0:00

When you think of logging or tracking your food, what's the first emotion that

0:01

comes to mind? Is it freedom? Or

0:06

is it guilt and stress? Today

0:06

we're going to transform food

0:09

logging into a positive

0:09

empowering tool for achieving

0:13

your fitness and nutrition goals

0:13

without the obsession, or

0:17

neuroticism common with most

0:17

food blogging, apps and

0:20

approaches. Tune in to learn the

0:20

practical tips and mindset

0:23

shifts that will completely

0:23

change your relationship with

0:26

food and help you make

0:26

sustainable progress toward a

0:29

body you love. Welcome to the wit's end weights

0:32

podcast. I'm your host Philip

0:35

pape, and this twice a week

0:35

podcast is dedicated to helping

0:39

you achieve physical self

0:39

mastery by getting stronger.

0:42

Optimizing your nutrition and

0:42

upgrading your body composition

0:45

will uncover science backed

0:45

strategies for movement,

0:48

metabolism, muscle and mindset

0:48

with a skeptical eye on the

0:52

fitness industry so you can look

0:52

and feel your absolute best.

0:56

Let's dive right in Whitson

0:56

weights community Welcome to

0:59

another solo episode of The

0:59

Whitson weights podcast. In our

1:02

last episode 163 The most

1:02

important overlooked secret to

1:07

sculpting a body you'll love

1:07

with Kate galley, we talked

1:10

about taking care of the most

1:10

important person in your life.

1:14

And that is yourself. You learn

1:14

how to master your inner

1:17

dialogue, prioritize your

1:17

health, happiness, and tailor

1:20

your self care practices to fit

1:20

your lifestyle. You also gain

1:24

some practical tools to reshape

1:24

your daily routine. So it aligns

1:28

with your core values and

1:28

propels you toward your best

1:31

self. If joy and happiness are

1:31

truly important to you. Today

1:34

for episode 160. For food

1:34

logging, that doesn't suck.

1:39

We're diving into the world of

1:39

food logging, and discussing how

1:43

to make it a pleasurable,

1:43

positive and helpful experience.

1:47

And if that sounds foreign to

1:47

you, then you definitely want to

1:50

listen to this episode, because

1:50

it can be all of those things.

1:54

We're going to explore the key

1:54

principles behind effective food

1:57

logging, and share some best

1:57

practices to keep it practical

2:01

and avoid becoming obsessive or

2:01

neurotic about it. You'll learn

2:05

how to approach food logging

2:05

with a neutral, non judgmental

2:09

mindset. So that it promotes the

2:09

whole reason that we do this,

2:13

which is self awareness, and

2:13

sustainable progress. Those are

2:16

the reasons we log if we log at

2:16

all, we're going to share some

2:20

practical strategies for making

2:20

logging a consistent habit

2:23

without getting bogged down in

2:23

the details. So that you focus

2:27

on the big picture, which is

2:27

nourishing your body and

2:30

achieving your goals. That's all

2:30

we're trying to do. You'll also

2:33

discover how to use your logging

2:33

data as a tool for self

2:37

discovery and experimentation.

2:37

And that is what empowers you to

2:41

make positive changes based on

2:41

that discovery and based on

2:44

experimenting over time, that

2:44

align with your unique needs and

2:48

preferences. Now, before we get

2:48

into it, this is the last week

2:52

of enrollment for Whitson

2:52

weights physique University at

2:55

the launch price before it goes

2:55

up forever. In Whitson weights

2:59

physique University, which we

2:59

now call WW PU. It's a semi

3:03

private group coaching

3:03

experience, and we teach you how

3:06

to do food logging in a way that

3:06

does bring you massive freedom

3:10

and progress without the

3:10

frustrations most people have

3:14

when it comes to tracking. In

3:14

fact, one of the courses in

3:16

there is called macro factor

3:16

mastery, where we teach you not

3:20

only how to set up and set up

3:20

your initial goal in macro

3:23

factor, which is the food login

3:23

app we use. But then additional

3:27

courses and the course will

3:27

expand over time, additional

3:30

modules on all of the various

3:30

features in the app to make the

3:33

most of it. And not just using

3:33

it but using it in a practical

3:37

simple way, with all the little

3:37

hacks and tricks behind it. Not

3:40

only that if you are just

3:40

looking to transform your

3:43

physique, if you're trying to

3:43

take your your workout program

3:46

your nutrition to the next

3:46

level, which awaits physique

3:49

University has everything you

3:49

need. And I mean that in the

3:52

literal sense, because it took

3:52

us a while to develop what would

3:57

be in the program to make sure

3:57

that it's as close to a one on

4:00

one experience as possible in a

4:00

group setting, so you get the

4:03

best of both. So we give you

4:03

right at the beginning, a done

4:06

for you personalized nutrition

4:06

plan, you don't get that with a

4:10

lot of group coaching programs.

