Nutrition Q&A

 

Food can start to feel really heavy when every choice turns into a rule.

Should I track this forever? Did I overdo it this weekend? Can I eat out without starting over tomorrow? Is this nutrition advice actually true, or just another thing someone on social media made sound convincing?

If food has started to feel like something you need to control perfectly, this conversation is for you.

In this episode of Embrace Your Real, we are answering your nutrition questions about tracking macros, weekday restriction, weekend overindulgence, confusing advice online, and how to eat out without mentally derailing your whole week.

Because nutrition should support your life, not make you feel scared of it.

What’s Discussed:

  • How to know when you are ready to step away from tracking macros

  • Why weekday restriction can make weekends feel harder around food

  • What to do when overindulgence has already started

  • How to spot nutrition rules that may not deserve your trust

  • Why eating out does not have to derail your progress

  • How to use structure without letting food control your day

  • Why a healthy relationship with food needs both consistency and flexibility

If this episode made you realize you want more structure around nutrition without more fear, restriction, or confusion, Macro Counting Made Simple is there to help. You’ll learn how protein, carbs, and fats work together, how to build meals that support your goals, and how to include the foods you love without feeling like you fell off track. Head to macrocountingmadesimple.com  to get started.

And if you also need a clear plan for your workouts, Movement With Julie gives you structured strength training so you are not guessing what to do next. Head to movementwithjulie.com to get started.

If you loved this episode, you’ll also love Episode 546: How to Count Macros Without Obsessing Over Numbers. It is the perfect next listen if you want to understand your nutrition without feeling controlled by every number.

If you want more from me, be sure to check out…

Transcript

(0:00) Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter, (0:05) a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I'd give you a dose of (0:11) real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally (0:16) loving your authentic self.

Stay tuned if you're ready to Embrace Your Real. Let's get it. Let's (0:22) go.

(0:28) Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast. Today we're (0:33) talking about something that can make nutrition feel way more complicated than it needs to (0:38) be. And that's the mindset that we carry around food because learning what to eat is (0:43) really truly only one part of the equation.

You can understand protein and carbs and (0:47) fats and calories and balanced meals while still feeling anxious about eating at a restaurant. (0:52) You can track your macros consistently and still fear that you're going to lose control (0:56) if you ever stop. You can eat incredibly quote-unquote clean all week and still find yourself over (1:01) indulging on the weekend.

At that point, you don't necessarily need more nutrition information. (1:07) You might need to look at the rules or the fears, the habits that you've developed (1:11) around it. Remember that nutrition should support your life.

It should help you feel (1:16) energized and strong and focused and competent and capable of pursuing your goals. It should (1:21) also leave room for birthday cake and pizza nights and ice cream and vacations and dinners (1:27) with your family and drinks with your friends and foods that you simply enjoy. You deserve (1:32) how to nourish your body without feeling like food has complete control over your (1:37) day.

So today I'm going to be answering some of your questions about stepping away (1:41) from tracking, weekday restriction, overindulgence, confusing nutrition advice, and eating out (1:47) without feeling like you've ruined your progress. Before we dive in though, I want to share (1:51) this review. She gave a five-star view and said, best coach award.

I've always had personality (1:58) conflicts with fitness trainers until I found Julie. When I stumbled over this podcast, (2:02) I felt understood on many levels, physically, mentally, and even spiritually. Julie puts (2:07) things into perspective like I've never heard before.

She makes the fitness industry simple (2:12) to understand. This podcast is so reassuring when it comes to your overall wellbeing from (2:17) fitness to nutrition to just being who God made you to be. Julie helps you find confidence.

And (2:22) for that, I'm so grateful. I love that so much. Thank you so much.

Those words truly mean the (2:27) world to me. Thank you for taking the time to leave that review. I appreciate you more (2:31) than you know, and I'm so, so, so grateful that you are here.

All right, let's dive into (2:36) question number one. So this is a great one. She said, I've tracked macros for two years (2:40) straight.

