What Happened When This Woman Went from a Low-Carb Diet to Counting Her Macros

Today's transformation photos are often a lot more nuanced than "I lost weight." Case in point: A recent Instagram post by Shannon Collins, an Indiana-based woman behind the account @thegymnurse. Collins posted three side-by-side photos to show the results of revamping her diet twice. (Related: 15 Transformations That'll Inspire You to Start Lifting Weights)

According to Collins, the photos are almost three years apart. Between the first two photos, she lost 30 pounds after she started a lower-carb diet. For her, that meant only eating when she was hungry and avoiding refined carbs such as bread, crackers, and sweets, she revealed in her caption. "After a while, I feel like a hit a plateau and just couldn't take it to the next level," she wrote. (BTW, science found the best workout to overcome your weight-loss plateau.)

So she decided to start tracking her macros and eating to hit a specific number of grams of protein, fat, and carbs, instead of just avoiding refined carbs. "Since August 2018 I've been macro counting and the results have come. You can somewhat see the transition of weight loss on this page," she wrote, referring to the third, most recent photo.

Over the weekend, Collins shared a follow-up post explaining some of the specifics behind her transformation. When she switched to counting macros, her workout routine remained mostly unchanged, suggesting her results were mainly a result of diet. Her weightlifting routine stayed the same, but she added in 10 to 20 minutes of cardio, which she hadn't been doing before. "I still did 6 days in [the] gym," she wrote. "Now that weight was falling off you could see the muscle that was deep within." (Related: You Don't Need to Do Cardio to Lose Weight-but There's a Catch)

Macro tracking isn't everyone's cup of tea since it takes dedication to calculate and stick to your allowances. But Collins was pleased with her results and plans to continue. "I'm blown away by results," she wrote in her follow-up post. "So now I'm at a point where I try to follow numbers, but it's okay if I go over because I'm happy where I'm at."

Inspired to make a similar switch in your diet? Check out our complete guide to the "IIFYM" or macro diet.