157: Why I Created MACROS 101

Introduction 

You're listening to Biceps after Babies radio episode number 157.

Hello and welcome to Biceps after Babies radio. A podcast for ladies who know that fitness is about so much more than pounds lost or PRs. It's about feeling confident in your skin and empowered in your life. I'm your host, Amber Brueseke, a registered nurse, personal trainer, wife, and mom of four.  Each week, my guests and I will excite and motivate you to take action in your own personal fitness as we talk about nutrition, exercise mindset, personal development, and executing life with conscious intention. If your goal is to look, feel, and be strong and experience transformation from the inside out, you, my friend are in the right place. Thank you for tuning in, now let’s jump into today’s episode.

 

Why I Created Macros 101  0:47  

Hey, Hey, Hey, welcome back to another episode of biceps after babies radio, I'm your host, Amber Brueseke. And I assume that you have read the title of this podcast episode, Why I Created Macros 101. And I have to assume that if you're listening to this episode, you probably fall into one of three camps. One, you're just curious about the program. And you want to hear a little bit more about it and what it entails. Number two, maybe you are on the fence about joining and you are just gathering information and trying to see if this is going to be a good fit for you and your goals are number three, you're already planning on joining Macros 101, and you are listening to get excited about what is to come for you in your journey. And many of you know we are opening the doors for the last time in 2021, tomorrow, August 30. This will be the last time we run this program until March of 2022. So  if you have been on the fence about joining Macros 101, just know that this is your chance to do it if you're wanting to do it before March of 2022, that'll be the next time that we run the program. So my goal really for this episode is just to kind of chat with you about what Macros 101 is, why I created it, what it does for people and helping you understand who this is for. And really what makes it different from all the other bajillion programs out there. Because Macro 101  is a very different program from so many other programs out there, and very different coaching that takes place inside of Macros 101. 

 

The program itself is way beyond its name 2:26 

So let's start with the elephant in the room. The fact that it's named Macros 101, and that is not a very good name that encapsulates not at all really what we do in the program. And I will own that and I will say that I teach my clients to take messy action and to not let perfectionism get in the way of them taking action. And I follow that same mantra in my business. And so when I launched Macros 101 for the first time, I have never professed to be very creative when it comes to naming things. And so rather than prevent myself from launching the program, I you know, just said, Hey, Macros 101 done. It's like an easy name. We're just gonna go with it and we're gonna put it out there. And I just haven't ever changed it. And yes, it doesn't maybe encapsulate exactly what we do in the program. But you know, what is done is better than perfect. And that's what it is. So I know that many people hear the name Macros 101, and they think, Oh, this must be a super basic program. It's like a college course, that's, you know, the basic introductory course. And I know how to count macros, and I don't need a program that's really basic, like I don't want to count macros, I just haven't been able to figure out how to, like make it work for me, or I haven't figured out how to get my good results with it. Like that's what my problem is. And I wanted to let you know that while it saysMacros 101. And you know, if you are brand new to macro counting, I will teach you how to count macros, like that's easy. I can teach you how to count macros. And we do that inside of Macros 101. But that's a very small part of the program. Because teaching you how to count macros is not the hard part, teaching you how to do it. That's easy. Like you can learn that from a bunch of free resources. That's not anything that's really challenging. And that's not what trips women up a lot of times, now there is a learning curve. So don't get me wrong. There's a learning curve with macro accounting and having resources and having someone walk you through it. It's gonna make that learning curve shorter, of course. But that's really not where most women get stuck. Most women get stuck in learning how to utilize this tool in a unique and customized way for their journey. For what's different about their body, what's different about their goals, what's different about the lifestyle that they want to create. 

 

Taking macro counting as another diet 4:45 

And so many coaches are teaching macro counting as a very prescriptive diet where they give somebody macros and then you have to follow them. And if you follow them, well then you'll be successful and if you don't well then you're successful. And I think that really does a disservice not only to you as a client, but also to macro counting as a tool because it reduces macro counting into what is wrong with so many other diets. And that is that it's a diet, it's prescriptive, it's the same for everybody. It is, you know, this is the right way to do it, this is the wrong way to do it. And women just find themselves falling back into those dieting behaviors. So if you've ever been somebody who has counting macros in the past, and you found yourself going over your macros and not tracking, or feeling guilty, when you don't hit your numbers, or feeling guilty, if you eat something, it doesn't fit your macros, it's very understandable but you've simply taken macro counting and turn it into another diet. 

