One of the things I encountered over the course of my last two training blocks is that the additional running really upped my appetite and I suspect I was at times over compensating in the calories I was consuming as I gained a few pounds. While some of that weight was additional muscle mass from the max strength days in both the Tactical Barbell Base Build and the MTI Max Strength + 6 Mile Run programs (my lifts went up a bit in both) not all of it was. Furthermore, my speed and endurance would probably benefit from a bit of a cut, but in cutting I’d like to ensure that my macros are on point to minimize any muscle loss.
In order to achieve this, I decided to give the app Macrofactor a try. When you first set it up you fill out a questionnaire that it uses to estimate your TDEE and from there you “weigh-in” periodically to track your progress. Based on your weight changes it learns how your metabolism works and updates your TDEE. Your learned TDEE is than viewed in the context of a cut, bulk, or maintain goal and the app gives you a breakdown of the macros and calories you should be consuming to meet that goal. It readjusts these targets every week to account for any changes to your TDEE. I like the way it calculates a trend weight for these calculations that smooths out the noise seen in scale weights from the daily weigh-ins.
I’ve been using the app for a couple of weeks now and seems to be working well. Logging food is less painful than I thought it would be and the act of logging alone I have found extremely informative and beneficial. Seeing the nutritional breakdown of certain foods has definitely helped to pinpoint some unexpected areas for improvement and I find seeing the numbers makes me more likely to hold myself accountable when I’m pondering that extra cookie.
The recommendations on calorie intake seems to be in a sustainable range as well and performance has not suffered when following their recommendations so far. I’ve also managed to drop about a pound (trend weight) in my first two weeks of using the app. I think this app was a great find and I’m looking forward to using it keep nutrition in line to support my strength and endurance goals.
Surviving Ultra 