4:10

You also get custom designed

4:13

courses on everything from

4:13

metabolism to training, to

4:17

menopause to nutrition. And yes,

4:17

even the macro factor course I

4:20

mentioned. And you get a monthly

4:20

workout programs dropped every

4:25

month with at least seven

4:25

programs in there right now. And

4:29

they're tailored to different

4:29

goals and experience levels,

4:31

different equipment access. And

4:31

all of this stuff is tied to a

4:35

private community where you can

4:35

check in, get one on one

4:37

guidance and join a live

4:37

coaching call every week. So

4:41

it's just a ton of stuff in

4:41

there to keep you going to

4:43

really keep you accountable and

4:43

really to just not let you drop

4:47

off the radar and let you

4:47

continue to make progress toward

4:49

your physique goals. So if

4:49

you're ready to apply the

4:51

principles of freedom based food

4:51

logging from today's episode, to

4:56

actually enjoy the process of

4:56

building your physique include

5:00

eating the food side of it,

5:00

whether you need a bit of fat

5:02

loss or you want to build some

5:02

muscle, just go to Whitson

5:05

weights.com/physique or click

5:05

the link in my show notes to

5:10

enroll in Whitson weights

5:10

physique University. I'll repeat

5:12

that. Again. It's Whitson

5:12

weights.com/physique. Or just

5:16

click the link in my show notes.

5:16

It is a monthly cancel anytime

5:20

program. And I made sure to

5:20

include a 21 day money back

5:23

guarantee, so it is completely

5:23

risk free for you. Okay, let's

5:27

dive into today's topic. Food

5:27

logging, that doesn't suck. So

5:31

here's the thing. Food logging

5:31

is often described to me as this

5:34

very tedious, very stressful

5:34

chores. It's one of those things

5:37

that a lot of people, they these

5:37

hear it and they think calorie

5:40

counting, and cumbersome apps,

5:40

and weighing every single gram

5:44

of every single ingredients, and

5:44

all of these other negative

5:47

things as well as the app

5:47

itself, shaming you and berating

5:52

you and notifying you and

5:52

bugging you. And it's just this

5:54

tedious, stressful thing. But it

5:54

doesn't have to be that way at

5:58

all. It can be quite the

5:58

opposite. I and many other

6:01

others in our community, my

6:01

clients, we've been tracking for

6:03

a long time, in some cases, not

6:03

because we have to, but because

6:06

it's so easy, and part of our

6:06

routine and habit. And it helps

6:10

us meet our goals with very

6:10

little FOSS very little time

6:13

that the you know, benefit to

6:13

cost ratio is so high, why not.

6:18

But for a lot of people, they

6:18

don't have that experience with

6:20

food logging, which is one of

6:20

the reasons I wanted to make

6:23

this episode. And if you

6:23

approach food logging, first of

6:26

all with the right mindset,

6:26

right, but also the right

6:29

strategies, because the actual

6:29

tool you use the way you do it,

6:32

no matter the mindset, it can

6:32

definitely derail you if it's

6:35

not meant for you and it doesn't

6:35

serve the purpose we want it to.

6:40

But with the right mindset and

6:40

strategies, food logging can be

6:42

one of the most incredibly

6:42

valuable tools for building

6:47

awareness of your eating habits,

6:47

the balance of your nutrition,

6:52

whether you're making progress

6:52

toward your goals. And there's

6:56

this debate, it seems between

6:56

intuitive eating and counting

6:59

macros. And I don't think there

6:59

has to be, I think you can

7:02

actually do both. In fact, in

7:02

one of the, in the physique

7:05

Foundation's course, in Whitson

7:05

weights, physique University,

7:08

which I'm sorry, you're going to

7:08

hear me talk about this a lot.

