I just received this message from a past client, and thought it was worth sharing:
“I just starting training with a lady at [overseas gym] and she is suggesting I do “if it fits your macros” aka flexible dieting. I’ve always kind of gone off the basis that the more whole foods the better, and limit packaged/processed/sugars and excess carbs but here she is saying she eats Oreos everyday because they “fit her macros”… just wanted to get your opinion on this whether it’s legit or bullshit!!!”
For anyone who doesn’t know, “macros” refers to your macronutrient breakdown of the foods you eat, i.e. the amount of protein, carbs, fats, sugars, fibre, etc.
My reply:
Ok so technically she’s correct and so are you. She’s probably not trying to lose weight and exercises hard most days or multiple times daily, which might be why she can eat Oreos and not get fat. That’s if you want to look at it from a weight/loss gain perspective only. If you want to look at it from an “overall heathy lifestyle and developing good habits” perspective, then instead of Oreos you might fill those carb/sugar macros with whole foods like fruit or even greek yoghurt instead. Maybe what she is trying to point out is that even if you eat whole foods, you can still get fat. You can gain fat if you eat too much of anything. For example if you only need “x” amount of fats per day (different to every individual) and you go and eat 12 eggs, 3 avocados, and 5 handfuls of nuts in 1 day, then you will more than likely eat way beyond the amount of fat your body requires and the rest is basically “a waste of calories”. You could have been putting those calories to better use by eating different vegetables or meat or whole foods as you like to get a wider variety of nutrients and your body will function better! When you function better you feel better and get faster results!
So yes she’s right, but take it with a grain of salt. Don’t go eating Oreos every day and understand that her goals are different to yours. Stick to your whole foods, but maybe just adjust the types of foods you are eating and quantities of each to “fit your macros”.
