Armor Up with Lorayne Michaels

Macros Made Simple: Why Numbers Matter For Real Body Change

• Lorayne • Season 1 • Episode 4

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Most people try to change their bodies without measuring what matters. We pull back the curtain on why tracking macros is the simplest way to see real progress, how protein anchors body recomposition, and where common “healthy” meals secretly fall short. Lorayne shares clear rules of thumb, from aiming for 30–40 grams of protein per meal to using one gram per pound of ideal body weight as a daily target, plus easy add-ins like chia seeds and hemp hearts that make hitting your numbers painless.

The conversation moves from quick wins to deeper diagnostics. We talk through setting calories and macros based on age, weight, movement, and training, and why higher targets can feel scary if you’ve been undereating. When progress stalls despite effort, we look beyond the scale: body scans to track muscle and fat shifts, and functional medicine labs to uncover inflammation, insulin resistance, or hormonal issues that block results. Real client stories show how the right data turns guesswork into momentum.

Tracking isn’t the only path. If logging triggers anxiety or perfectionism, plate-based guides and structured meal templates build the same skills without the stress. The goal is sustainable awareness: enough clarity to fuel workouts, support recovery, and build muscle while trimming fat. By the end, you’ll know how to spot protein gaps in everyday meals, set realistic macro targets, and choose the best level of structure for your mindset and lifestyle.

If this conversation helped you, subscribe, rate the show, and share it with a friend who needs a nudge toward smarter nutrition. Tag us on social so we can cheer you on and answer your questions.

