative numbers, it's the day that got pretty darn close to what your intended on a daily basis. And now that's a blueprint, that's a blueprint for future success. Now, of course, it should be a relatively routine day that you can easily replicate, as opposed to some oddball, you know, you're on vacation and went, and just everything clicked in that way, a routine day, and all you're going to do is replicate it as a meal plan. That's all you're going to do. It's a template, you've got the confidence, he did it before. So now you could do it again. And now this is your template for a new successful day. Hey, this is Philip. And I hope you're enjoying this episode of Wits & Weights, I started Wits & Weights to help people who want to build muscle lose fat and actually look like they lift. I've noticed that when people improve their strength and physique, they not only look and feel better, they transform other areas of their life, their health, their mental resilience and their confidence in everything they do. And since you're listening to this podcast, I assume you want the same things the same success, whether you recently started lifting, or you've been at this for a while and want to optimize and reach a new level of success. Either way, my one on one coaching focused on engineering your physique, and body composition is for you. If you want expert guidance and want to get results faster, easier, and with fewer frustrations along the way to actually look like you lift, go to wits & weights.com, and click on coaching, or use the link in my show notes to apply today. I'll ask you a few short questions to decide if we're a good fit. If we are, we'll get you started this week. Now back to the show. The advanced tip to take this to the next level, of course, is pre planned tomorrow, right now, based on that template and pre log your food, you know in macro factor or whatever tool you're using pre log it and treat that as a meal plan. Right. That's your personal meal plan based on what you like to eat. Because you've done it before, not because I as your coach or some template online is giving you a meal plan. Alright, so there you go. If you're busy, if you have a busy week, if you lose track of time, if you forget to plan out your day, you've already got your plan in your back pocket. It's any successful day you've had in the past. Just go back and repeat it. And if it was recent, chances are you have similar foods in the house. Maybe if it's even something you prepped, go after it. That's it. It can be so powerful to simply give yourself a plan for the next day and relieve all that decision fatigue and all that stress and just execute and guess what, if you don't do it perfectly, it's fine, you're gonna get close. And as you're going through, you can make swaps it's fine, but at least you've got a template to work from rather than a black hole of uncertainty. All right, strategy number three is to fill in your gaps with protein powder. Alright, protein powder is a versatile tool. It is not I don't really consider it a processed food. It's a minimally processed food. I also don't consider it a supplement per se because it is food. It's not like you're trying to kind of have a shortcut by filling in your nutrient gaps with with a pill. It's just food it's just processed from milk, or it's ground up you know P and rice in terms of a vegan powder. And when you when you fill in the gaps of protein powder, you have a quick and easy decision ready to go and you're gonna hit your protein. One way I like to do this I think I heard this on mind pump a while back is to add a half scoop or even a full scoop to a glass of water and drink that with every meal. Just make that your drink with your meal. Instead of thinking of it as like separate protein shakes, or whatnot. The other thing that holds people up is they're trying to make these fancy shakes. They're like protein powder and yogurt and Pete You know, peanut butter powder and some cocoa powder and then we add a little bit of sweetener or maybe a banana. They get complicated and thinking that protein powder can only deliver heard in that way, guess what, a nicely flavored protein powder and throw it in water, you go the down, it tastes pretty good, super easy. Get a blender bottle, shake it up, you're fine. Or mix it with almond milk, which has almost no calories, but has that creaminess of more creaminess like milk. There you go super easy, don't make it more complicated. Alright, so we know how important it is to get protein, I'm assuming that your protein target is sufficient for muscle building, and you're listening to the show. That's a whole nother topic is what the macros need to be. We're not covering that today, plenty of other episodes that I can point you to for that. But getting enough protein, there's all sorts of ways we do it. Adding that half scoop to a glass of water and drinking out with every meal is a quick way to add in what half scoop has like 15 or so grams. So that's, that's three meals, that's 45 more grams of protein right there. Okay, strategy number four is smart swaps, right? Flexibility. We're all about flexibility and adaptability. And that means that even if you do have a meal plan, it can change, that's fine. If you're craving something, find a similar food that satisfies the craving, for example. All right, so an example would be, you have a sweet tooth. So go for a really sweet fruit, like strawberries. In a fat loss phase strawberries are amazing, because they are these big, juicy, you know, plump, sweet, I mean, almost tastes like there's just sugar coming out of them. And yet, amazingly, they have very few calories, you know, you could have a huge bowl of strawberries for like 100 calories, they're full of water, so they fill you up, they have fiber of all the things and and they satisfy your hunger and they satisfy your sweet tooth. Right. And so now, I just went off on a tangent because the point of this, the point of the strategy is for macro balance, right, we're talking about how to hit your macros. So my point here was swapping one food for another that has a different macro makeup, even though it's a similar food, okay, and that could be like if you're going to have ice cream. And I don't know if these are the best examples in my notes, I actually didn't put down examples how to think of somebody ice cream, which is mostly fat and sugar, fat and carbs, right