Cass, 41, lives in Florida and is the editor in chief of BroBible.com. He spent years dealing with injuries without realizing how much his diet could also play a role. Once he decided to take his health more seriously, he started looking at the habits behind his training and nutrition.
“Prior to MacroFactor, I was the poster child of people who thought they could out-exercise a bad diet,” he said. “Once I discovered MacroFactor, I was able to identify the areas in my diet where I thought I was being healthy without having any recognition of the Calories I was consuming.”
Before MacroFactor
Cass had spent years dealing with injuries that left him feeling less than confident about going after the physical goals he wanted. Loose connective tissue and hypermobility meant it took very little for things to go wrong.
“Essentially, I have loose connective tissue throughout my body and live in a constant use-it-or-lose-it situation where if I don’t do some form of strength training and exercise, my connective tissue gets loose and I suffer from stupid injuries like throwing my shoulder out playing beer pong or tearing my meniscus while tying my shoes,” he said. “Unfortunately, it took me nearly 40 years of life to figure this out.”
Working with physical therapists helped him piece together a training approach that fit the finicky nature of his body, but the next missing piece was his nutrition. Even though he felt like he ate well, he later realized grazing and not having any real nutrition plan was probably setting him back.
“It’s not that I was eating particularly poorly. My wife is a pescatarian and our meals at home were always nutritious. But without tracking what I was eating, I was in a constant state of overeating,” he said. “Working from home, I am not constantly tempted by restaurants for lunch, but snacking was a problem for me as I would just graze past the pantry all day.”
“Once I discovered MacroFactor, I was able to identify the areas in my diet where I thought I was being healthy without having any recognition of the Calories I was consuming,” he continued. “For example, I’d have half a tub of hummus. I just assumed hummus was healthy and never considered the Calories at all. The same can be said for a ton of other snacks. All of that mounted up. But with MacroFactor, logging everything and seeing my daily totals helped me bring it all together.”
Dialing in results
Cass jumped in with full force. He wanted to get his health on track, lose some weight, and address the issues that had been piling up over the years.
“My initial goal was to get to around 160,” he said. “I had been suffering from high cholesterol for 15 years, and my hope was that losing weight would help with the injuries and also my cholesterol, along with the confidence boost of losing weight. My overarching goal was to get healthy and add longevity to my life since I have a young son, and show myself that I could do this if I actually stuck to the goal.”
Cass started with an aggressive rate of loss but eventually slowed things down to a pace he could sustain.
“Initially, I set my weight loss goal to 1.2lb per week,” he said. “I later moved it to 1lb per week, and five months into the journey I switched it to 0.5lb per week. I also started to exercise more than before, and I found I was craving more Calories than losing one pound a week would allow. By that point, I was very comfortable trusting the process and knowing I would reach my goal even if it took a little longer.”
The shift worked. With a pace that was sustainable, he still hit his goals pretty quickly and was proud of what he achieved.
“I was able to achieve my goal in 281 days and work on body composition along the way,” he said. “I was also able to build muscle, so when I reached my goal, I looked better than I had expected. Once the pounds started to come off, I readjusted my goal to 148, which I hit on November 7. I have not been this weight since high school or college, and this time around I have a lot more muscle on my frame than I did back then.”
Favorite features
For Cass, having a clear view of his data made it easier to stay consistent.
“My favorite feature of the app is probably the graphical layouts of everything,” he said. “On a day-to-day level, it is easy to get caught up in gaining or losing a few pounds, but being able to toggle to weekly or monthly views was very reassuring. Knowing that even if my daily weight was up, I was still seeing my weight loss trend continuing downward was comforting for me.”
Because family and friends are a major part of Cass’s life, he also appreciated how easy it was to share recipes and help others learn the app that worked for him.
“Spreading the word of MacroFactor to my friends and family has actually been the most fruitful part of the journey,” he said. “I have gotten lots of people in my orbit hooked on the app and the results for all of them have been incredible. Relatives have lost more than 20lb. Best friends are the fittest they have been in decades. Being able to share recipes with others using the app has been great since I have turned a lot of people in my life onto it.”
Takeaways and looking ahead
Cass has taken control of his health by getting more hands-on both with his training and his nutrition. And obviously, putting in a little more effort has paid off.
“For me, I will never miss my protein goal on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “Even if I miss the fat or carb suggestions, I can make those up later in the week, but I prioritized protein every day. It helped me develop muscle and stave off soreness while working out regularly.”
He also learned to trust the long-term math behind his progress, which gave him peace of mind instead of feeling pressured.
“Getting really comfortable with long-term results was key for me,” he said. “Knowing that I could not blow up my progress in one day even if I tried was very helpful. My biggest splurge day was close to 4,000 Calories at a steakhouse dinner on my birthday. With a 2,400-plus TDEE at the time, that was only a 1,600 surplus on that day. While it set me back a few days, it did not break my resolve to stick with the process.”
“Sticking with the goal is of the utmost importance because consistency is key,” he continued. “The science is sound. If you follow the app’s recommendations, the results will come. You just have to stick with it.”
You can read more about Cass’s journey in a detailed article he wrote here for BroBible.
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