Is it ever okay to just like stop? I'm scared of what happens if I do. Okay. I love this (2:47) so much.

Yes, it is absolutely okay to stop tracking your macros. Just remember, please, (2:52) please, please. I've said this before, and I will continue to say it, but macro counting is (2:56) a tool.

You can use it during seasons when it helps you feel educated and aligned with your (3:00) goals and step away from it when you feel ready to use everything that it's taught you without (3:06) recording every meal. After tracking for two years, you probably know much more about nutrition (3:12) than you realize. You've likely understand now what a balanced meal looks like and recognize (3:18) a meaningful serving of protein and really know which foods help you feel full and energized.

(3:24) You probably have had several meals that you eat regularly and you know the approximate (3:28) macros without even opening up an app. That awareness does not disappear when you stop (3:33) entering your food into the phone. The whole purpose of learning how to count macros is to (3:38) become more educated and intentional around food.

Like the app is going to give you data, (3:43) but the education that you gain from that data belongs to you and you get to carry that forward. (3:48) You might begin by continuing to prioritize protein at each meal, depending on your needs, (3:54) your goals. This could mean aiming for anywhere from 25 to 40 grams of protein at your main (3:59) meals and then choosing protein-forward snacks.

You could also use the balanced plate approach, (4:05) where you're building your meal around a source of protein, adding a carbohydrate that supports (4:09) your energy and including fats that help with satisfaction or adding fruits or vegetables when (4:14) they make sense. It doesn't need to be mathematically perfect to be nourishing. (4:19) The fear around stopping usually comes from the belief that tracking is the only thing (4:24) preventing you from overeating or losing progress or returning to old habits.

(4:29) So I want you to ask yourself whether macro counting has helped you build skills (4:33) or whether you have started to believe that you actually can't trust yourself without it, (4:37) because the next stage may involve practicing that trust. The main thing that you need to (4:42) remember is that you do not have to stop everything overnight. You can create a transition (4:48) period.

So maybe you stop tracking one day a week and continue building your meals using (4:53) what you know. Then you try an entire weekend. Eventually, you might only track during the (4:58) weeks that you want more structure or when you're working towards a specific goal.

(5:03) By now, you already understand that all foods can fit into your daily intake. (5:08) You know that you can eat a cookie without needing to write off the entire day. You (5:12) understand that a cookie contributes to your overall intake so you can enjoy it while still (5:17) building balanced meals around it.

That is the education that macro counting is meant to provide. (5:23) You learn that food does not need to be categorized as good or bad, (5:27) and that one choice does not determine your progress. So yes, you can absolutely stop (5:32) tracking.

Start slowly if that helps you feel more confident. Keep using those principles (5:37) that you've learned. And I want you to pay attention to your hunger and your (5:40) fullness and notice how your meals affect your energy, your strength, your digestion, (5:45) and your satisfaction.

You're not abandoning everything that you learned. You're practicing (5:50) how to use that knowledge in your real life. Number two, is restriction during the week (5:56) actually causing the overindulgence on the weekend? Someone told me that once and (6:00) it kind of broke my brain.

Alright, I love this so much because restriction during the (6:05) week can definitely contribute to overindulging on the weekend. And this is especially common (6:10) when you are spending Monday through Friday trying to eat quote unquote perfectly or (6:14) quote unquote clean. You avoid every food that you crave.

You only choose the options (6:18) that are considered clean or healthy. You promise yourself that you're going to stay (6:23) disciplined until the weekend and then Saturday arrives and all the foods that you've been (6:26) thinking about throughout the week suddenly become available. Like you tell yourself, (6:29) this is my chance.

I need to eat it now because I have to be back to eating good on Monday. (6:35) This is going to create that scarcity mindset around food. When you believe that you're only (6:39) allowed to eat pizza or cookies or chips or dessert during a narrow window, you might (6:44) feel pressured to eat as much as possible while you have permission quote unquote permission (6:50) in your mind because you've already decided that it's going to be unavailable again soon.

