I hate counting.

I’ve been a victim of calorie tracking since the '90s—through the 2000s and into the 2010s. Honestly, I’m over it. I haven’t tracked consistently in years. I used to rely on MyFitnessPal, but I can’t say it ever really helped me. If anything, it made me paranoid about eating something as simple as an apple because, goodness, it has so many carbs!

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’ve been lifting heavy weights consistently for several years, swapping fat for muscle, but haven’t seen much muscle gain in the past year. When I complain to fitness friends about it, the question is always the same: “Are you tracking your macros?” or “How much protein are you getting?” Like many of us, I’ve been guessing. I eat a lot of protein, and I’m not afraid of meat, so I assumed I was getting around 145 grams a day.

To learn from my past mistakes and address this issue, I decided to track again—this time using the RP Strength app, recommended by a friend. I entered my age, weight, and height, and then it asked if I wanted to lose fat or gain muscle, and over what timeframe. I chose weight loss, not because I actually wanted to lose weight, but because I’m still stuck in that '90s mindset that carbs = weight gain. I haven’t had regular bread or rice in years.

After tracking for about a month, here’s what I’ve discovered:

• I wasn’t eating as much protein as I thought.

• RP immediately bumped my carbs up to 175 grams per day, and I didn’t gain weight.

It’s been surprisingly interesting to dive deeper into macros, and I’ve enjoyed the process more than I expected. This week, the RP Strength app reduced my carbs by over 100 grams a day for a “mini cut.” While I already miss my sourdough bread, I’m curious to see if this program helps me fine-tune my macros and finally see some muscle gains. While a pain to track, I highly recommend doing so.