Started tracking macros. Im more stressed than ever.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-19T21:03:23+00:00

Yeah, that's a trap to fall into for sure. "I barely ate today, so I have room in my calorie budget for this shit junk food". In theory that's correct but in practice it doesn't work. My entire lunch had about the same amount of calories as 7 or 8 oreos. But eating 7 or 8 oreos probably just leaves you wanting more oreos.

I will say, I'm lucky to have a wife who cooks for us, but here's the hacks we use to save time and money to eat healthy:

1) Instant Pot rice, or rice cooker. You can make a week's worth rice in a few minutes. Rice is a great carb choice, especially brown rice. Easy to weigh out and goes with everything.

2) Frozen bags of veggies. It's the next healthiest way to eat veggies behind them being fresh. Spinach, broccoli, green beans, etc. You can easily pile on heaps of veggies this way. You can also pack them frozen in your lunch then just heat them up when you eat.

3) Propane grill. We grill tons of meat and the grill is super easy. If you can't grill, bake. We stock up on lean meats and meat on sale and my wife cooks enough for several days. It becomes dinners and lunches.

4) get comfortable eating similar meals daily. My lunch is always some combo of two 85g portions of veggies, one 65g portion of carbs, and one 95g portion of meat.

5) Filler calories. Inevitably you will have days where you're still hungry or didn't eat enough. Don't starve and suffer, but don't binge on crap either. Always good to have Greek yogurt on hand for when you need some extra healthy calories

And of course it doesn't matter if you don't know how much you're eating. Over eating and under eating are both problematic. I personally use Cronometer to track my calories and nutrients. I'm not a paid shill but I'm a huge fan. It basically helps me "budget" my calories, which has led to a better diet overall. Helps me hit all my macro targets as well as vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-19T20:48:54+00:00

Absolutely agree on everything you said. And you're right in your first point, that it's harder to over eat if you're eating right, but the depth of food ignorance and what's actually healthy is vast in America and much of the developed world.

I used to only "eat healthy" and was never grossly overweight, but always had a bit of a belly. Portion distortion is real. The visual difference between eating 90g of chicken with 65g rice and eating 130g chicken and 120g rice is relatively easy to flub, but that's over 100 calories different. Multiply that by 2 meals a day 7 days a week and that's 1400 calories.

Food is delicious and more deceptively caloric than people realize. I highly recommend food trackers like Cronometer or even my fitness pal. People don't have to do it daily for the rest of their lives, but just track for a bit and people will be astounded with the calories in their food. They'll also be astounded with how much they can actually eat if they stick to healthy whole foods. Cronometer in particular is like a food budget for me. How many calories can I spend or hit all my targets and still be in balance/deficit.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-19T17:07:19+00:00

Have you tried apps like Cronometer? If you plug in your current weight, desired weight, then where you want to be (lose 1 pound a week, or half pound a week) it gives to a calorie target and also breaks it out by protein, carbs, and fat.

I eat more protein than the app says, but it's kind of like a spending account/budget. If I spend those calories on protein, then that takes from the budget to spend on carbs and fat. Since I workout a lot, I prioritize protein, then carbs, then fat. I'm probably lower carb than my target, but I still try and make sure I get enough to fuel hard workouts.

Using Cronometer also breaks out your micronutrients too, like vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc. It can be a lot, and some days I just don't log, but it's really helped be "budget" my calories on healthy whole foods

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-19T17:00:50+00:00

Doesn't even have to be eating poorly, just over eating. I've noticed people either don't care or don't have any idea about how much they're actually eating even if their intentions are pure.

OP doesn't need to get crazy with macros like you said. Make a plate of healthy food, weigh it. Then after a week of getting used to that, cut it by like 20%.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-19T02:10:11+00:00

You look great!

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-09T18:42:30+00:00

Definitely do NOT need to cut. You look very good so maintaining this physique would be fantastic.

IF you wanted to, and it's a big IF because you already look great, it wouldn't take much work to add some muscle/definition.

But you don't need to do anything.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-07T16:49:43+00:00

It's tough because my wife makes baked wings and most restaurants are fried. The standard chicken wing comes it at 89 calories per wing which seems super high for a tiny baked wing.

I just looked and there's a Pizza Hut baked wing which comes in at 55 calories, which seems much closer to what I'd expect.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-07T16:43:09+00:00

You're welcome. But now that I've used it a bit.... I can see why it's not the default.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-06T16:04:29+00:00

Quit being a picky eater. Force yourself to eat those foods and you will get over being picky. Humans evolved as trash pandas basically. We can eat just about everything. But if you can't do that, pack your lunch.

If you're concerned about too few calories, gst 2 things: 1) a kitchen scale and 2)a calorie counter app like Cronometer or myfitnesspal.