(6:54) And this is why allowing yourself to enjoy these foods throughout the week can be (6:57) so incredibly powerful. If you want pizza on a Tuesday, let yourself have pizza on a Tuesday. (7:03) When you know pizza will be available next week or next month or honestly whenever you (7:09) genuinely want it again, you no longer feel like you have to treat one meal like your (7:13) last final opportunity.

And this applies to cookies too. If you allow yourself to have (7:17) a cookie after lunch, you might realize that one cookie satisfying. When you tell yourself (7:21) that you can never have cookies, you're going to spend an entire week thinking about them and (7:25) then you're going to finally give yourself permission and then you feel like you need to (7:29) eat as many as possible before the restriction begins again.

Macro counting can be helpful (7:33) here because it shows you how the foods that you love can fit within your overall nutrition. (7:38) You can reach your protein goal and still eat dessert. You can have pizza (7:42) and still nourish your body.

Some choices may be more nutrient dense while others are included (7:48) because they just taste good and they bring you joy. Both of those can exist within a balanced (7:53) approach. But the main goal is just consistency.

If most of your meals come from the nutrients (7:58) that your body needs, you have room for flexibility. You don't need to make (8:03) every meal the healthiest meal that you've ever eaten. Balanced meals also help you feel (8:07) more satisfied throughout the day so you're less likely to reach the weekend feeling physically (8:12) deprived from it.

Sometimes what looks like a lack of willpower is simply a body that has not (8:17) been fed enough and your hunger will eventually catch up to you. So instead of trying to become (8:22) more disciplined Monday through Friday, I want you to ask yourself whether or not you need more (8:26) consistency. Are you eating enough during the day? Are your meals satisfying? Are you allowing (8:31) yourself to respond to cravings without turning them into an emergency? The more permission that (8:36) you are giving yourself to enjoy food in reasonable portions, the less power the food tends to have (8:42) over you.

You may even realize that you might not crave them as intensely as you used to because (8:46) you no longer feel deprived of them. Number three, how do you stop an overindulgence once (8:52) it's already started? Or is the goal to catch it before it happens? I love this because this (8:56) is very honest and this is a great question that I feel like so many women have and you (9:01) articulated it great. Ideally, we want to understand what tends to trigger overindulgence (9:07) so that we can reduce how often it happens, but you can interrupt the experience while it's (9:11) actually happening.

So let's say you're at a barbecue or party or just sitting at home on (9:15) a Saturday night and you notice that you keep going back for more food even though you're no (9:20) longer sure whether or not you're physically hungry. The first thing that I want you to do (9:24) is to remove the judgment. Don't tell yourself that you failed or you ruined the day (9:28) or prove that you have no self-control.

Since those thoughts tend to trigger this all or nothing (9:33) mentality, you think I've already messed up so I might as well just keep going. Then the next (9:38) morning you decide that you need to make up for it by eating as little as possible or cutting out (9:42) carbs or doing extra exercise and that restriction is going to create more hunger. So eventually (9:46) you just overindulge again.

The first way to interrupt that cycle is to stop turning one (9:52) moment into a full week of decisions. I want you to pause and ask yourself, am I still physically (9:57) hungry or am I continuing because the food is here or maybe I feel stressed or I'm distracted, (10:03) maybe I'm watching something or I believe I've already ruined the day. There's no wrong answer (10:07) here.

You're simply gathering information. If you are still physically hungry, give yourself permission (10:12) to eat. Build a plate, sit down and instead of continuing to pick up food while you're standing (10:17) in the kitchen, sit down.

Make sure that you have something with protein, something with fiber, (10:21) something you genuinely want. Sometimes you keep reaching for more simply because you haven't (10:26) eaten a satisfying meal yet. If you realize that you're no longer hungry, I want you to create a (10:31) physical pause.

I want you to step away from the food, get a glass of water, start a conversation (10:35) with someone, do something else, remind yourself I'm allowed to have more later. This food is still (10:41) going to exist tomorrow. That sentence alone can be incredibly helpful when scarcity is driving the (10:46) urge to continue and if you still choose to eat more, remain compassionate towards yourself.

