Why Summer Is Actually the Best Time to Start Counting Macros

 

Hey hey beautiful human!

Every summer, so many women tell themselves the same thing. They will start in September, get back on track after vacation, or wait until life feels more structured again. And honestly, it makes sense why summer feels like the wrong time to start something new, because there are BBQs, restaurant dinners, travel plans, kids at home, and days that do not follow the usual routine.

But that is exactly why summer can be the best time to start counting macros. If you can learn how to fuel your body in the middle of real life, with social meals, looser routines, and more activity already built into your days, you are not building a habit that only works when everything is perfect. You are building one that can actually last.

In this bonus episode of Embrace Your Real, I’m breaking down why the “I’ll start in September” mindset keeps so many women stuck, why your body may need more fuel in summer than you realize, and how macro counting can help you feel more confident, steady, and in control without putting your life on pause.

What’s Discussed:

  • Why waiting until September often turns into the same cycle all over again

  • Why summer activity can increase your body’s need for consistent fuel

  • How underfueling can show up as cravings, low energy, and workouts that feel harder than they should

  • Why BBQs, vacations, and restaurant meals are not setbacks when you understand macros

  • How summer gives you the chance to build consistency in real-life situations

  • Why learning your numbers now can make autumn feel easier before it even begins

Ready to have every 30-minute session pre-planned, pre-programmed, and built around exactly this structure? Head to movementwithjulie.com and get started inside the Movement With Julie app. 

If you loved this episode, you'll also love: Episode 542: Why Adjusting Your Macros Matters When You Increase Your Exercise. It will help you take the awareness you built here and apply it in a practical way as your training evolves. 

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

Website: www.juliealedbetter.com

Transcript

(0:00) Hey, hey beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, (0:06) but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Reel with me, Julie Ledbetter.

(0:13) I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. (0:19) Stay tuned if you're ready to Embrace Your Reel. Let's get it, let's go! (0:32) Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode on the Embrace Your Podcast.

I'm so glad that (0:37) you're here today because I want to challenge something that I hear every single summer, (0:42) like as it rolls around, and that is I'll just start in September. I will get back on track (0:47) after vacation. Summer is just too chaotic to start something new right now and I get it.

(0:52) Summer feels like the wrong time to add anything new into the mix, especially something like macro (0:56) counting. It can feel like the responsible move to just wait until things settle down, (1:00) but I want to make the case for something that might sound counterintuitive. Summer is actually, (1:05) in my opinion, one of the best times to start counting macros, not in spite of the chaos of (1:11) your summer festivities, but because of it.

And that's why in today's episode, I want to dive (1:15) into the I Will Start in September loop and why that's keeping you stuck and what to do instead, (1:20) why your body is actually asking for more support in the summer, not less, and how to (1:24) use the flexibility of summer to build a habit that actually sticks before life snaps back to (1:30) structured in September. All right, let's just get right into today's episode. Let's start with (1:35) something a lot of women do not even realize that they're doing.

This I Will Start in September (1:40) loop is not a timing strategy. It's actually a delay strategy. And it goes something like (1:45) this every single year for so many women that I talk to.

January comes and there's this (1:49) big burst of motivation you commit to eating better, tracking your food, getting consistent, (1:53) and then February arrives and life picks up. Before you know it, March, April, and May have passed. (1:59) Things have gotten a little busier.

The plans started to slip and then summer hits and you (2:03) tell yourself, okay, summer is just not the right time because there's barbecues, vacations, (2:07) the kids are home. Nothing is structured. I will just reset in September.

But then September (2:11) comes and the back to school chaos hits and somehow September becomes October and October (2:15) becomes the holidays and suddenly it's January again and you're back to the beginning. (2:19) Does that sound familiar? Here's the truth. Things do not calm down because (2:23) the second September comes in two months.

It's the holiday season again. The cycle goes fast. (2:29) There's always a reason for timing to fail off.

Summer is for relaxing. Autumn is too busy. The (2:34) holidays are coming.

January is overwhelming. There's always next season. That feels more (2:37) convenient and the next season never delivers on its promise.

And I want to say this very (2:42) clearly. The best time to start is the time when you can actually have the information (2:47) and the desire to do it. And right now you have both.

So let's move on to talking about (2:52) what is actually happening in your body during summer. So this is the season when most women (2:57) are naturally active more than any other point in the year. You're walking more.

You're outside (3:02) more. You're swimming or hiking or chasing your kids around. Your body's actually burning (3:05) more energy and genuinely asking for more fuel.

But most women are not meeting that demand. (3:11) They're eating the same way that they did in the winter or eating less because they feel (3:15) conscious about summer like what they're wearing. And the gap is just quietly draining energy and (3:20) slowing recovery and making everything else feel harder than it should.

You're literally tired (3:25) by mid-afternoon even though you slept seven or eight hours. You're craving everything by (3:30) evening. Your workouts just feel flat and you're chalking it up to the heat or stress or just (3:34) being too busy.

But a lot of the time your body is just simply under fueled. And guess what? (3:40) Macro counting is going to fix that. When you understand what your body actually needs and (3:45) stop guessing and start fueling, you have more energy.

Your cravings settle. Your body starts (3:50) to respond in a way that your effort deserves. And this is exactly what macro kind of means simple (3:55) walks you through, right? How to figure out what your body actually needs.

How to build (3:59) meals that work into your real life. How to fuel consistently even when summer has other (4:04) plans. The link for that is in the show notes if you want to learn more.

But now I want to (4:07) address the thing that I hear most often when it comes to starting macros in the summer and (4:12) that is the social eating. The barbecues, the restaurant dinners, the vacation meals. I want (4:17) to reframe this completely because this is actually one of the biggest advantages of starting now.