 

Reason why I created Macros 101 5:47 

And so many programs, there are other great programs out there that will teach you the how of macro counting. Like I said, that's not the hard part. The hard part is the deeper work of why do you know how to do it and don't follow through? Why do you self sabotage? Why do you plateau and then what do you do when you plateau? And so the reason that I created a macro counting is because I really I saw this problem, I saw this problem of women treating macro counting like just another diet, and that bringing with it all the problems that we already know come with dieting, that yo yo cycle, the off and on, the I'm good and I'm following it now and then I fall off the wagon, and I'm bad. And I have this continuous like, like, those are all the problems that we understand that comes with a very prescriptive diet. And I realized that people didn't understand how to use this tool, how to become their own coach, how to apply it to their journey, and how to really become the expert in their journey. 

 

Reason why I created Macros 101 5:52 

Something I see a lot with women. And of course, this is a generalization. So you don't take that for what it's worth. But generalization that I see a lot of women looking outside of themselves for answers, going to other people to tell them what to do. And I think on some level, a lot of us like that, like, we just want someone to tell us what to do, just Just tell me what to do Amber and I'll do it. And on some level, a lot of us want that and our fitness journey is no different. We're like, I just want someone else to be the expert, and just tell me what to do and I will execute it. And there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But when somebody else is the expert in your journey, it takes away a lot of your power. It's like if somebody gave the keys to your house to somebody else, and like every time you wanted to go into your house, you had to go to that person and have them unlock your door for you. And that's what happens for a lot of women, they'll hire a coach or they'll do a program and follow a meal plan or follow workout guidance that tells them what to do. And you know, they can follow that for a while. But it's like somebody else holding the keys, they haven't learned to trust themselves. They haven't learned to coach themselves. They haven't learned to dive deep into the actual things that are keeping them stuck. They've just put a bandaid over things. They can follow a meal plan for a while because that's a band aid over what the real underlying problem is. And so as I saw that in the industry, and as I saw that with lots of women, I started realizing that true transformation didn't come from just teaching people how to count carbs, fat and protein. It's not where our true transformation came from. True transformation came from the inside, as we started to shift thoughts and beliefs and the way that you speak to yourself. And that internal transformation gets relayed to the external. And so that is what I came to the plate with as I was creating Macros 101  was understanding that I wanted to have a program that taught you the basics, of course, taught you about this tool that has been very transformational in my life has really allowed me to understand how to fuel my body, and how to best hit my goals, but not just teach you how it's worked for me but help you learn how it can work for you. And help you learn how to become your own expert in their journey, how to become the scientist in your journey to be able to use this tool, but apply it in a unique way and realize that you have a lot of the answers to the questions that you have inside of you. 

 

3 Pillars of Macros 101  9:26 

And so a big part of Macros 101 is the coaching element. I always say that there's three, What do you call pillars?, I say there's three pillars to Macros 101. When someone asked me what does Macros 101 is? Well, there's three pillars in the program. 

 

No. 1 Content  9:39

The first pillar is content. Because of course you have to learn things, right learning is a fundamental part of getting new results is learning new things and taking new action. So that's a really important part of the process. And inside of Macros 101 I want to walk you A to Z through the process I walk you through setting In your own macros, I walk you through creating that customized meal plan, I walk you through overcoming and defeating self sabotage, I walk you through adjustments. So a lot of women come to me already knowing how to count macros. But again, no coach has ever given them the keys to understanding how to make adjustments. And so they've been reliant on somebody else, to adjust their macros for them or, or tell them what to do next. And really a big part of Macros 101 is teaching you how to become your own coach, how to start coaching yourself, how to make those own adjustments in your journey, so that you're able to get through plateaus, and continue to get results. And then last, I take you through and teach you how to do a reverse diet, which is a missing piece in so many women's journeys, who have been able to see results in the past, but haven't been able to maintain them. If that's been you, and you've seen results in the past, but you cannot maintain them and you tend to be that Yo-yoer, usually the missing piece for those women is a reverse diet, where you're intentionally increasing your metabolic rate by intentionally adding food, and being able to maintain all the progress that you've made with more food. And that's a big piece of the puzzle that's missing for a lot of women. So you know, that's the content I teach you through, it's an A to Z type of thing where you have all of the information that you need to know. And that's important, that's foundational. And it's not enough. Because again, just because you've read a textbook on swimming, does that mean that you know how to swim? No, you still don't know how to swim, even if you read the entire textbook. And so we have to go out there and we have to do things. And we have to practice and we have to make mistakes. And we have to have a coach that helps guide us and see where those gaps are in applying the knowledge that we have gained. 

