Why I Don’t Start Women With Macros or Calories

One of the first questions I get as a coach is:“Do you give macros?” or “Should I be tracking calories?”

And my answer is and will always the same.

It depends.

It depends on your nutrition habits, your nutrition knowledge, and the quality of your current food intake.

Here's the thing. Macros and calories are tools. In my opinion, they shouldn't be a starting point by default, and they’re not a requirement for success. Used at the right time, they can absolutel be helpful. But if they are used too early, they often create more problems down the road than progress.

Here’s what I see all the time.

Women jump into tracking before they understand how to fuel themselves. They hit numbers and even lose weight, but many of them who don't understand nutrition still feel exhausted. Their workouts feel harder, their hunger is unpredictable, energy crashes become normal and caffeine becomes a crutch.

Why? Because macros and calories only tell part of the story.

You can eat within a calorie/macro target and still miss out on nutrients your body needs to function well. Even when everything is being tracked, nutrients like fiber, iron, magnesium, healthy fats, and overall food quality are often overlooked, yet they play a huge role in energy, digestion, and recovery.

Food isn’t just energy, it’s information.

It affects your hormones, digestion, mood, recovery, training performance, and how resilient you feel throughout your day. Two meals with similar calories can have completely different outcomes depending on food quality and balance.

Before I decide whether tracking makes sense, I look at a few things:

Are you eating consistently or skipping meals?

Do your meals include enough protein and fiber to actually keep you full?

Are you relying heavily on ultra-processed foods to hit numbers?

Do you understand how to build a balanced plate without an app?

Are you fueling workouts and recovery, or just surviving them?

If those pieces aren’t in place, tracking usually becomes a distraction. Women start choosing foods based on what fits instead of what fuels. They under-eat without realizing it and hey disconnect from hunger cues, overriding how their body feels because the numbers say they’re “on track.”

And honestly, I don't see that as coaching, I see that as just compliance.

My goal as someone's coach isn’t to see how little someone can eat. It’s to help them feel strong, energized, and capable in their body.

For many women, the biggest wins come from improving food quality, meal consistency, and basic nutrition skills before ever opening a tracking app. When those habits are solid, tracking can become a useful awareness tool if and when it’s needed. And sometimes, it’s not needed at all.

Strong bodies are built with enough fuel, quality food, and habits that support real life. Not insane rigid rules or constant monitoring.

Instead of automatically starting women with macros or calories, I start with the person in front me and ask as many questions about their diet and habits as I can.

Coach Maggie J