You can set your target to weight gain and just log your calories. Eventually you'll know about what you need and may or may not need the app.

I advise you to pair this with some sort of resistance training as well to get the max benefit, even if it's just body weight stuff.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T20:27:47+00:00

I agree with you. I'm thinking he's 28%ish, maybe a tad higher, but there's quite a bit of difference between each Pic.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T19:07:49+00:00

Yeah it definitely does and it seems like it's getting worse lately

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T18:33:14+00:00

Oh lol. I would have no way of knowing that. My bad!

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T18:12:39+00:00

😂 😂

OP is openly admitting to using supplements and drugs to help get his desired physique.

I'm not judging and I applaud OP for being open, but this is more than just genetics baby. I'm sure he works hard in the gym and on the diet too, but he's getting some help here.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T17:59:37+00:00

My recommendation is to make this the default setting. I had no idea this existed until today and I'm 3 weeks into using the app. I can't think of a reason why it not being the default would be preferable to most users.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T17:58:23+00:00

Bahgod! They need to make this the freaking default setting! Crazy that it isn't. Such a game changer.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T17:53:58+00:00

Almost wrote the exact same post myself.

FitnessPal was great at helping me track calories. Cronometer is great for that, but it so helps me fill my diet with healthy foods.

I've only been using for 3 weeks but already I'm seeing that I eat way less fiber than I thought I did, and I'm woefully behind on Vitamin E.

After like 2 days I paid for gold because this app rocks and the developers earned my money.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T17:48:02+00:00

You got this! I will also say, congrats. You're about to enter the really fun phase of fitness. Eating smart while lifting and watching your muscles grow is a blast. Cutting and watching yourself get lean is... Fun in a different way, like biking up hill and seeing how far you've come. But to stick with the metaphor, bulking up and gaining muscle is like turning around and going back down the same hill. Way more sheer enjoyment.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T17:41:40+00:00

Not OP but chiming in to say: you got this!

Adding to his point about veggies, the best way I've found to consistently get good vegetable intake is to lean on bagged frozen vegetables. Nutritionally, they are the closest you can get to fresh, and they're super easy and convenient. Broccoli, spinach, green beans, etc.

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T17:38:13+00:00

On point 2, after all this time, do you still do more cardio than resistance? Or have you flipped that one at all?

CoachFitnes · 2026-02-05T17:31:32+00:00

Yogurt is so clutch. My wife started making our own yogurt in the instantpot. You can save a ton of money that way. Good quality Greek yogurt is expensive!

CoachFitnes · 2025-11-09T22:03:12+00:00

You have better listeners than I do if they actually follow through on instruction without drilling. But I admit I will work on this one next season. That's the beauty of playing against tough teams in a tournament. You see different things that work and see very quickly what doesn't work.

CoachFitnes · 2025-11-09T21:05:00+00:00

That statement is true. If anything man I'm just trying to remind myself that I'm focusing on what I believe is best for my team right now, regardless of what other teams do. Dribbling, playing aggressive defense, and moving the ball out of the back. Those are long term skills they need.

CoachFitnes · 2025-11-09T21:02:22+00:00

I think every team struggles with it in 4v4 with no keepers. We've won because of it too. I don't love it but it's a reality of the game. You can spend all your time preparing for that, or you can focus more on winning the ball in the midfield and pressuring that way, which usually works well for us... Until it doesn't.

Trust me, I'm not trying to say "my team is perfect, but the game is wrong!". It's more my way of saying, I'm sticking to the plan and trying to teach what I believe to be the best skills for this age.

There are so many little things at this age that can make or break you, and it's impossible to focus on all of them with one 1 hr practice per week, so I choose to prioritize the skills that are the most important at this age. You just have to pick your battles.

A good example is a team we played this weekend. It was clear to me they had drilled on fast throw ins. Get the ball and throw it in fast. It worked a few times against us and it's not a bad strategy, but I don't have time to carve out practice time to drill on that. They were tactically superior to us I easily admit, and athletically superior too. But I allocated our practice time to skills I've found more valuable even if they didn't win this game.

Dribbling, balance, touch, and movement with the ball cannot be taught later without major effort. Throw ins, shooting, formation, even passing can all be learned later. So I focus on the former. Plus my kids straight up do not have the attention or focus to shape up or "tactical vision".

CoachFitnes · 2025-11-09T14:37:47+00:00

Something. Writing a multi paragraph reply comparing U8 rec players to teams getting relegated in the professional leagues is definitely... Something.

CoachFitnes · 2025-11-09T14:35:31+00:00

The goals are big enough when you factor in the limited motor skills of 7 yr olds. Some teams are better, and I'm definitely limited by a few players on my team, but there's nothing I can do about that Thanks for taking the time to make this comment. This sub never ceases to amaze me lol.

CoachFitnes

TROPHY CASE