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to another episode of Armor Up Podcast with your host, Lorraine Michaels. And today I want to talk to you about changes. Changes and tracking. You cannot change what you don't track. And a lot of times, my clients, when they come to me, they are not tracking. I could probably say that 99% of the time, my clients are not tracking anything. And no fault of their own. That's why they're coming to me so that I can help them. But I want to talk to you about the importance of tracking because, like I said, you cannot change what you don't track. And if you aren't aware of what's going on, then you're not going to know what to change. And so the importance with tracking, we're going to talk specifically about macros right now. The importance of tracking your macros is so that you know where you're at and what you need to change or increase or decrease. Macros are a non-negotiable when it comes to fitness and nutrition because you cannot achieve a certain um goal or aesthetic without tracking. So let's say, for example, you want to lose fat and tone up. Well, that toned look is actually muscle. So what you really are doing is you're building muscle. And in turn, when you build muscle, you're gonna automatically lose fat. So when people come to me and they say they want to lose weight, it takes a little bit of digging and asking some questions. But typically what they want to do is they want to look better and feel better. And they may be overweight, yes. Um, and but maybe not. It might not be that they are overweight, they just have an unhealthy proportion of muscle to fat. So they might think they are overweight, but when in turn, when we start to lose fat and build muscle, their weight might even stay the same. It might even go up, um, depending on you know what what the numbers really are. So tracking. Prime example. This morning, I had a healthy breakfast, probably one of my favorite breakfasts. It is uh avocado toast with eggs, fried eggs, and or scrambled, either one. But I usually do two eggs, homemade sourdough, which I always that's the only bread we ever have in this house is homemade sourdough because there's only three ingredients in it and I know what goes in it. Um, so it's healthy. And there is a level of protein, especially when you start milling your own flour. But I'm not gonna get into that. So, anyways, homemade sourdough toast, a half avocado, and two eggs. That is a good, well-balanced breakfast, and it's got a healthy amount of fats, a good amount of carbs, and it has protein. However, it is not enough protein, and I know that, but the average person wouldn't know that. They would think that that is a good breakfast. The only reason why they would know is if they were tracking. And so that's why it is so important to track your macros when you are on a health journey or when you are trying to achieve a certain goal. There will be a time where you will track for so long and then you'll figure out and you'll learn what um what your numbers are by what you eat. You'll know that two eggs is only about 15 grams of protein. You'll learn that four ounces of chicken is roughly about 25 to 28 grams of protein. Like you'll start to learn these things once you start tracking for a period of time. And so historically, with my clients, women that come to me are overtraining and undereating. And so when we start, I create your fitness program and how often you're working out, and based off of your metrics, age, weight, um, how often you're gonna be working out, age and weight, and then how often you're gonna be moving around and exercising. So after I put in those metrics, then I can figure out how many calories you'll need. And then I'll start to figure out what the macro amount is that you'll need. And when that happens, my clients are floored and they're like, oh my gosh, I how do I eat that much? How do I eat that much protein? This is a lot. Am I so is are you sure? Like they a lot of times my clients get scared of the amount of calories that they need to be consuming. And it's difficult for them at first to um hit those macro amounts. And when I say macros, I'm talking protein, fat, and carbs. Those are the three main macros that you need to survive that your body needs. And so we just have to, you know, get on this journey together. And clients need to be able to trust their coaches that they are leading them in the right direction. And sometimes it feels counterintuitive and sometimes it feels difficult, but there's a way to do these things. Um, you know, I come up with different ways in order to get protein, and I'll send you different um worksheets and PDFs of different ideas of how you can add things like chia seeds, hemp parts, different things to start to increase the protein that you have. So it's not just, you know, I have to eat 10 ounces of chicken and uh one ounce of grain beans. It's it's not like that. So it takes a bit of education, but this is why tracking is so important because, for instance, my breakfast this morning was not enough protein. I know that throughout my day, I'm gonna have to figure out different ways to add in little boosts of protein so that I can have the right amount. Now, what is the right amount? Again, like I had said, it is based off of your metrics and the level of activity that you do. And then I can come up with those numbers. Also, a good rule of thumb is for protein, you should be eating a gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. So if you weigh 150 and you want to weigh 130 pounds, then you should be eating 130 grams of protein a day. And a good way to do that, um, to make sure that you don't fall really short is trying to get at least 30 to 40 grams of protein in per meal. So if you did 40 and you eat three times a day, that's already 120 grams of protein for the day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All you have to do is add in a shake or some nuts or just little things, adding hemp parts or chia seeds to any of your meals or your water. Chia seeds to your water, not hemp parts. Hem parts can be thrown on salads, sandwiches, um, in your shakes or smoothies. So there's different ways that you can add in these um boosts to help you hit your protein goals. So a good rule of thumb: a gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight, and aim for 30 to 40 grams of protein per meal. All right. And so back to you can't change what you don't track. For so long, so I've been doing this, I've been in the fitness space for 20 years, 15, 20 years now. And so in the very beginning, I had a coach and I started competing. And so that was me tracking and learning how to eat. And then slowly, after you know, years, um, I started to intuitively eat, meaning I I knew what how much protein I was getting, I knew how to eat instinctively. And then um a few years ago, I really wanted to focus on changing my body because once you get into your 40s, um, your hormones start changing, and so your body requires a different amount more protein than not. And I wanted to start building muscle, and so I really was focusing on building muscle. Aesthetically, on the outside, nothing was changing. I wasn't gaining weight, I wasn't losing weight, um, I wasn't really putting on muscle. And so I had to start tracking again. I did a body scan, so an in-body scan, which takes all your um your weight, body fat, muscle mass, all those things, which I highly recommend. If you're working with me, you will get that done, a body scan. Um, and so then we can figure out, you know, where you're sitting, muscle mass, body fat, BMI, all those things. Um, it tells you all of those metrics. And so I did that and I realized that my body fat percentage had gone up and my muscle mass had gone down. And then I started putting in, I started tracking my food, and lo and behold, I was not eating enough. I wasn't eating enough calories and I was not eating enough protein. I wasn't even close to the amount of protein that I should have been having. And that is why I was not seeing any changes. So that's why tracking is important. Now, tracking is not for everybody, and I realize that. If you have an eating disorder, tracking is not good for you. If you become obsessive, compulsive about um numbers and metrics, and if you start becoming hyper fixated on I need to lose weight, or I'm trying, whatever the goal may be, and you become hyper-fixated on it, tracking is not for you. That is why I have these guides and worksheets so that you can start to build your plate and your meals according to what I have for you, and you'll be able to total it on your own. So this way you're not becoming obsessive about it. And then you start to learn intuitively what your plate should look like in order to get the appropriate amount of macros that you need. So tracking is important and it's not for everybody, but that's why it's so important to work with a coach like myself, a certified personal trainer, certified wellness coach. I have 20 years history and experience in medicine and in fitness. So I know I know a lot about what your body needs, and I know a lot about how your body responds. Um, and also that's why I work with functional medicine uh practitioners so that we can get your labs done and figure out what's really going on. You know, I have a client. Um, we weren't seeing the progress that we thought would be happening at this stage of the game. And so I said, you know, hey, have you gotten your labs done recently? Let's go ahead and take a look at that and let's see what's really going on. And sure enough, there was a ton of inflammation, insulin resistance. Um, there was a couple of things going on that we needed to address, um, whether it be with certain medications, certain peptides that will help so that your body can adapt and start to do what we're trying to train it to do. Um, and then sure enough, weight started moving and results started coming. So that's all I have for you today. That's your importance, your important piece on tracking and why measuring is important, especially if you have a certain goal or if you're trying to figure out, you know, what's going on, you're trying to get healthy, we need to figure out what's really going on so we're not just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks and we get the results we want. All right, guys, if this episode has been at all helpful to you, please uh write the podcast. Give it give it some love, some stars. That's how we get this to spread to everyone that needs to hear it. Share this with someone. Um, tag me on social media. I'd love to interact with you. Not trying to sell you anything, I just want to be your friend. So I hope you guys have an amazing day. Remember, you are divinely created for a divine purpose.