7:10

But it's because I'm excited of

7:10

the content that we're putting

7:12

in there. And in this particular

7:12

course, I have a lesson and it's

7:16

called, let me see if I can

7:16

remember this, right? Intuitive

7:19

Eating while counting macros,

7:19

something like that. And the

7:23

idea is, there are lots of

7:23

things you can be doing, that

7:27

contribute toward a natural

7:27

awareness of your body and your

7:32

hunger cues, that make it easier

7:32

to meet your goals, even if you

7:36

weren't tracking. And then when

7:36

combined with tracking give you

7:40

the ultimate precision, and the

7:40

best of both worlds. And I think

7:43

that's a great flexible way to

7:43

be because you can toggle

7:47

between either extreme or the

7:47

other, depending on your season

7:50

of life. And depending on what

7:50

goal you're going after, you can

7:53

do two full on intuitive eating

7:53

for a while then do full on

7:56

tracking, or anything in

7:56

between. So I like to combine

7:59

strategies from both and I don't

7:59

think there has to be an either

8:02

or in this case. So I want to

8:02

talk about some principles of

8:05

food logging today that you

8:05

might not often think about,

8:08

okay, not just okay, here's how

8:08

you log food on a scale and then

8:12

log it. That's not what this

8:12

episode is about. So the first

8:14

principle about food logging,

8:14

that doesn't suck is, is to

8:19

focus on the big picture instead

8:19

of getting bogged down in the

8:22

details. And there's multiple

8:22

ways to do this. So one of those

8:26

is, instead of trying to hit

8:26

your precise macro targets every

8:30

day, why don't you step back and

8:30

think about macros in the course

8:34

of a week. So what that does is

8:34

allows you to flex to go up and

8:38

down on any given day, maybe

8:38

you've been a little bit under

8:42

protein for few days, maybe go a

8:42

little over on a few days, maybe

8:44

a little under calories, maybe a

8:44

little over calories. First of

8:48

all, you're never going to hit

8:48

the exact number anyway, even if

8:50

you are trying to it's just not

8:50

going to happen. It's just not

8:52

possible. And even if you

8:52

thought you did, you didn't do

8:55

it because of the inherent error

8:55

in food labels and in just the

9:00

foods in the database. But

9:00

secondly, it doesn't matter to

9:03

your body that you're that close

9:03

to the targets every single day,

9:07

you just need to be in the

9:07

ballpark. And so I like to think

9:09

of terms, not terms, I like to

9:09

think of things on a weekly

9:13

basis to allow for that day to

9:13

day natural variability in our

9:17

diet. It takes the pressure off

9:17

of being quote unquote, perfect,

9:21

which we shouldn't be striving

9:21

for anyway. And that's how we

9:24

get a big picture. Now, the

9:24

other way to have a big picture

9:27

is instead of even thinking

9:27

about the targets as exact

9:30

targets, we think of minimums.

9:30

And so I like to coach my

9:34

clients. And can we do this in

9:34

the group coaching as well, to

9:39

have a minimum for each of your

9:39

macros when you're using

9:42

something like macro factor or

9:42

any other food logging app, and

9:46

it has an exact number to hit.

9:46

Generally the protein I think of

9:50

the protein number as a minimum,

9:50

and then the fats and carbs the

9:53

minimums are lower than the

9:53

actual target and so it gives

9:57

you a lot of this flexibility to

9:57

go up or down. sort of really

10:00

simplify it, do this number one,

10:00

hit your protein. Number two,

10:05

hit your calories. And that's

10:05

it. And if you hit your protein

10:07

and calories, it almost doesn't

10:07

matter what the composition is,

10:10

except for like extreme cases

10:10

where you're very low calories

10:13

or something like that. So

10:13

that's a way to be a little bit

10:17

big picture. And then the third

10:17

way to big, big picture is

10:20

actually when you're logging

10:20

your food, you don't have to log

10:24

every single ingredient. Now,

10:24

you want to log all the energy

10:29

in the macros for the most part,

10:29

but you don't have to do it. By

10:32

logging every ingredient. I'll

10:32

give you an example, if you make

10:34

a salad that has like 14

10:34

ingredients, because as all

10:39

these vegetables and might have

10:39

some seeds, and nuts, and fruit

10:42

and dressing and whatever else,

10:42

there are entries in most food

10:46

logging apps, for a garden

10:46

salad, or a Caesar salad, or a

10:49

house salad or a chef salad. And

10:49

if that's close enough, and you

10:54

just logged the total grams,

10:54

you're probably in the ballpark

10:57

of what you need, without all

10:57

the stress of stressing over

11:00

every single ingredient. And you

11:00

can apply this to so many things

11:03

like when you go to a

11:03

restaurant, you're just trying

11:06

to find something's close enough

11:06

and get close enough in terms of

11:10

the quantity. And honestly that

11:10

if you're within 30%, you're

11:14

going to be making massive

11:14

progress, compared to just not

11:18

tracking at all. And that's the

11:18

way to balance the to the

11:20

balance of tracking versus not

11:20

being so bogged down in the

11:24

details. The second principle is

11:24

on the mindset side, having a

11:29

mindset of what are called

11:29

neutral self awareness, instead

11:34

of judgment. So the goal here is

11:34

you're trying to build this

11:39

picture of what your diet looks

11:39

like, over time. That's, that's

11:43

the very first reason that we

11:43

track at all, this is why I

11:47

encourage people not to go into

11:47

a dieting phase, or even a

11:50

muscle building phase on day

11:50

one, when they start tracking,

11:53

just spend a good four, six,

11:53

maybe eight weeks tracking, and

11:57

not intentionally trying to gain

11:57

or lose weight, just to build a

12:00

picture of your diet. And as you

12:00

do that the goal isn't to beat

12:04

yourself up over whatever you

12:04

think is quote unquote, bad, or

12:08

any indulgences or any

12:08

inaccuracies, or this came up.

