Why We Ditched Macro Counting for a Habits-Based Nutrition System

For years, "nutrition coaching" at most gyms (including ours, for awhile) meant one thing:

a spreadsheet with your protein, fat, and carb targets broken down meal by meal. We used to run it that way too. It can work. Usually, though, it doesn't.

Here's what we noticed. It's not that macro coaching doesn't work — it can actually work incredibly well for people who want that solution and are willing to weigh, measure and track their food consistently. For more than a few days.

The real issue is that almost nobody sticks with it long term, and the success rate was so low I stopped feeling comfortable offering it to new members looking for a solution. \

It takes constant coach time to build and adjust those plans, and most clients quietly stop logging within a few weeks to a month, or even utilizing the macro app at all.

So we rebuilt our nutrition coaching from the ground up around habits instead of numbers. The habits that Noelle and I use for ourselves and our family, as well as the habits we've seen our clients who make real nutrition changes that last implement.

Precision Nutrition — validated across three peer-reviewed studies — reaches the same conclusion we did: teaching a sequence of skills beats handing someone a fixed prescription.

Practically, that means our program is ten core habits, taught one at a time, roughly two weeks apart — protein at every meal, a daily hydration target, vegetables at every meal, slow eating, consistent meal timing, meal prep basics, training-day fueling, sleep and stress basics, a real plan for alcohol and treats, and the mindset skill that matters most: how to bounce back after an off day without spiraling.

No shame, no rigid rules, no app to log into (unless you're type A and you want to learn about macros, and you know you'll stick with it).

For most people, just one habit at a time, coached by someone who's actually certified to teach it — through education AND experience, actually sticks.

That's also why we opened the Nutrition Lab: a free chat and monthly live call where you can learn this same system, ask real questions, and see if it's a fit — no cost, no catch. Just our attempt at helping all of you pursue the best version of yourself that you want to see in the mirror.

I've always felt convicted to give some kind of consistent access to the people who want and need it, I've just been trying to find the right solution to offer it at scale to 100+ people. Let's see if this is it.

First call is Wednesday, August 26 at 11am. Join the chat in the app for the link, or use this one directly → NUTRITION LAB // Google Meet joining info: https://meet.google.com/jcq-uyjy-ejx