You (10:52) can stop after the next bite, the next serving, the next five minutes. There is no point where you (10:57) have gone too far to make another choice. I want you to remember that because afterwards you want (11:03) to avoid trying to compensate, right? Eat your normal breakfast the next morning, return to your (11:09) normal meals, continue drinking water, moving your body, following your routine.

One evening of (11:15) eating more than usual does not require a punishment plan and later when you feel calm, (11:20) I want you to reflect on what happened. Did you skip meals earlier in the day? Were you stressed? (11:24) Were you lonely? Were you bored? Were you emotionally overwhelmed? Maybe you were distracted. (11:29) Have you been restricting foods that you've been eating over the last few days? Whatever the (11:33) answer is, it's going to give you something practical to work on next time like maybe (11:37) eating a balanced meal before the party or including more satisfying foods during the week (11:41) or finding another way to respond to stress that doesn't revolve around food.

Awareness itself (11:47) is really going to help you to change the pattern and shame tends to keep the pattern going. If you (11:53) frequently feel unable to stop eating or maybe you experience significant distress around food (11:58) or feel like these episodes are becoming difficult to manage on your own, you can reach out to a (12:03) qualified dietitian, mental health professional. Those people are going to allow you to have (12:08) additional support and they can really help you work through your specific issues.

Just remember (12:14) that you deserve help without judgment. So don't judge yourself if you feel like, man, (12:18) that is really going to help me. I need to sit down and talk with someone that can really help (12:22) me manage these emotions or help me go through these thought patterns.

You deserve that. (12:27) All right. Question number four.

How do you know if a nutrition rule that you're following (12:31) is actually evidence-based or if it's just something that sounded convincing on social (12:37) media? This is like so good. I love this question because social media can make nutrition (12:42) feel incredibly confusing. One person tells you that intermittent fasting is the best thing you (12:47) could ever do with your health and another person says that you need to eat within 30 (12:51) minutes of waking up.

You can find someone online making a convincing argument for almost (12:55) any nutrition rule. First, look at where the information is coming from. Does the person (13:01) have relevant education, professional credentials, or are they repeating something that they heard (13:06) from another creator? Maybe it's trendy, maybe it's going around, that's what's getting viral (13:10) and so they just are jumping on that bandwagon.

Credentials alone do not guarantee that every (13:16) claim is correct, but they can give you useful context. Next, I want you to pay attention to the (13:21) type of evidence they're using. Are they basing a broad recommendation on one small study or are (13:26) they sharing personal experience and presenting it as something that everyone should do? One study (13:31) rarely settles an entire nutrition question.

Stronger recommendations are oftentimes and (13:37) usually supported by multiple studies and broader bodies of evidence, so you should also (13:42) be cautious when someone makes an extreme claim. Like if a person tells you that one food is (13:47) destroying your health or one specific routine works for every person, I want you to pause before (13:52) accepting it because human bodies, health, histories, goals, lifestyles, preferences, (13:57) those are all wildly different. And then I want you to ask whether the rule is actually helping (14:02) you.

You can learn about the evidence and still pay attention to your own experience. (14:06) Like maybe oatmeal, that works beautifully for you. If it leaves you energized and satisfying, (14:12) there's no reason to remove it because someone called it unhealthy.

Cauliflower, let's say for (14:16) example, that's nutrition, but if it makes you feel extremely bloated, you can choose other (14:21) vegetables. That's me personally. I cannot have kale or cauliflower or broccoli.

I just feel (14:27) so incredibly bloated afterwards. And yeah, there is so much trend going around with the (14:32) cauliflower pizza crust. Love that for these people, but I just personally cannot have it.

(14:37) So I'd rather have another type of pizza crust, like just learning those things. That's lived (14:42) experience. That's my own experience.

And so that's important to be aware of that. (14:46) The same applies to meal timing. Some mornings I wake up hungry, so I eat other mornings.