12:12

So this and this came up. So

12:12

this that isn't the goal. The

12:15

goal is just to have this

12:15

neutral self awareness like,

12:18

okay, that's, that's my eating

12:18

pattern like, and when this

12:21

happens, that's my eating pattern. And when I'm on the weekends, that's my eating

12:23

pattern. This is what I ate for

12:25

breakfast, this is how much

12:25

protein I get, here's the micros

12:27

I get, you start to build this

12:27

little library in your head of

12:30

data that says, Okay, this is me

12:30

right now. Cool, then, by doing

12:35

that objectively and not

12:35

attaching any moral value to it,

12:39

you gain the most valuable

12:39

insight possible. And that is a

12:44

baseline from which to shift in

12:44

certain directions, right? Very

12:48

objectively, and without the

12:48

stress or the guilt. Because

12:51

that's not the point. The point

12:51

is to say, here's where I am,

12:54

here's my goal, to meet my goal,

12:54

I have certain nutritional

12:56

needs, and I have certain

12:56

lifestyle preferences. And I'm

12:59

going to make my diet shifted

12:59

pattern toward that by adding in

13:04

the things that I want and the

13:04

things that I need to contribute

13:06

toward those guidelines and meet

13:06

my goals. Okay, so we establish

13:10

that baseline by being neutrally

13:10

self aware. And as we develop

13:15

that to get within a week or

13:15

two, we start to get creative

13:18

lightbulb moments of oh, okay,

13:18

if I know that to build muscle,

13:23

I need a decent amount of

13:23

protein, you know, at least that

13:25

point seven grams per pound, and

13:25

I'm getting half that. Well,

13:28

that's good, objective data that

13:28

I want to add more protein in

13:32

somehow. And then I then it gets

13:32

to be this fun process of all

13:37

what are all the fun things that

13:37

I like to eat that have protein?

13:39

Let's go figure that out. Oh,

13:39

now how do I do it? Now? How do

13:42

I fit in this breakfast, and you

13:42

start to make these fun little

13:45

changes that allow you to add in

13:45

the things you want and need,

13:48

rather than making it the

13:48

stressful thing? Okay, so that's

13:51

that's that principle? Well, a

13:51

tangent to that real quick,

13:55

because I think this is

13:55

important is that, you know,

13:58

research does show us that shame

13:58

and guilt are big problems in

14:04

this field. We talk about food

14:04

and eating. And they lead to

14:07

worse adherents and outcomes,

14:07

right, just the fact that you're

14:11

ashamed or you're guilty, you

14:11

feel guilty of your food

14:14

choices, or what you might not

14:14

even feel or choices, you feel

14:17

like you're just compelled to

14:17

eat them, thereby cause you not

14:21

to adhere to your diet. Whereas

14:21

if we have some self compassion

14:24

and this level of neutrality and

14:24

objectivity, we're gonna get

14:27

better results. So when we pick

14:27

the food login app, it's very

14:31

important to find one that

14:31

avoids shame based messaging or

14:36

design elements or notifications

14:36

that make you feel bad, because

14:40

you didn't perfectly stick to

14:40

your nutrition plan. So this is

14:43

one of the few times in this

14:43

episode where I'm going to

14:45

explicitly call out macro

14:45

factor. I use this for food

14:49

login, I encourage you to as

14:49

well I've talked about it many,

14:51

many times for good reason. It's

14:51

one of the only apps probably

14:54

the only app that has this

14:54

adherents neutral approach. All

14:59

it does is it Trade logs your

14:59

food or when you log your food.

15:03

It shows you the numbers, but it

15:03

doesn't give them a judgement.

15:05

It doesn't say that they're over

15:05

under and that's good or bad. It

15:08

will it will show you positive, negative, but it won't say it's good or bad or give you red font

15:10

or notify you like, Oh, you just

15:14

went five calories over. Because

15:14

first of all, it doesn't know

15:17

precisely Are you trying to go

15:17

over under does it even matter

15:20

to you that much. And then

15:20

secondly, there's really no

15:23

value from an evidence

15:23

standpoint, that that helps

15:27

people. And so when you pick

15:27

your app like that tool alone

15:31

can make or break your long term

15:31

success here. Having that

15:35

neutral, non judgmental approach

15:35

and tool. To help you learn, all

15:39

you want to do is learn from

15:39

your choices, and make progress

15:43

and sustainable return. That's

15:43

all you were trying to do. So,

15:45

again, I am going to mention

15:45

macro factor a couple times in

15:48

this episode, because if you

15:48

want an app that is adherents

15:52

neutral, besides all the other

15:52

things that does it, no other

15:54

apps does like track your

15:54

targets against your dynamic

15:58

metabolism, like adjust to your

15:58

metabolism dynamically. Go

16:02

download macro factor, use my

16:02

code, Whitson weights all one

16:05

word, you'll get an extra week

16:05

on the free trial. So when you

16:09

go on the first page, you toggle

16:09

Yes, I have an affiliate code,

16:12

you'll see it go from one week

16:12

to two weeks. Then you enter my

16:15

code all one word all spelled

16:15

out with and weights. And you'll

16:19

get the extra week. Try it out.

