why you’re still stuck tracking macros inconsistently (and how to fix it)

[00:00:00] Emily Field: Welcome to episode 52 of Macros Made Easy. Today we’re tackling one of the most common and frustrating struggles I hear about tracking macros inconsistently. If you’ve ever said, I track sometimes, but not consistently, or I’m doing good during the week, but weekends are a mess. This episode is for you.

 

[00:00:16] Emily Field: Maybe you feel like you should be able to do this. After all you’ve logged for weeks or even months, but something’s not clicking. Maybe you’re the under eater, super meticulous during the week trying to stay clean or under your calories and then swinging hard the other direction on weekends or late at night, or maybe you think you just have a willpower problem.

 

[00:00:36] Emily Field: But really, you’re under fueled eating, unbalanced meals and setting yourself up to feel out of control later. Whether you obsess over macro math or give up the moment things aren’t perfect, you are not alone, and you are not broken. In this episode, I’m walking you through the real reasons you’re stuck.

 

[00:00:52] Emily Field: Tracking inconsistently from mindset blocks, like all or nothing thinking and perfectionism to tactical gaps like lack of planning and low protein intake. You’ll hear real client stories and practical strategies that work in real life. By the end of the episode, you’ll feel clear on why this keeps happening and exactly what to do to build consistency without needing to be perfect.

 

[00:01:15] Emily Field: Welcome to Macros Made Easy, the podcast that takes the confusion out of tracking macros. I’m your host, Emily Field, a registered dietician that specializes in a macros approach. In each episode, I help you learn how to eat in a way that supports your health, body composition, and athletic performance goals.

 

[00:01:31] Emily Field: We’ll cover the basics of macronutrients, how to track for various goals, the role of macros in your health, and how to make sustainable changes to your habits. I’ve helped hundreds of people experience more food freedom and flexibility while navigating their nutrition. So whether you’ve tried macros and it just didn’t stick, or you just heard the word macros yesterday, I can’t wait to help you too.

 

[00:01:52] Emily Field: Let’s talk about the root causes I see most often. So if you’ve ever felt like you should be able to track your macros but just don’t or can’t seem to stick with it, I want you to know that this is not about willpower. You’re not broken, you’re not lazy. What’s actually happening is that certain thought patterns and habits are getting in the way.

 

[00:02:12] Emily Field: Once you can name them, you can change them. So let’s unpack the five biggest culprits I see. Keeping people stuck in inconsistent tracking cycles. The first is all or nothing thinking. This is the most common roadblock I see, and it sounds like this. If I can’t do it perfectly, why bother doing it at all, or I’m eating out tonight and I don’t know the exact macros, so I’ll just skip tracking for the rest of the day.

 

[00:02:37] Emily Field: This mindset divides your days into OnPlan and off plan, creating big swings in behavior, mood, and results. It also feeds guilt. One small deviation from the plan becomes a reason to give up entirely, and that guilt spiral is exhausting. So let’s give an example here. Maybe you go over on fat by about 10 grams at lunch.

 

[00:02:58] Emily Field: So you declare the whole day of wash and hit the drive through for dinner thinking I already blew it. But what if you just logged that lunch, accepted the overage, and made a flexible plan for dinner instead? I. You’d stay consistent and you’d probably feel a whole lot better. The next roadblock I see is perfectionism, and this is often disguised as discipline.

 

[00:03:19] Emily Field: Many macro trackers are high achievers. You’re used to setting goals and crushing them, so when tracking feels messy or uncertain, perfectionism kicks in. It’s not that you lack discipline, it’s that your definition of success. Is too narrow. It’s perfection. So you think if I can’t make my numbers add up perfectly, I’m doing it wrong.

 

[00:03:39] Emily Field: So instead of logging in perfect day and learning from it, you stop tracking altogether. An example here, maybe you’re trying to pre log your day, but the numbers don’t line up perfectly. Instead of adjusting, you delete everything and quit. Or you beat yourself up because your dinner was off by like five grams of carbs.

 

[00:03:56] Emily Field: But here’s the truth. Progress isn’t built on perfection. It’s built on data and practice. Even imperfect logs are goldmines of information that can serve you for the future. The next roadblock I see is lack of planning or lack of strategy. Inconsistent trackers often log after they eat. It’s a reactive approach.

 

[00:04:16] Emily Field: Let me plug it in and hope it works. But without pre logging or even just a loose plan, it’s really easy at the end of the day to be low on protein, way over on fat and scrambling to make it work. This is the group that says Tracking is so time consuming. But often it feels that way because they’re winging it, not because the actual logging takes that long.