 

No. 2 Coaching 11:44

And so I always say that coaching, good effective coaching, is helping clients to apply the knowledge that they've gained in areas that they haven't been applying it. And the trick is that oftentimes, these are blind spots for people. These are not things that they see in themselves. It's like the back of your head can't really see the back of your head. It's there, but you can't really see it. And oftentimes it will take someone who has a little bit more distance, who's looking at the back of your head to be able to alert you to those blind spots that we all have on a human phenomenon is to have blind spots. And so that's what coaching is inside of Macros 101 and I would say coaching is what sets us apart. It is what makes the program different. Because we're coaching on a transformational level.

 

Transformational coaching 12:35

 I coach my clients and I teach all of my coaches in Macros 101, what I call transformational coaching, this is coaching on a deeper level. This is not coaching that tells people what to do. So a lot of times I see especially beginner coaches, or or even like not beginner coaches, but they're well intentioned people thinking that they can coach by just teaching or thinking that they can be a coach, by just giving people advice, do this do that, Oh, that's a problem here, try this here, go do this. It's very well intentioned, to give people advice, but it's not transformative. And it leaves the keys again, in the hands of the coach, not in the hands of the client. I see other coaches who are really just cheerleaders, they're just glorified cheerleaders, they're like, Yay, they'd like to provide accountability. And then when you're doing a good job, they're like, Yay, celebrate for you. Right? There's nothing wrong with that. But it's not transformative. And so the place that I coach from the place that my coaches coach from inside of Macros 101 is what we call transformational coaching. And it's a deeper level of coaching. And if you've never heard me coach before, and you want to hear what it sounds like, I highly recommend going back into the episodes, we have some examples of coaching on the podcast episodes, you can go back to episodes 80 and 81. Those are two podcast episodes, you can hear that coaching. If you're on Instagram, I also have a whole series of free coaching Fridays that we've done. We'll see an example of how I coach. And then also we will be releasing on Tuesday, another podcast episode that has some of the coaching so you can kind of see the difference. It's very evident and apparent when you listen to that coaching that I am empowering the client to be able to come up with answers. And this is not about me telling you what to do. Because if I tell you what to do, then I have all of the answers. And I have all the power. And I don't want your keys. Don't give me your keys. I want you to have your keys and I want you to build confidence and an understanding that you have answers that are inside of you that you're able to tap into that I'm not able to tap into and so a lot of what Macros 101 is about is helping you step into what we call the role of the macro scientists. 

 

The role of the macro scientists 14:52

The macro scientist is a woman who is able to be in control of her journey. She's able to make decisions and her journey based on data and feedback. Not based on someone else telling her what to do, not based on emotion, not based off of quick, like half baked decisions, but is able to keep a logical level head because she understands the science, she understands how this process works. And she's able to ask herself really good questions, come up with hypotheses and test them out in her journey. And that's the way that she's able to figure out this, how this process is going to work for her uniquely. 

 

Macro counting is a tool 15:25

I say it over and over again, macro counting is a tool. Two people can use the exact same tool completely differently, you can take a knife, and you can carve a nice statue out of a tree stump, and then someone else can take that same knife and they can go stab somebody. So the same tool, used very differently by the person who's wielding it. And so we have to make sure that, yes, I'm going to teach you the tool, macro counting. But more importantly, I'm going to teach you how to use the tool effectively, and how to apply it to your unique journey and how to help you to step into this place where you are the macro scientist in your journey. So coaching is a huge piece of Macros 101. What I would say is the most transformative for people is the deeper level of coaching that we do. 

 

No. 3 Community 16:10

So the third pillar is also community. And so the cool thing about it is because the coaching that we do inside of Macros 101 is group coaching, not only are you able to get your questions answered, get personal coaching yourself through whatever you're struggling with in your journey, but you're able to watch others do the same. And I know in my journey as I've been in groups, and I've had the honor of being able to listen to somebody else get coached. I know that sometimes that's the stuff that makes the difference for me, because I'm able to get out of my head, I'm able to sometimes see the blind spots that someone who is in the hot seat themselves doesn't maybe see. But as an outside perspective, I'm able to identify those things in somebody else that maybe I haven't been able to identify myself. And so it's very valuable. I know a lot of people are really concerned. They're like, Oh, group coaching, how could that be customized? How can that be personalized? Am I going to get answers to my own questions, right, I want to be able to if I have a question about my unique journey, I want to get an answer to it. Am I going to be able to do that Macros 101? And the answer is a big hack? Yes, it is group coaching and every single answer is personalized to the person who is asking it. We have an opportunity to get coaching in our community. So we have a private community where anytime you want to put up a post and get coaching, this is back and forth between a coach and you, you can do that. So we have 24/7 access to coaching there. We have a lot of coaching calls between me and the Macros 101 coaches, where you can actually show up and get coached live. So inside of Macros 101 yes, it's group coaching, and it is personalized and individualized. Now I don't mean that to say that we're going to do check-ins with you. That's not what this program is about. But if you have a question about how to take a concept and apply it to your unique journey, and you ask the question, it will be answered and you will have a next step in your journey. That's what we really promise. That is our promise inside of Macros 101. 