16:19

If you don't like it, don't use

16:22

it. But I guarantee not

16:22

guarantee but I almost guarantee

16:25

that you will. Hey, this is

16:25

Philip and I hope you're

16:28

enjoying this episode of weights

16:28

and weights. I started Whitson

16:31

weights to help people who want

16:31

to build muscle lose fat and

16:34

actually look like they lift.

16:34

I've noticed that when people

16:37

improve their strength and

16:37

physique, they not only look and

16:40

feel better, they transform

16:40

other areas of their life, their

16:43

health, their mental resilience

16:43

and their confidence in

16:46

everything they do. And since

16:46

you're listening to this

16:48

podcast, I assume you want the

16:48

same things the same success,

16:52

whether you recently started

16:52

lifting, or you've been at this

16:55

for a while and want to optimize

16:55

and reach a new level of

16:58

success. Either way, my one on

16:58

one coaching focused on

17:01

engineering your physique and

17:01

body composition is for you. If

17:05

you want expert guidance and

17:05

want to get results faster,

17:09

easier, and with fewer

17:09

frustrations along the way to

17:12

actually look like you lift, go

17:12

to Whitson weights.com and click

17:16

on coaching, or use the link in

17:16

my show notes to apply today,

17:20

I'll ask you a few short

17:20

questions to decide if we're a

17:23

good fit. If we are, we'll get

17:23

you started this week. Now back

17:27

to the show. Okay, so the next thing about

17:30

the practical side of food

17:34

logging, that doesn't suck is

17:34

the practice of logging your

17:39

meals and snacks as soon as

17:39

possible after you eat, instead

17:44

of trying to remember everything

17:44

at the end of the day. Because

17:48

this does two things. First, it

17:48

definitely makes it more

17:51

accurate. Because in the moment,

17:51

you're going to have the best

17:53

information then your brain

17:53

starts to fade over the day as

17:57

the day goes on and gets less

17:57

and less accurate. But it also

18:00

makes the process feel a lot

18:00

easier and less daunting.

18:03

Because to do it in the moment

18:03

might take 30 seconds. But if

18:07

you eat five times a day, or six

18:07

times a day to do it at the end

18:10

of the day. Now that all adds up

18:10

to like a five to 10 minute

18:13

ordeal that feels like a chore

18:13

sometimes. And this is one of

18:17

the most common early issues

18:17

with some of my clients where

18:20

they'll say, Oh, I couldn't get

18:20

to it till the end of the day.

18:24

And you start to see a an issue

18:24

with their how they feel about

18:27

the process and the adherence.

18:27

And one of the quickest

18:30

solutions to that is just let's

18:30

log as you eat, it'll become a

18:33

habit. And it'll actually feel

18:33

easier that way. And you'll see

18:35

how quick and easy it is.

18:35

Because one of the benefits is

18:39

most people have a routine, most

18:39

people are eating a lot of the

18:41

same things for lunch breakfast

18:41

snacks, day after day after day,

18:44

with small exceptions being

18:44

going out to eat and the

18:47

weekends and things like that.

18:47

And so when you go like with an

18:51

app like macro factor, and it's

18:51

lunchtime, it will usually have

18:54

the recent foods at that time of

18:54

day automatically at the top,

18:59

which makes it even easier to

18:59

just don't copy paste done.

19:02

Right. And sometimes they're

19:02

even the same exact quantities.

19:05

So that's how you can make it

19:05

very quick and easy to the point

19:08

where you're spending no more

19:08

than like three to five minutes

19:11

at the entire day logging food

19:11

utmost and that's what we're

19:14

talking about here making it not

19:14

suck, okay. Okay, now when we

19:19

talk about like what to log, you

19:19

definitely want to log

19:22

everything because you know, if

19:22

you if you leave anything out

19:26

the app will think that you ate

19:26

less food for example, but we're

19:30

trying to log the main things

19:30

predominantly your your primary

19:33

protein sources, your carb

19:33

sources, added fats, you know,

19:36

we're not trying to track every

19:36

condiment or garnish or you

19:40

know, tiny, extra little

19:40

vegetable that has very few

19:43

calories. I also don't want you

19:43

to track supplements

19:46

necessarily. The caveat there is

19:46

if the supplements are

19:49

inconsistent, and I don't mean

19:49

protein powder, protein powder,

19:52

you do track because that's a

19:52

lot of calories. I mean

19:54

something like fish oil, fish

19:54

oil has some calories from the

19:57

fat, but I don't track it

19:57

because I take the same amount

19:59

every single day. And all that

19:59

matters from a tracking

20:02

perspective is the change over

20:02

time, you know, how did your

20:04

calories and macros change? So I

20:04

wouldn't log all those things.

