There are minimal differences between the two. We’re always looking at the big picture when we coach – sleep, food choices, training/movement, meal timing, mental health, energy levels, recovery, stress management, etc. – and macronutrients only play a small role in Black Iron Nutrition Performance coaching.

The Macro approach entails your coach assigning macronutrients whereas Macro-Free does not. When on the Macro track, you’ll track protein, carbs and fats in a tracking app with the goal of getting near your assigned targets each day. Your coach will look at your nutrition numerically as well as read your food diary which populates from your tracking app in text form. When on the Macro-Free track, you won’t be assigned macro or calorie targets and your coach will look at your food diary visually through photos. When on the Macro-Free track, it will be up to you and your coach to decide if the scale or measurements play a role in your progress or not.

Yes. Our intent with these different options is to have an adaptable approach based on the seasons of your athletic journey. For example, if you’re a few months out from an important competition and training volume is at its peak, the Macro approach will likely be the most appropriate for that time. However, if you are in an offseason or just taking a break from intense training, our Macro-Free approach allows you to be a little more relaxed with your nutrition while still maintaining mindfulness. You and your coach will discuss the specifics of your situation to come up with a strategy that works best for you and your goals.

Instead of tracking your food numerically, you’ll simply take a quick photo of your meals and upload them into an app. At your weekly check-in, your coach will review your photos and any notes you provide to get a gauge of your overall intake and quality. Our coaches use these photos to estimate your intake without you having to track macronutrients or calories. Everything else regarding the check-in process remains the same.

While absolutely possible, the Macro-Free coaching option is most appropriate for when there is not a specific performance or body composition goal in mind. While our coaches do their best to get an idea of your overall intake through your photo journaling, this is often not precise enough to accomplish reliable changes in body fat, let alone efficiently. For this reason, if you desire body composition changes or are going through a period of hard training, the Macro approach is usually recommended. However, there are exceptions to this and you and your coach can try to lose fat on the Macro-Free approach first if you desire.

Instead of weighing and measuring your food to track the macronutrients and calories in it, this is going to be a great opportunity to learn portion sizes using your hand and trust your ability to eat more intuitively. If you have past experience with tracking, weighing and measuring your food, you probably already know what serving sizes look like. Your coach and the BIN resources you’ll be provided with will help you learn how to build balanced meals without using a food scale or counting macros/calories. Additionally, your responses to your check in questions will let your coach know if you are potentially over or under eating, at which point your coach will make suggestions based on what they see in your photo journal.

In order to do your absolute best in competition, we do recommend the Macro option to ensure you’re getting the optimal amount of each macronutrient at the optimal times leading up to and on the day of your event. There is a bit more “guesswork”  involved in the Macro-Free option and we want to make as few guesses as possible when it comes to competing or racing if we want the best possible result. If you simply want to feel good on competition/race day and aren’t attempting a specific placement or PR, the Macro-Free approach might be a good option for you and your coach will help you decide.