 

More to love about the Macros 101 community 18:14

So a little bit more about that third pillar, which first two pillars are content and coaching and then community. And there is incredible power and surrounding yourself with other women who are on a journey, and who are so invested and committed and you know, determined in that journey that not only did they set a goal, but they invested in a program and a process to be able to make it happen, right. Those are the women that you want to associate yourself with. You want to be around those women who are committed like you are to reaching this goal and are so willing, so wanting to reach the desire that they have that they're willing to invest in the process. And so one of the favorite things that people always love about Macros 101 is the community that we are able to build. So yes, you're learning from me, Yes, you're learning from the coaches and you're learning from each other. And you're able to make friendships with people, if you want to, we pair people up into accountability groups in the program. And we've had accountability groups that do meetups like they are all from all over the United States and they meet up and get to know each other because they've been supporting each other on their journey. So surrounding yourself with the people who are doing the things that you want to be doing is incredibly valuable and it's one of the things that I love about our Macros 101 community. 

 

Who is the right person for this program? 19:33

So who is the right person for this program? There are a couple different women that we have or types of women I should say that we have joined Macros 101, of course we have the you know, ultimate beginners, people who are like brand new to macro counting and they want to know how it you know how to do it, how to use it, how to set their numbers, all of those like basic things, coming into Macros 101 and basically doing it the right way. Not letting anybody else teach them poor habits, in terms of how to get started with macro counting. So we absolutely have a brand new macro counter. Another woman that we have a lot of is the people who have been macro counting for a while, but haven't been seeing the results that they want. Okay, so  they know how to use the tool, but the tool hasn't been super effective for them or they haven't learned how to effectively use the tool, they don't know how to adjust their macros, they don't know how to break through plateaus. Somebody you know, they followed what a coach has told them to do, but they don't understand how to do it themselves. Or they don't understand how to make it work for their body. That's another woman that does really well inside of Macros 101. And then the third person I would type a person I would say is somebody who realizes that they need to do a reverse diet, who realizes that they've been eating very low calorie for a long time who realizes that they've plateaued because their metabolism has adopted downward, and that they need to take the time to improve their metabolism and go through a reverse diet. So I'd say that's the third category of women who we have come into Macros 101. So we have a span of you know, women who have different goals. We have women in there who are in a deficit trying to lose fat, we have women in there who are attempting to gain more muscle. We have women in there who are practicing maintenance, who are getting to that place where they are practicing, being able to maintain, we have women in here reversing. So where you're at in your journey in terms of which phase you're in doesn't doesn't really matter. If you are somebody who wants to be in control of your journey, you want to have the keys to the house, you want to stop letting other people tell you what to do. You want to take control and have the knowledge and ability and confidence in yourself to be able to be successful, then Macros 101 is going to be for you. 

 

Who should not join the program 21:52

Now who's here's who I will say will hate Macros 101. And if this is you, no shame, like no shame, don't join Macros 101. You won't like it, you'll ask her for a refund and I don't need it. So I would say the woman who should not join Macros 101 is the person who wants someone else to tell them what to do. If that's you, and you just want someone to give you a meal plan, you want someone to do your workouts for you, you want someone to like give you here's XYZ to do you're going to hate Macros 101, it's gonna be it's gonna be awful. Do you feel like you're not getting what you need? The reality is you're not getting what you want. But I am in the program giving you what you need. And that's if that's not really gonna jive with you cool. No harm, no foul, no bad feelings. But don't join Macros 101, there are a bajillion other quote “coaches” who will give you a meal plan and a workout plan to follow. Go buy one from them. That's not what Macros 101 is. 