20:08

The exception being if you

20:08

really want to see your

20:10

micronutrients, and you're

20:10

taking some multivitamin, and

20:13

you want, you know, contributes

20:13

to those Feel free. And in that

20:16

case, you should be able to just

20:16

copy and paste day after day

20:18

after day. So we're looking for

20:18

consistency, rather than

20:24

100.000% precision, we're

20:24

looking for, believe it or not,

20:29

around 70 to 80% precision. So

20:29

just keep that in mind that

20:33

we're trying to make it less

20:33

stressful, and less

20:35

overwhelming. That's one way to

20:35

do it. We you know, a lot of you

20:38

eat very healthy dishes that

20:38

have a lot of ingredients it

20:41

might have, you might have pasta

20:41

with peppers with me with a

20:45

whole bunch of seasoning, like

20:45

just pick the ones that have the

20:48

most calories and log those. And

20:48

even when you have, let's say

20:51

three different ingredients that

20:51

are similar, you might go with

20:54

one of them, like if you have, I

20:54

don't know, let's go with fruit.

20:57

If you have strawberries,

20:57

blueberries and raspberries,

21:00

maybe just log it as

21:00

strawberries. It's close enough,

21:03

you know, again, with the

21:03

exception of some micros, and

21:05

things like that, if you if you

21:05

really hung up on that. Okay,

21:09

the next thing about using food

21:09

logging in a positive way that

21:12

will make you enjoy the process

21:12

is thinking of it as a tool of

21:17

self discovery and

21:17

experimentation, rather than

21:22

trying to stick to a predefined

21:22

plan or meal plan. I do like

21:27

using food logging apps to help

21:27

you plan your meals early on,

21:32

when you're trying to figure out

21:32

oh, how do I get this much

21:34

protein. But once you figure

21:34

that out, you get out, you start

21:37

to develop the intuitive sets.

21:37

There's the intuitive eating

21:39

again, for how to compose your

21:39

meals and your ingredients to

21:44

get where you need to go. And in

21:44

that case, I'd rather you use

21:47

the food login as a way to

21:47

discover and experiment. Because

21:50

as you log in and observe your

21:50

patterns over time, you can see

21:53

identify, you know areas where

21:53

you want to make these small,

21:56

sustainable tweaks, small,

21:56

sustainable tweaks, a small

22:00

sustainable tweaks to better

22:00

align with your goals and

22:03

preferences. So if you eat 30

22:03

grams of protein a day and you

22:06

need to eat 130 grams, I'm not

22:06

asking you to say to yourself,

22:10

oh, I need to add 100 grams in

22:10

tomorrow, and exactly get to the

22:13

number. It's no, it's Oh, I'm at

22:13

30. Eventually, I want to get to

22:17

130. So now I can titrate myself

22:17

up slowly and make sure I track

22:20

that with the app. And I'll see

22:20

myself get there. Over time, I

22:24

might add more protein at

22:24

breakfast, I might experiment

22:27

with some new fun recipes, I

22:27

have more vegetables, I might

22:30

find, you know satisfying foods

22:30

that are just as good as other

22:35

more calorie dense foods that I

22:35

tend to overeat and replace them

22:39

with these other foods. I'll tell you what that is for me lately. Minja creamy recipes I

22:41

got I got the ninja creamy and I

22:45

make you know a whole pint of

22:45

ice cream that's 300 calories

22:47

with like 40 grams of protein.

22:47

And it's so satisfying as it

22:51

tastes just like ice cream, ah,

22:51

that that kills two birds with

22:54

one stone no three birds, it

22:54

gives me the protein, it tends

22:57

to be filling because of all the

22:57

protein. And it satisfies my

23:00

sweet tooth for the ice cream,

23:00

and the texture and all the

23:02

other things I told you I love

23:02

food. Don't get me started.

23:05

Okay, so self discovery and

23:05

experimentation. I'll tell you a

23:10

couple other ways you can use it

23:10

that way. I love it for things

23:13

like fiber, and saturated fat.

23:13

If you're having some digestive

23:17

issues, or you're not sure

23:17

you're getting enough fiber,

23:20

logging your food, great way to

23:20

see that over time, you can see

23:23

a I'm getting like 15 grams,

23:23

maybe I want to be at 30 on

23:27

average. And again, I'm gonna

23:27

I'm going to mention macro

23:29

factor. I know others, like

23:29

chronometer are pretty good at

23:31

nutrient tracking a macro factor

23:31

if you go to your food log, and

23:35

you tap the macros at the top,

23:35

you can see like one three day

23:40

or one day three day week long,

23:40

month long and six months or

23:43

something averages again, don't

23:43

quote me on the actual numbers.

23:46

But they're averages of all your

23:46

micros and breakdowns of your

23:50

macros, including fiber, but you

23:50

could look at saturated fat and

23:53

say, okay, my too high saturated

23:53

fat, or are there minerals like

23:57

magnesium or phosphorus that

23:57

you're concerned about? Maybe

24:00

iron, all of that. It's

24:00

fantastic. But you use it as a

24:04

fun process of collecting data

24:04

and discovery, not as a tool for

24:08

shaming and judgment. That's

24:08

where we're going with this.