(4:23) Because macro counting is a flexible framework, it is going to teach you how to navigate any (4:28) eating situation with awareness instead of anxiety. When you learn it in an environment (4:33) that already includes barbecues and restaurants and vacation, you're learning how to make it work (4:38) in actual life, not just this perfectly controlled week, if that makes sense. (4:43) And here's what that actually looks like in practice.

Like you show up to a summer barbecue, (4:47) there's a burger, corn on the cob, pasta, salad, fruit. With macros, you're just making (4:53) these informed decisions. Maybe you adjust one thing, maybe you don't.

Either way, (4:57) you are deciding with awareness instead of winging it and feeling guilty afterward. (5:01) Yeah, that's right. Summer is going to give you the chance to practice that over and over and over (5:07) again, which means by the time that you have a more structured season, which could be September, (5:12) you're already knowing how to handle the messy, the unpredictable days.

And that is the skill (5:17) that makes the sustainable long-term. There's another thing that I need you to know about (5:21) summer specifically. There's a common assumption that you need to have this rigid schedule to (5:26) build a new habit.

But when the schedule gets disrupted, the habit oftentimes get (5:30) disrupted as well. And this is exactly where most women fall off. But summer routines (5:35) naturally have more flexibility built in.

The days are longer, the pressure is lower, (5:40) and there's more margin for learning something new. And that margin matters more than you think. (5:45) Women who start macro counting in the summer oftentimes tell me that by the time that (5:50) their structured fall season kicks in, the habit is already feeling natural to them.

(5:56) And it does not feel like something that is added onto their life. It just feels like how (6:00) they eat, and it's exactly what they're going for, right? That's exactly what is going to (6:05) allow you to have a sustainable habit and stick to it. So let's talk about getting started and (6:11) what macro counting actually looks like in this practice.

So the foundation is really (6:16) understanding your numbers. What does your body actually need in terms of protein, (6:21) carbohydrates, and fat based on your goals and your activity level? Once you have that clarity, (6:26) everything else is just practice. Something concrete that you can do right now, (6:30) before you even finish this episode, is think about yesterday.

What did you eat? (6:34) Could you roughly break it down into protein, carbs, and fats? Most women who do this for (6:38) the first time realize very quickly that their protein is a lot lower than it should be, (6:43) and their meals are not as balanced as they thought. And that awareness alone, (6:47) that's a great starting point. From there, it's really about hitting your numbers consistently (6:52) across all kinds of days, like easy days, busy days, home cooked days, restaurant days, (6:57) vacation days, regular Tuesdays.

You are not aiming for perfection. You are aiming for consistency (7:02) across the variety, and that skill that is going to get easier and easier the more that you (7:08) practice it. The women who see the biggest results are not the ones who hit their numbers (7:13) perfectly every single day.

They're the ones who keep showing up even on the imperfect days (7:18) as well. If you are ready to stop guessing and actually have a clear starting point, (7:23) macro counting made simple is going to walk you through every step of that, (7:26) from calculating your numbers, to building meals, to navigating social situations, (7:30) to moving through the different phases of macro counting. So we have muscle building, (7:34) reverse dieting, maintenance, fat loss phase, so that this becomes a sustainable way of eating (7:40) instead of just another thing that you eventually abandon.

If you have been circling this thought (7:45) for a while, this is your window. The link for that is in the show notes below. (7:49) All right, so there you have it.

Everything that you need to know about why summer is (7:53) actually the best time to start counting macros. Let me quickly recap. Here's what I want you to (7:57) take away from today's episode.

Number one, the I will start in September loop. This is a delayed (8:03) strategy dressed up as a timing strategy. Things do not calm down.

The best time to start is when (8:08) you have the information and the desire, and you have both of those right now. Number two, (8:12) your body is naturally more active in the summer, and it's going to be asking for more fuel. When you (8:17) do not meet that demand, everything feels harder than it should, and macro counting is going to (8:21) help you fix that.

Number three, social eating in the summer is not an obstacle. It's actually (8:26) the best possible environment to learn how to make macros work in real life. Barbecues, (8:31) vacations, restaurants, those are all practice, not setbacks.

And last but not least, number four, (8:37) looser summer routines is going to give you the flexibility to build a habit before (8:41) life snaps back to that structure. And by fall, it's already going to feel like second nature. (8:46) Summer is not the obstacle.

It never was. And the women who start now are the ones who hit September (8:52) already knowing how to fuel, already feeling the difference, and already wondering why they waited (8:56) so long. If you enjoyed this episode, I know you'll also love episode 546, how to count macros (9:03) without obsessing over the numbers.

Because once you decide to start, the last thing I want for (9:07) you is to feel like tracking is one more thing that you have to stress about. So go listen to (9:13) that episode now, because I think that that will help you navigate this. The link for that is in (9:16) the show notes.

If you're not already following the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, (9:21) please be sure to do so so that you never miss an episode. If you do have a minute, (9:25) if you could just leave a review that genuinely helps more women find this content and means (9:29) more than you know. That is all that I have for today's episode.

Now go make this summer (9:33) the one that you actually started. I love you so much. I mean it.

And I'll talk to you in the next one. (9:49) All right, sister. That's all I got for you today.

But I have two things that I need you to do. (9:55) First thing, if you're not already following me on the Gram, be sure to do so. Julie A. (10:00) Ledbetter.

Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips (10:05) and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, (10:10) be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining (10:17) me.

It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. (10:21) The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident (10:27) and secure in being authentically themselves.

Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than (10:33) the surface. So go out there and embrace a real because you're worth it.

 
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