(14:51) I'm not as hungry, so I wait. I don't force myself to have a rigid schedule because someone (14:55) online said that you need to eat at the exact same time every single day. Pay attention to (15:00) your own strength, your energy, your digestion, your focus, your hunger satisfaction, your sleep, (15:06) your workout performance, overall consistency, right? A nutrition approach should help you (15:11) feel supported.

It should also be realistic enough to follow in your own actual life. (15:15) You can use kind of a simple checklist when you hear a new nutrition rule, like who is sharing (15:20) this information? Does a larger body of research support this claim? How do I feel when I follow (15:25) it? You can test those strategies without immediately making them permanent rules, right? (15:30) Try something, pay attention to the outcome, and decide whether it deserves a place in your life. (15:35) Education gives you options.

Your body and your real experience though, those are going to help (15:40) you decide what options actually work for you, but that's a great question. I love it so much. (15:45) All right, last question.

Question number five, how do you eat out at a restaurant without it (15:48) derailing your whole week mentally? So, so good. You should be able to go out to eat without (15:53) spending an entire day worrying that one restaurant meal is going to ruin your progress, (15:57) like plain and simple, right? When your friends invite you to dinner, and your first thought is (16:01) that sounds fun, I do not want you immediately thinking like, what am I going to eat? How many (16:06) calories will it have? Should I skip lunch? Do I need to work out twice? Food is a part of life. (16:12) Restaurants, vacations, celebrations, dinners with people that you love creating memories, (16:17) and your nutritional approach needs to leave room for all of those experiences if it's (16:23) going to be consistent, if it's going to stay as a consistent thing in your life.

(16:28) If I know personally that I'm going to be going out to pizza with friends or family, (16:31) I adjust the way that I build my meals earlier in the day. Since pizza tends to be higher in (16:35) carbohydrates and fats, I still eat breakfast. I still eat lunch, just more of a protein forward (16:40) approach with those meals.

So, I arrive to dinner knowing that I've already given my body (16:45) a meaningful amount of nourishment coming from protein. That doesn't mean that I'm going to (16:50) completely ex the carbs and fats. This just means that I'm going to be a lot more protein forward.

(16:56) What I will never recommend is starving yourself all day to save every calorie for dinner. I've done (17:02) that personally for a decade of my life. I did that when I was at college.

I did that for (17:06) honestly every single dinner. I would starve myself all day and I'd tell myself, (17:10) okay, I can eat whatever I want at dinner, and it just never went well. But if you do that, (17:15) when you arrive at a restaurant overly hungry, it is going to become so much harder to slow down (17:21) and enjoy a satisfying amount of food.

You might eat the bread without even tasting it. You might (17:25) order more than you wanted, finish the meal feeling physically uncomfortable, continue eating (17:31) throughout the day. You can have eggs and fruit for breakfast, a chicken salad for lunch, (17:36) a protein forward snack before you leave.

Then you can arrive at dinner hungry enough to enjoy (17:40) the meal without feeling desperate for food. Also, many restaurants, depending on where you're at, (17:45) whether it's a chain restaurant or maybe it's a mom and pop shop, they oftentimes offer protein (17:51) forward options. Steak, chicken, fish, and sometimes you want the pasta or you want the burger, (17:56) you want the pizza exactly as it comes.

That's okay. You're allowed to order it. You do not (18:01) need to turn every restaurant menu into a test of your discipline, right? If you consistently (18:05) nourish your body and support your goals most of the time, one flexible meal is not going to erase (18:11) that consistency.

Your body may temporarily hold more water or feel different the next morning, (18:16) but that doesn't mean that you gained a meaningful amount of body fat from one dinner. Return to your (18:21) usual habits without trying to make up for the meal. Eat breakfast, drink water, move your body, (18:25) follow your normal plan.