 

What makes Macros 101 different 22:49

Macros 101 is different, in that I'm not going to tell you what to do but I'm going to help you discover it for yourself. This isn't about me telling you and giving you advice and thinking that I'm the expert in your journey, it is about me giving you the tools to figure out how you can be the expert in your journey. And that is what makes the program different. The only thing I would say that makes the program different is and I would say if you are not willing to do the mental work, then Macros 101 won't work probably isn't for you, you're probably gonna waste your time, if you're not willing to do the internal work that I'm going to teach you and we're going to walk through and I'm gonna guide you through inside of Macros 101, you probably won't like it, it probably won't be very transformative for you. And so it's cool, you know, don't join. But if you're someone who is committed to that process and realizing that you cannot transform your external world, you cannot transform your body without transforming the inside first. If you recognize that and understand your beliefs, create your actions, create your results, and you're willing to start to work on some of those beliefs. So you get new actions and new results, the Macros 101 is gonna be awesome for you, and you're gonna be an absolute right fit for the program. 

 

Questions are the answer 24:00

So to boil that all down, if you are a woman who has a physical goal that you have not yet achieved, and you are ready to do the work, you are ready to have someone not just tell you what to do, but actually learn how to access that information yourself, how to really step into that place of becoming the scientist in your journey, how to learn how to strip emotion and judgment and shame and guilt away from your fitness journey and be able to replace it with curiosity and really good questions that you can be asking yourself. I always say to my Macros 101 clients all the time, the quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions that you ask. And so many women are walking around asking themselves terrible questions and wondering why they're not getting results. When you elevate the questions that you are asking yourself, the quality of the questions, you're asking yourself, you elevate the results that you get. And so one of them I always say, questions that are the answer. Good questions are the answer. That's how we find the answer. And so inside of Macros 101, I'm gonna be teaching you how to ask yourself better questions, I'm going to be modeling it for you through coaching. And you're going to improve the quality of your life not only in your fitness realm, but in other areas of your life. Because when you start to tap into the answers that are inside of you, when you start to ask yourself better questions, and you start to get better answers, you start to build that confidence in yourself. It permeates everything that you do. And that's my last secret that I'm gonna share with you about Macros 101. What we do inside of Macros 101 is about macro counting and it's not about just counting, it's about so much more. What I do is I teach fitness, but it's not about fitness. The tools, the confidence, the empowerment that I'm teaching you in your fitness journey,  can't help but bleed out into other areas of your life. It can't help but make you be a better parent, and a better partner, and a better businesswoman, a better employee, a better whatever else in your life. Because as you learn to ask yourself better questions. As you learn to trust yourself, as you learn to build that confidence that you can do what you say you're going to do, it can't help but impact other areas of your life. And my very favorite thing ever. I love it when women get results. I love it when women get physical results. I love it. When we have women and we've had them on the podcast, you've heard them, you know, lose 50 pounds, you know, change their body shape, add more muscle, like I love those are awesome. And secretly, what I love even more is when women build that confidence in this area of their life and then that builds confidence in others of their life. We've had women who have gone through Macros 101 who have finally gotten the competence to write a book, to start a business, to start a podcast. Women who have taken what they've learned and that empowerment and that feeling of confidence and applied it to so many other areas of their life. And that's what makes Macros 101 unique. Yeah, the name does not convey any of that, I get it. But it is so much more than just about macro counting. And it's why I can 110% stand behind the program and behind the coaching that we do because I've seen it make a difference for now over 4000 women have been through this process. And you could be the next you could come in and get the coaching and the help and the support in the community the content that can make the difference for you and your journey. 

 

Come and join Macros 101  27:29

So we'd love to have you inside of Macros 101, if this speaks to you. Trust that. It doesn't speak to you trust that as well don't join. But if part of you, if there's a part of you that this is speaking to, and that you are ready to take that next leap we would love for you to join us. Doors will open to Macros 101 tomorrow morning. That link will be posted everywhere on my Instagram, on my Facebook, in an email, you will be able to find that link tomorrow. So if you're coming and joining us inside of Macros 101 I'm so excited for you. I'm so excited for the journey that you're starting and I cannot wait to coach you inside. And that wraps up this episode of biceps after babies radio. I'm Amber now go out and be strong because remember my friend, you can do anything. 

 

Outro

Hold up, sister friend. Do you love Biceps after Babies radio? If so, the best way to say thank you is to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review on iTunes. I know, every podcaster wants you to leave a review, but it's because those reviews help the podcast to reach more people. And I do truly want to know what you think. If this particular episode resonated with you, will you also please share it? Either send the link to someone who would find it valuable or take a screenshot and post it to your social media and tell your friends and family why they should listen. Make sure you tag me @biceps.after.babies so I can hear your feedback and give you a little love. And you know, if you aren't already following me on Instagram or Facebook, that's the perfect time to hit that follow button. Thank you for being here and listening to Biceps after Babies radio.