24:11

Okay, last thing, I think this

24:11

is the last thing in my notes,

24:14

at least. It's really important with

24:16

anything we do with nutrition,

24:19

with training, with our mindset

24:19

development with our self care

24:23

with our sleep, it's important

24:23

to celebrate your progress,

24:26

celebrate the small wins and

24:26

focus on the positive changes

24:30

that we make, rather than

24:30

dwelling on what we perceive as

24:34

failures. And I say it that way

24:34

on purpose. We perceive as

24:37

failures, none of the things

24:37

we'd ever do in this game of

24:40

food and tracking is a failure.

24:40

It's just a choice that has a

24:44

result. And we can look at that

24:44

and collect the data. And then

24:47

there are always solutions that

24:47

help us out as individuals

24:51

overcome those roadblocks. It's

24:51

a skill, we practice. We learn

24:55

we develop over time it's a

24:55

learning process. Every single

24:59

day is an opportunity to gather

24:59

data to reflect on the outcome,

25:04

what we've measured and make

25:04

small improvements. And because

25:07

of that, I think food logging is

25:07

such a powerful, almost

25:09

necessary tool for a lot of

25:09

people. And I'll tell you why.

25:14

Sometimes the counter argument

25:14

to this is, you know, oh, you

25:17

know, we've done that with

25:17

Weight Watchers, we've done that

25:19

with diets where you track and

25:19

you track food, or you count

25:22

calories. And let's, let's do

25:22

Intuitive Eating instead. And

25:27

then I look at the process for

25:27

this into so called intuitive

25:30

eating, and involves all of this

25:30

other tracking in terms of

25:34

journals and diaries, and food

25:34

scales and portions. And this

25:39

net, which to me is very

25:39

stressful and overwhelming. And

25:42

it may not be to you because

25:42

there's something for everyone.

25:45

But I don't know why, like just

25:45

tracking what you eat for two

25:49

seconds is somehow this awful

25:49

thing for some people, I just

25:53

don't get it, other than the

25:53

fact that the way it's been done

25:56

for years has been

25:56

counterproductive, right?

26:00

Shaming you making you feel like

26:00

you're imperfect, just because

26:03

you missed a you know, a number,

26:03

you know, making you feel like

26:07

you have to log every single

26:07

gram of every ingredient, all

26:10

those things. And that's why I

26:10

think today's episode is to let

26:15

you know that there's a way to

26:15

log food where it is this

26:18

empowering, little easy tool

26:18

that's very stress free and

26:22

guilt free, and helps you meet

26:22

your goals because it gives you

26:25

data and awareness. Just like

26:25

your budget and your bank

26:28

account gives you data on where your money's going. That's really all it is. Right? And you

26:30

don't have to do it the rest of

26:33

your life. But you could, I bet

26:33

you're going to be using a

26:36

budget for most of your life.

26:36

Unless you're filthy rich,

26:38

you're probably using a budget.

26:38

Well, even if you're filthy

26:41

rich, you probably should be

26:41

using a budget, right? So by

26:44

approaching this whole thing

26:44

with more curiosity, like, oh, I

26:48

want to log because I want to

26:48

see what's going on, like what's

26:50

going on when I eat, and then

26:50

self compassion, like, Okay, I

26:54

don't need to judge myself or

26:54

feel guilty. I just want to know

26:57

what's going on. And I want to

26:57

make choices and ask for help.

27:00

If I'm not sure what to do next,

27:00

then you'll be much more likely

27:03

to stick with it long term and

27:03

reap the benefits. Okay, so I

27:08

mentioned already, if you're

27:08

looking for a good tool in terms

27:11

of the app, because most people

27:11

aren't doing these notebooks or

27:14

spreadsheets anymore, right? We

27:14

have modern software that's

27:17

really helpful in this regard,

27:17

if it's designed well. And if

27:21

you're looking for a tool to

27:21

support the food logging, like

27:23

we talked about here, you

27:23

definitely want to check out

27:25

macro factor, because it

27:25

embodies a lot of these

27:28

principles. It takes a flexible,

27:28

non judgmental approach to

27:31

tracking. And it also provides

27:31

personalized recommendations

27:34

based on your goal. And based on

27:34

your progress. One of the cool

27:37

things it does, in fact, I think

27:37

I might have talked about it on

27:40

the muscle building blueprint

27:40

episode is, you know, yeah,

27:45

losing fat, I'll say is, is

27:45

quote unquote, easy in the sense

27:48

that you go into the deficit you

27:48

need for the fat loss you need.

27:51

And it is what it is for

27:51

everybody. And I'm

27:55

oversimplifying, but just in

27:55

terms of the calorie deficit.