Your progress comes from what you do repeatedly over time. Please, (18:31) please, please hear me when I say 10 years from now, you will not look back and wish that (18:35) you ordered the plainest meal on every menu. You will remember laughing with your friends, (18:40) celebrating birthdays, traveling, spending time with the people that you love, (18:43) set yourself up for success, nourish yourself throughout the day, and then allow yourself to (18:48) be present for the experience.

All right, let's kind of wrap this up. So number one, (18:53) I want you to remember that macro accounting is a tool that can teach you how to build (18:57) balanced meals and understand what your body needs. Once you've developed that awareness, (19:01) you can practice it without tracking every single bite forever.

Number two, restricting yourself (19:06) throughout the week can create this physical hunger and this scarcity mindset that is going (19:11) to lead you to overindulge on the weekend. So I need you to give yourself permission to (19:15) enjoy the foods that you love throughout the week so that they no longer feel urgent or (19:19) forbidden. Number three, you can absolutely interrupt overindulgence at any point.

I want (19:25) you to pause, remove the judgment, and identify what you need and make your next choice without (19:30) deciding that the entire day has been ruined. Number four, before following a nutrition rule (19:35) from social media, I want you to consider the source, the quality of the evidence, (19:39) and whether it applies to you and how your body responds when you try it. (19:44) Last but not least, number five, a restaurant meal does not derail your progress.

Nourish (19:48) yourself throughout the day, prioritize protein when possible, enjoy your meal, and then just (19:52) return to your normal routine without punishment or compensation. If any of this resonated with you, (19:59) especially around stepping away from tracking, I think you'll also love episode 546, (20:04) how to count macros without obsessing over numbers. I will link that in the show notes (20:07) below so that you can easily go check that out.

And if today's episode maybe made you (20:11) realize that you want a little bit more structure around nutrition without creating more fear or (20:15) restriction or confusion around food, I want to invite you to check out my macro county (20:19) simple online academy. It is my step-by-step nutrition program that teaches you how to calculate, (20:25) understand, and track macros in a way that feels realistic and sustainable. (20:29) You're going to learn how protein, carbs, and fat support your body, how to build meals that keep (20:34) you nourished and satisfied, and how to include foods that you love without feeling like you've (20:39) fallen off track.

The goal here is to help you become educated enough to make competent choices (20:44) as a part of your everyday life. If you also need kind of a clear plan for movement, (20:50) I have my Move with Julie Dumble Only Weekly Workout app. It's going to give you structured (20:54) workouts that will help you build strength and become more consistent.

You can learn (20:58) all about that by going to sale. That's S-A-L-E dot move with julie dot com. Again, (21:04) that's sale.

S-A-L-D-L-E dot move with julie dot com. But together, these programs, (21:10) my macro cutting made simple and my Move with Julie are going to give you the nutrition education (21:14) and the workout structure that you need to make progress from a place of nourishment, (21:19) consistency, and self-respect. I really hope that this episode helped you see that a healthy (21:24) relationship with food can absolutely include structure and flexibility.

You can track your (21:29) macros and eventually take a break from tracking. You can pursue a physical goal and still eat (21:33) pizza with your friends. One meal does not and will not define you, and one weekend does (21:38) not erase your progress.

What matters is the relationship that you're building with your (21:42) choices over time. Thank you so much for spending time with me today. If this episode helped you, (21:47) would you just send it to a friend who might be feeling overwhelmed by the food rules (21:50) or just afraid that one meal is going to ruin her progress? You do not need another rule.

You (21:56) do not need another rigid plan. What you need is permission to trust yourself again, (22:01) one meal at a time. And guess what? You already have everything that you need to build a real (22:06) sustainable relationship with food.

I love you so much. I mean it and I'll talk to you in the next one. (22:20) All right, sister.

That's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. (22:26) First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so Julie A. (22:31) Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post-workout real talk, (22:35) healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check.

(22:39) The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple podcasts to never miss an episode. (22:45) Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world and I'm going to leave you (22:50) with one last thought.

The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are (22:55) completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty (23:02) goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.

 
Julie Ledbetterembrace your real, q and a, workouts, scheduleComment