Threading the B-Dubs Needle
One of the recent developments of my physical health journey is the introduction of macro tracking into my diet. I've written multiple pieces about the importance of staging and stacking habits, and tracking macros is the most recent step in my own journey. I recently had an experience at Buffalo Wild Wings that shed light on a crazy dynamic in nutrition.
Picture this. We're on the back end of a long traveling lacrosse day. We haven't eaten much, and the boys are getting hangry. Someone suggests we hit a BWW establishment on the way home. I open my food-tracking app to see what good options might be for me. Ultimately, I chose a great option that isn't exactly what I would have normally ordered, but it would be tasty. Meanwhile, the family orders the bottomless apps special. Chips and queso, onion rings, mozzarella sticks....it keeps on coming.
I did a good job! By the time I walked out of there, I had limited myself to about 1,200 calories with good protein. Here's what struck me as interesting. Had I eaten what I normally would have, that would have easily exceeded 3,000 calories. More than my daily calorie needs, in one meal, without even trying!!! Wow, that's amazing!
Over the past few days, my eating has been so clean that it's actually been difficult to eat enough food to meet my targets. I eat, eat, and eat more, but since the food is so clean, it's hard to even eat enough.
What a weird dynamic. When we just eat whatever we want, we easily blow past what we should consume, and if we're eating well, it's hard to eat enough. That's a hard needle to thread!
I think much of life operates this way. Without even knowing it, our casual actions are sabotaging our journey right under our nose. One decision here, another decision there. They aren't big deals, we tell ourselves. Yet, these decisions are silently crippling us day by day. And similar to my little macro tracking experiment, tracking our behavior is a great way to catch these little hidden nuances.
When we give ourselves clarity, we collect information. When we collect information, we make better choices. When we make better choices, we unlock better outcomes. It's the circle of life. My best encouragement for you today is to give yourself some much-needed clarity. Get the information you can use. Make choices that push yourself forward. Unlock the outcomes you deserve.
____
Did someone forward you this post? We're glad you're here! If you'd like to subscribe to The Daily Meaning to receive these posts directly in your inbox (for free!), just CLICK THIS LINK. It only takes 10 seconds.