 

[00:04:37] Emily Field: Here’s an example. If you don’t think about dinner until 6:00 PM you might realize you’re already at 70 grams of fat and only halfway through your protein goal. Now you’re left playing macro Tetris instead of just eating a satisfying meal, I. A little bit of planning, like logging your main meals in the morning, or simply pre-law, the protein dominant foods of your meals that can prevent the spiral entirely.

 

[00:05:00] Emily Field: Fourth roadblock, lack of support and feedback. Tracking can feel like a solo mission and without someone in your corner, it’s easy to normalize behaviors that aren’t helping. You may not even realize you’re falling into an all or nothing thinking or perfectionist patterns unless someone reflects it back to you.

 

[00:05:17] Emily Field: Support is also key when your strategy needs tweaking without outside eyes. You might keep trying the same approach like Undereating during the day and wondering why you binge at night. So an example here might be a coach or accountability partner that can spot that you’re always 40 grams short on protein or that you’re off days.

 

[00:05:37] Emily Field: Follow super low calorie ones. That kind of feedback can be the catalyst for change that you just can’t give yourself when you’re in the weeds. The last roadblock I’ll mention is misdiagnosis of the problem, and this one’s sneaky. So many people think they’re inconsistent because they, quote, lack willpower, or are quote, emotional eaters, but often the issue is physiological, not psychological.

 

[00:06:03] Emily Field: You might be undereating protein, which leaves you unsatisfied and craving more food, skipping meals, or having low energy breakfast, setting you up for late day binges. Maybe you’re eating meals that are mostly carbs and fat with little fiber or protein, which is gonna lead to low satisfaction, low satiety, and leave you looking for more.

 

[00:06:24] Emily Field: You think I just can’t stop snacking at night, but you’ve only had 30 grams of protein all day. No wonder you’re hungry. Once you start building balanced meals earlier in the day, the quote willpower issue often solves itself. I want you to know that each one of these root causes is fixable, but first you have to see them.

 

[00:06:43] Emily Field: That’s the first win. Naming the pattern and realizing it’s not just you, it’s a system problem, not a character flaw. And that’s what we’ll talk about next. Simple, realistic ways to shift these patterns. So macro tracking actually feels doable, and dare I say, easy. But before we dive into the solutions, I wanna offer you a quick way to figure out exactly where you’re getting stuck.

 

[00:07:03] Emily Field: I created the free macro mastery quiz to help you identify what stage you’re in, and more importantly, how to move forward. Did the traits of macro annoyed sound a little too familiar or maybe macro determined. Maybe you’re stuck somewhere else. You can take the quiz at the link in my show notes or just DM me the word quiz on Instagram and I’ll send it straight to your inbox.

 

[00:07:23] Emily Field: Now that you understand what’s keeping you stuck, let’s talk about what moves the needle. These aren’t hacks or rigid rules. There’s shifts in mindset and strategy that help real people just like you go from inconsistent and frustrated to confident, inconsistent. First, I want you to shift from perfect to practiced.

 

[00:07:41] Emily Field: Macro. Mastery is not a moral test. It’s a skill one that’s learned through reps, not perfection. If you’ve been measuring your success by how perfectly you can hit your numbers each day, I want you to try a new question. Was I consistent enough to learn something? Progress comes from showing up repeatedly, not flawlessly.

 

[00:08:02] Emily Field: Here’s a few powerful mantras that might work for you. Done is better than perfect. Consistency beats intensity. Messy action is better than no action. Here’s a story for you about Anna. Anna had a pattern of only tracking when she felt on if life got busy or unpredictable, she’d ghost or tracking app completely sometimes for days.

 

[00:08:24] Emily Field: In coaching, we worked on adopting a B plus mentality. That meant she focused on hitting her protein target and staying within her overall calorie range, while allowing her carbs and fats to be a lot more flexible. The simple mindset shift from rigid perfection to practice to consistency changed everything for her, her all or nothing swings disappeared and she became more relaxed around food and no surprise she finally started seeing results.

 

[00:08:51] Emily Field: The next strategy that might be helpful is to pre log or build framework days. If tracking feels overwhelming or time consuming, it’s often because you’re trying to make it work in real time, reacting to every meal and hoping the macros line up. Instead, take a proactive approach. Pre log your day the night before or in the morning even better might be to just build two to three framework days that you can rotate.