from the from the milk, and sweet sweeteners and whatever other ingredients, and you swap it for a protein like a casein protein with almond milk kind of pudding, that's like ice cream. And now all of a sudden, you've gone from fat and carbs all the way over to protein, like that's a huge swap. So the key is to find a similar food. Okay, and similar doesn't have to be like the exact same thing. It could be. You know, it could be chicken breast versus chicken thigh, but it could be quinoa versus rice versus potatoes. It could be ribeye versus sirloin. It could be any mix of any macros that are similar but have a different balance. And usually that balance comes in the form of for example, protein density. So even going from going from cottage cheese, you know, full fat cottage cheese to 1% cottage cheese, or, you know, zero fat. Yogurt, right? So any any swaps that give you a different macro makeup. And this is actually going to lead to my fifth strategy here, which I think you can use for the last one, and that is to use AI generated meal plans. Now, this, you might be like, Wait a minute. So your nutrition coach telling me you use AI generated meal plans? Yeah, cuz I hate making meal plans. I don't know why you like I don't want to make meal plans. I just want to enjoy my food and hit my macros. And as I evolve the food selection that hits my macros, that becomes future meal plans just like step strategy number two, right, copying your best days. But guess what? There's chat GBT and all these other AI tools that I think are, are terrible for certain things. They're terrible for taking away creativity. But they're great for tedious things. And so if you have a certain target for calories, proteins, fats, carbs, you just feed it into the tool and say, create for me an entire day's meal plan of, you know, three meals and one snack to hit these calories and macros. Right and just let it come up with a plan for you. Now you can get more fancy, you could say, you know I have these foods. What meal can I make that meets this macro balance, right? Or? Here's where I am on my macro balance. What can I eat to correct it and make it more balanced? Like I'm behind on my protein? What can I eat? So it takes all the guesswork out. It avoids lots of again, decision fatigue. When things seem daunting, you know, technology can sometimes be helpful in that regard. And before long what's going to happen is you're going to find and gravitate to foods and meals that work for you with that balance and you will become an expert at your own ability to balance everything you will know as soon and I've seen it with the worst cases people who are just way off of what they need to be, they have no idea how they're going to get there. And we take one step at a time. And we start balancing, balancing balancing get closer, closer, closer, and before long, you're getting your 160 grams of protein, you're keeping the fat, modest, and you're getting your carbs, right. And it works. So those are five strategies. Just to recap, number one, balance the bars balance all the macros in your nutrition, overview and macro factor. Number two, copy your best days, use the days when everything clicked as your template for future meal plans. Number three, fill in the gaps of protein powder. One easy hack is to put half a scoop in a glass of water with every meal. Number four, make smart swaps. Find foods that have different macro different macros than the one you are going to have. Because you're trying to get things to be more balanced. And it can be similar food, or it can be a completely different food, but just make a swap. And don't assume you have to stick to the exact plan that you put together for yourself because we want to be adaptable and flexible. And number five, use AI to generate meal plans for you or generate meals or suggest foods or whatever that can fill in those gaps. And that way, if you're working, you know, even if you're working with me if I'm your coach, have I used AI in the backend? Absolutely what I encourage you to use AI for yourself. Absolutely. I'm a big, you know, do it for yourself type of person. My goal is to help you find the resources that work for you. And if you want to, if you don't want to use AI find we're gonna find, you know, five other potential options that will work for you. I've got lists, I've got guides, I've got tables, I've got all that stuff, of course, but we might as well use tools and you know, engineering and systems and all of those to make our lives easier. Why not? There you have it. Alright, five foolproof strategies to hit your macros every time. There are many more out there. Of course, if none of those struck or resonated with you always reach out and ask for more strategies for your specific situation. You can do that by going to our Facebook community. Totally free you join, you use the Ask Phillip thread, which is a weekly live q&a. And you can ask me a question. Also, as mentioned earlier, if you're feeling overwhelmed, even after listening to this episode, and you want a few personalized ideas, just reach out and set up that free call with me. Use the link in my show notes. It's a 30 minute results breakthrough session on Zoom will hop on that Zoom will answer your questions and we'll get you clarity on the next steps. So you can make progress on one human to another making a habit together. Just go to wits & weights.com, like free call and or use the link in my show notes for the free 30 minute results breakthrough session. Okay, so that was a fairly short one. As far as these episodes go. I hope it was helpful to you. Reach out if you have questions or follow ups or other tips. In our next episode 143 unique over 40 workout strategies for more muscle energy and recovery with Brad Williams, you'll learn about effective training styles, managing stress and inflammation and optimizing nutrition and of course practical strategies for maintaining a strong, healthy lifestyle beyond 40. As always, stay strong. And I'll talk to you next time here on the Wits & Weights podcast. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Wits & Weights. If you found value in today's episode, and know someone else who's looking to level up their Wits & Weights, please take a moment to share this episode with them. And make sure to hit the Follow button in your podcast platform right now to catch the next episode. Until then, stay strong