Sharing my tips on how to calculate and track macros to reach your goals. 

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having a lovely morning! We’re at DISNEY 🙂 Liv requested a Disney trip in lieu of a large birthday party, so we happily obliged and are living it up at the happiest place on earth. I hope your new year is off to a great start.

Today, I wanted to talk about macros and macro tracking! This is a tool that I’ve used on an off for years, but haven’t done a full post about it. If you’ve ever wondered about the significance of tracking macros, this beginner’s guide is here to break down the concept and help you navigate the world of balanced nutrition.

(Amazon sweater and skirt)

How to calculate and track macros

What Are Macros?

Macronutrients are the essential nutrients our bodies require in relatively large amounts to function optimally. There are three primary macronutrients:

Proteins: Crucial for muscle repair and growth, proteins are composed of amino acids. Sources include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, legumes, and plant-based options like tofu and tempeh.

Carbohydrates: The body’s primary energy source, carbohydrates come in the form of sugars, starches, and fiber. Common sources include fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes.

Fats: Essential for hormone production, brain function, and energy storage, healthy fats are found in avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and fatty fish.

The Role of Macros in Your Diet

Balancing macros is about understanding the role each plays in your overall diet. Proteins support muscle health and aid in satiety. Carbohydrates provide quick energy, and fats offer sustained energy and support various bodily functions. We need all of these macros, and also by including a balance of macros in our nutrition, we can support blood sugar levels, preventing energy dips and crashes.

Why Track Macros?

Tracking macros involves monitoring the amounts of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats you consume daily.

While it may seem meticulous, it can offer several benefits:

Precision in Nutrition: Tracking macros allows you to fine-tune your diet, ensuring you meet your nutritional needs without excess or deficiency.

Customization: Every individual is different. Tracking macros enables you to tailor your nutrition to your specific goals, whether they involve weight loss, muscle gain, or maintenance.

Educational Tool: It provides an educational experience, helping you understand the nutritional composition of various foods and making informed choices. I find that sometimes macro tracking offers MORE flexibility for clients as they implement foods that they used to fear or avoid from years of dieting.

How to Get S

Sharing a review of 2023 and my goals for 2024. 

Since it’s a bright and shiny new year, I always use this opportunity to look back, see what I accomplished, and set my intentions for the upcoming year. If you’re setting your goals for 2024, I’d love to hear them in the comments. Also, if you’re looking for support for January, join our 21-day challenge here!

When I look back on 2023, it’s easy for me to see all of the things I struggled with, and all of the things I set out to do, but didn’t. 2023 was full of some magnificent highs, and some challenging lows. After the 2020-2021 time span, I’ve really learned to lean into and enjoy the good parts, because there are always dips, and try to remember that everything is temporary.

looking back on the year and my goals for 2024

Travel and personal:

Travel was a huge highlight this year. It has been my dream for so long to take the girls to Italy, and we finally did it!! We had an incredible Disney Mediterranean cruise to Italy and Greece, and introduced the girls to my favorite place in the world (Positano). I ate chocolate croissants every.single.day (in addition to so much Italian food and wine), played in the ocean in Mykonos with the girls, and we shopped and explored to our hearts’ content.

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The Great Book Review of 2023: Sharing the books I read in 2023 and whether I’d recommend adding them to your collection.

Hi friends! Happy New Year! I hope that your morning is off to a great start and you enjoyed the festivities. The girls hung out with my mom and nana while the Pilot and I went up to Phoenix to see John Mulaney. I cried from laughter and it was an awesome show.

In today’s post, I’m sharing almost all of the books I read last year. (I had a a few audiobooks and a handful of DNF books I didn’t type up because they weren’t memorable or enjoyable.) Reading is one of my very favorite hobbies and I’m so glad I set a goal a couple of years ago to read more often. It’s definitely something I plan on doing in 2024, too!