 

[00:09:15] Emily Field: These are basic templates of meals and snacks that work for your goals and lifestyle. Think of ’em like your personal macro blueprints. One for busy days, one for weekends, and maybe one for travel. This strategy really worked for Kristen. Kristen used to feel paralyzed every time she opened her food tracking app.

 

[00:09:33] Emily Field: Too many options, too many decisions. So we simplified together. We created two go-to framework days that her her macro targets and used foods she liked and often had on hand. During the week. She alternated between those two templates, which saved her decision making energy for busier days, and that simple system was a game changer.

 

[00:09:52] Emily Field: She started hitting her targets more often and stopped dreading the app. The next strategy is to prioritize protein first, and. It’s obviously not the first time you’ve heard me say this. If you’ve ever had a day where your food felt great, but your macros look like a mess, this one is probably for you.

 

[00:10:08] Emily Field: Instead of building your day randomly and trying to macro tetris your meals at night, I want you to flip the script. Start with protein set anchor meals like breakfast and lunch around high quality protein sources. Once those are in place, it’s much easier to fill in with carbs and fats throughout the day.

 

[00:10:26] Emily Field: This reminds me of a client who came to me convinced she had a nighttime snacking problem. She was doing everything right, tracking, eating healthy foods, but couldn’t stop grazing in the evening. When we looked closer, we realized she was barely hitting 60 grams of protein by dinner. Oftentimes it was closer to 40.

 

[00:10:42] Emily Field: We doubled her protein intake at breakfast and lunch. And guess what? The nighttime cravings disappeared. Same total calories, same food logging. But by fueling earlier on, her body stopped screaming for more food late at night. And hey, if this episode is already hitting home and you’re tired of trying to figure this out all on your own, I want to personally invite you to apply for coaching.

 

[00:11:04] Emily Field: We’re in onboarding season right now, which means it’s the perfect time to get support, structure, and accountability to make real progress, not just in your tracking, but in your confidence, energy, and results. My team and I work closely with clients who want to fuel better, fuel stronger, and finally break the cycle of inconsistency.

 

[00:11:22] Emily Field: So if that’s you, head to the link in the show notes and apply today, we’ll take a look and let you know if it sounds like a great fit. The next strategy is to create a weekend protocol. Weekends are often the black hole of macro tracking, but they don’t have to be. The key isn’t to aim for perfection.

 

[00:11:38] Emily Field: It’s to aim for alignment. Ask yourself, what’s the minimum effective dose of tracking that I need for the weekend? What’s one anchor habit I can commit to, even on unstructured days? Maybe it’s logging breakfast. Maybe it’s pre logging one meal. Maybe it’s simply hitting your protein goal. The point is to stay connected to your goals without letting the wheels totally fall off.

 

[00:12:01] Emily Field: This reminds me of a great story from Jason. Jason used to treat weekends like a free for all, no structure, no logging, and a Monday full of guilt. We reframe the goal, so instead of saying track everything, he aimed to just log one high protein meal each day over the weekend. That tiny commitment gave him a sense of control and awareness without pressure, and the result was that he was less bingey, more mindful, and had a much smoother transition into the week.

 

[00:12:30] Emily Field: The next strategy is to reflect on what kind of tracker you want to be. Here’s a radical idea. You get to decide what kind of tracker you wanna be. Maybe you wanna track daily, maybe just Monday through Friday, maybe you track for a few months. Then transition to intuitive eating with occasional check-ins.

 

[00:12:49] Emily Field: The point is, it’s not a one size fits all. But inconsistency without awareness isn’t a strategy. The sooner you define your own style, the sooner tracking will feel like a tool, not a chore. Lastly, I want you to focus on behavior, not just math. Your macro targets aren’t just numbers. They’re a framework for building better habits.

 

[00:13:11] Emily Field: Don’t chase hitting 135 grams of protein for the sake of it. Use that number to inform behavior. Are you building meals that keep you full? Are you eating in a way that supports your workouts, your sleep, your energy? Tracking should create awareness, not control. Instead of obsessing over exact grams, focus on showing up with consistent, repeatable behaviors, eating protein with every meal, planning snacks that support your goals, drinking enough water.

 

[00:13:37] Emily Field: These actions matter more than a perfectly balanced pie chart at the end of the week. Now that we’ve covered the root causes of inconsistency and real life strategies to get back on track. I wanna zoom out and challenge one of the biggest myths in the nutrition and fitness space that success comes from being consistent.