27:57

But when you're trying to build

27:57

muscle, everybody builds muscle

28:00

at a different ratio of muscle

28:00

to fat. When people lose fat, if

28:04

you're training and you're training, effectively, you're gonna lose mostly fat and very

28:05

little muscle. And the ratio is

28:09

roughly the same for most

28:09

people. But when you're gaining

28:11

muscle, you're gaining different

28:11

ratios. Normally, it's around

28:14

5050. And macro factor assumes

28:14

that, but for some people like a

28:18

beginner, it might be a lot more

28:18

muscle. For an advanced person,

28:20

it might be a lot less, if you

28:20

get injured or your like, take

28:24

breaks, it will be less. And so

28:24

the app can actually detect what

28:28

ratio you're gaining, and adjust

28:28

the surplus accordingly. That is

28:32

pretty cool. Like that's the

28:32

exciting and curious part about

28:35

it. Because just by seeing how

28:35

to adjust your surplus, you can

28:39

know that what it's seen about

28:39

your ability to build muscle,

28:43

right? Amazing. The insights

28:43

that you can get like that are

28:47

the reason I do like to track

28:47

and that's why I track a lot of

28:50

things right I track HRV, which

28:50

you either you already heard

28:54

about or shortly going to hear

28:54

about in a quick wits episode. I

28:57

track obviously my lifts, and I

28:57

track my my body measurements, I

29:01

track my biofeedback, all of

29:01

those things. And the reason I

29:04

love macro factor for the food

29:04

logging part is besides the

29:08

adherence neutral approach that

29:08

doesn't shame you, or berate you

29:12

for missing your targets. It's

29:12

the only app on the market that

29:15

dynamically adjusts to your

29:15

metabolism. That's important.

29:20

It's not like chronometer, My

29:20

Fitness Pal and all the other

29:22

ones and just stay away from the

29:22

free apps because the free apps

29:26

tend to be they make you the

29:26

product and that's why they're

29:28

so annoying and badly designed,

29:28

let's be honest. But these other

29:32

apps, they make you come up with

29:32

a targets based on a formula, or

29:37

they give you a target based on

29:37

a formula not based on your

29:39

actual response to food and

29:39

weight. Well, macro factor does

29:44

dynamically adjust so then

29:44

you'll know okay, I need to eat

29:46

this much to be in this surplus,

29:46

or I need to eat as much to be

29:49

in this deficit, and you'll know

29:49

where your targets are. Calorie

29:53

and macro targets are exactly

29:53

where they need to be each week,

29:57

based on the goal you've

29:57

selected. Lose Fat, build

30:00

muscle, maintain whatever it is.

30:00

So again, you can download macro

30:03

factor and use my code wits and

30:03

waits for an extra free week on

30:07

the free trial. The link is in

30:07

the show notes or just go to

30:10

your app store, search for macro

30:10

factor all one word, download it

30:14

and enter my code, wits and

30:14

weights all one word when you

30:17

set it up. Alright, so what did

30:17

we learn today, I hope we

30:20

learned that food logging

30:20

doesn't have to suck by focusing

30:25

on the big picture, right?

30:25

Cultivating self awareness

30:28

without judgment, prioritizing

30:28

the things that actually matter,

30:32

approaching it with curiosity

30:32

and self compassion. I am a

30:36

believer and I walked the walk

30:36

every day and so to those in our

30:40

community and our clients that

30:40

you can make food logging a

30:42

practical and positive, long

30:42

term part of your sustainable

30:48

health and fitness journey.

30:48

Alright, and whether you join

30:51

Whitson weights physique

30:51

university or you just want to

30:53

try this on your own, don't

30:53

forget to download macro factor

30:56

and use it for free with my

30:56

code, wits and weights. The link

30:59

is in your show notes. Hit me up

30:59

on IG at Whitson weights with

31:02

any questions, I'll help you set

31:02

it up. Maybe I'll send you a

31:05

video that I have to do that.

31:05

And as a bonus, there is a

31:09

course in WWE pu called macro

31:09

factor mastery that will walk

31:13

you through an entire setup

31:13

process and how to start your

31:16

first goal. And everyone who

31:16

joins WWE, you will have instant

31:20

access to that. And again the

31:20

link to enroll this week at the

31:24

launch price before it goes up

31:24

is in the show notes or you can

31:27

go to Whitson

31:27

weights.com/physique Okay, and

31:31

our next episode 165 The Stealth

31:31

mind trick to turn excuses into

31:38

action with Paul Salter. Paul is

31:38

back on the show to teach you

31:43

how to turn your excuses your

31:43

self sabotage, procrastination,

31:47

and your perfectionism into

31:47

massive action by digging

31:52

beneath the surface to the

31:52

subconscious mind. As always,

31:56

stay strong, and I'll talk to

31:56

you next time here on The wit's

31:59

end weights podcast. Thank you

31:59

for tuning in to another episode

32:04

of wit's end weights. If you

32:04

found value in today's episode,

32:08

and know someone else who's

32:08

looking to level up their wits

32:11

or weights. Please take a moment

32:11

to share this episode with them.

32:14

And make sure to hit the Follow

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32:17

right now to catch the next

32:17

episode. Until then, stay strong