Here’s a list of almost all of the books I read last year:

The Great Book Review of 2022

XOXO, Cody

If you’re going to read this book, I definitely recommend the Audible version so you can hear it in Cody’s voice! What a treasure of a human. I had high expectations for this one – I expected it to be highly entreating – and it didn’t disappoint. It gives you all of the laughs and warm fuzzies of an XO, Cody Peloton ride, while you get a deep dive into his story and background. It was fascinating to learn about his upbringing, his relationship with his mom, the Dancing with the Stars experience, and how he became such a huge fitness personality. 10/10

Redeeming Love

*All the trigger warnings*

This book was recommend in a Facebook group for faith-based reads, so just a heads up, it’s Christian fiction and is an 1800s era retelling of Gomer and Hosea. While I was reading it, I was thinking that it isn’t too Jesus-y, but then after about a quarter, I was like ok, it definitely is. Just wanted to spread the word if that’s not your cup of tea. I found it to be Jesus-y in the best possible way. This book will stick with me for life, and is an incredible testament of God’s unwavering love, even when we feel our most broken. While it wasn’t the best writing ever, and it dragged a bit before the last 25%, I’m so glad I stuck with it. 10/10 recommend.

Esther: The Fingerprints of God

This was our fall Bible study and I got so much out of this one. As a relatively Bible newbie, it’s been helpful for me to deep dive into different books of the Bible with such a kind, insightful, and wise group of ladies. I learn so much from each session and it fills my cup for the entire week! When I read the book of Esther before our study, I had a hard time understanding everything, and didn’t know the historical context or background. Bible studies give so much context to what you’re reading, and enabled me to fully understand the

Hi friends! I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. It’s been a lovely blur between Christmas and New Years, and I’ve enjoyed all of this time with the crew. We’ve enjoyed slow mornings, hikes, shopping, nails, reading, and movies. I’m definitely not looking forward to school returning, especially the early morning scramble and hours of homework.

I hope that my friends who celebrated Christmas this week had a beautiful holiday. My dad and stepmom were out of town – my step-grandmother passed away. She was so kind and wonderful, and I’m grateful we were blessed to have her in our lives. We had a low-key Christmas Eve at home with Chinese takeout and Christmas Chronicles, and I met up with madre for midnight mass. They turned the lights down for Silent Night and it was the perfect way to start the holiday.

The girls were up bright and early for Santa’a gifts and stockings, and then the family came over for family gifts, tamales, beans, egg casserole, cinnamon rolls, and the Pilot’s famous egg nog.

We spent the morning together, drinking coffee and eggnog, and exchanging gifts,

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Sharing the details of this 21 day healthy habits challenge. We start on January 8th and details to join are here!

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re having a wonderful week and that those of you who were celebrating Christmas had a beautiful holiday. We had an amazing holiday here, and I’ll definitely share a recap in this week’s Friday Faves.

For now, let’s talk about a little healthy habits reset.

I’m not sure if you’re feeling the same way, but I’m definitely ready to get back in my routine and start 2024 feeling energized and amazing. It’s been a bit of a flood of alcohol and sweets around here, and while it was 1000% worth my while I enjoyed every second, I’m looking forward to getting back to the habits that make me feel my best.

I figured we could do a little 21 day challenge, and I’d love to have you join in!

When I talk to friends, clients, and potential clients, they typically fall into two categories:

– Those who are overwhelmed and not sure where to get started to accomplish their goals

– Those who know what to do, but are unsure of how to make it work in their real life. They start off too strong, are doing things they don’t even necessarily like, and when they can’t stick with it, they give up, or move onto the next new thing.

21 days of healthy habits

Here’s how the 21 day challenge will work:

We’re focusing on building foundational habits that you can maintain for the long haul. We’re creating the anchor habits that will help you improve body composition, sleep, mood, mindset, overall health, and performance. You can get the results you’re waiting for, without fighting your body, and while keeping your hormones and nervous system happy. 🙂

The party starts January 8th with an optional 7 or 14 day functional medicine detox. (If you’d just like to do the detox, my tracking link is here and you can use the code FITNESSISTA10 for 10% off!) I’d order yours ASAP if you know you’re going to do this. Sometimes shipping is very fast, other times, it takes a little while. I’ll be doing the 14-day version! This detox is completely optional and Read more