 

[00:13:57] Emily Field: If you’ve ever felt like you’re failing because you can’t log perfectly every day, or because you missed a workout or because you had a messy weekend, I want you to hear me loud and clear. It’s not you. It’s your definition of consistency. In fact, I hate the word consistency. It’s vague, overused, and often interpreted as perfection in disguise.

 

[00:14:17] Emily Field: And when people inevitably fall short of that perfection, they spiral. They feel like they failed. They think that they need to start over on Monday, but here’s the truth. Long-term success doesn’t come from hitting your macros perfectly every day. It comes from building systems that are flexible for giving and resilient.

 

[00:14:35] Emily Field: That’s why I teach my clients to focus on three much more helpful concepts, patterns, priorities, and frequency. Patterns are the habits that show up most often In your day-to-day life, are you building meals around protein? Do you skip breakfast? Do you tend to overeat at night? These patterns tell you where to focus.

 

[00:14:53] Emily Field: Priorities are the things that move the needle the most. If your goal is fat loss, hitting your calories and protein targets might be more impactful than obsessing over every gram of fat and carbs. Frequency is about how often you do the important stuff, not whether you do it every day. Hitting your targets for or five days a week is plenty to make progress over time.

 

[00:15:13] Emily Field: When you take this lens, things that used to feel like failures become neutral, a missed day is just that a day, not a derailment, not a reason to quit. Let me give you an example. I had a client, Amanda, who felt like a failure any week. She didn’t hit four workouts, life got busy. She beat herself up, declared the week of loss, and vowed to start fresh.

 

[00:15:34] Emily Field: We changed that narrative. I asked her, what if we zoomed out? What if we aimed for four workouts across 10 days instead of seven? Her body didn’t know what Monday was, but her mindset, sure did that shift allowed her to stay in the game instead of starting over. And guess what? She became more consistent by letting go of perfection.

 

[00:15:53] Emily Field: So here’s your takeaway for the day. If you’re stuck in macro tracking, inconsistency, the problem isn’t your willpower. It’s how you’re measuring success. Instead of asking, was I perfect? I want you to ask, what patterns am I seeing? What priorities am I upholding most often, and how frequently am I doing the things that truly matter?

 

[00:16:12] Emily Field: Start small. Maybe your new pattern is having protein at breakfast. Your priority is strength trading twice a week. Your frequency goal is logging food four days a week. That’s what real consistency looks like, and it’s more than enough. So here’s what we covered today. If you’ve been stuck in the cycle of tracking inconsistently, whether that’s.

 

[00:16:31] Emily Field: Because of all or nothing thinking perfectionism, lack of planning, or just not knowing what’s going wrong, you’re not alone. We broke down the real reasons behind the inconsistency, and more importantly, I give you practical tools to move forward. You learned how shifting from perfect to practiced can change everything.

 

[00:16:48] Emily Field: How pre logging and building framework days can save you hours of stress while leading with protein simplifies your day and how creating a weekend protocol keeps you anchored when life gets unpredictable. But maybe the biggest shift of all is letting go of consistency as perfection and replacing it with a more empowering framework.

 

[00:17:07] Emily Field: Patterns, priorities, and frequency. Because progress isn’t about hitting your macros perfectly every day. It’s about showing up enough for long enough in the ways that align with your goals. If this episode resonated, there are two ways you can take action right now. First, take the Macro mastery quiz to find out which stage you’re in and what’s keeping you stuck.

 

[00:17:26] Emily Field: You’ll get customized resources and clarity on what to do next. The link is in the show notes or just DM me the word quiz on Instagram and I’ll send it to you. And second, if you’re ready for support and a plan that actually fits your real life, it’s time to apply for coaching. We’re in onboarding season and now is the perfect time to get personalized support that helps you feel strong, confident, and in control of your nutrition.

 

[00:17:47] Emily Field: I. Just head over to the show notes to apply. Thanks for listening to Macros Made Easy, and I’ll see you back here in two weeks. Thank you so much for listening to the Macros Made Easy podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the one you’re listening to right now to share it on your Instagram stories and tag me at Emily Field rds so that more people can find this podcast and learn how to use a macros approach in a stress-free way.

 

[00:18:10] Emily Field: If you love the podcast, head over to iTunes and leave me a rating and a review. Remember, you can always find more free health and nutrition content on Instagram and on my website at emilyfieldrd.com. Thanks for listening, and I’ll catch you on the next episode.