So remember back in January when I promised I was back on the wagon? Well...that sort of happened, but not really.
I joined the gym but have a really hard time motivating myself to get up and go. I figured once Adam got here for good we'd push each other and really get back at it like we did last year.
Well...Adam got here mid-February, and then the day of our second move all was going well and he fell off the back of the truck. Thankfully it was parked, amazingly all he did was cut his leg. But he cut it BAD. We spent 3 hours at emergency and 6 stitches later we were home.
That injury put him on the sidelines and me into nurse mode. It also meant that nothing was getting done around the apartment because he couldn't do much of anything.
About a month later he was finally able to start getting to the gym. We're trying, we haven't been great. We've made excuses, things have 'gotten in the way' but we're trying.
Tonight we hit the reset button (again). I just worked out our macros, I'm working on meal plans to make them work - a challenge seeing as we have different goals - and I'm taking some 'before' pictures (a scary prospect at the moment). But we're recommitting to this and we're going to get it done!
Katherine's Macros (looking to cut right now, probably for a month, before I strat trying to 'bulk')
1612 Calories
134g Protein
59g Fat
136g Carbs
Adam's Macros (looking to bulk at the 'textbook' rate)
2443 Calories
126g Protein
63g Fat
342g Carbs
Showing posts with label Flexible Dieting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flexible Dieting. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
It's September and that means time for comfort food and pumpkin everything!
It's September. That means summer is ending, school is starting and Pumpkin Spice is taking over our lives again. I fall into the 'I love Pumpkin Spice' category, I know it's not for everyone, but I love it. I've been holding out on getting my first Starbucks PSL (the king of all things Pumpkin Spice in my opinion) just because at 150 calories and 0f/28c/9p it's a little carb heavy for my current macros (that's for a tall non-fat) when it's just a treat. There will be a PSL in my near future though.
The beginning of fall also means comfort food. Comfort food is often also calorie heavy and not so diet/macro friendly. While the beauty of IIFYM is that you can eat whatever you want as long as it fits a big bowl of Macaroni and Cheese (not the box stuff, the REAL stuff) can quickly take up your fats and carbs for the day.
I discovered a recipe on Simply Quinoa for 5-ingredient Quinoa Mac & Cheese and knew I had to try it. I adapted the original recipe a little bit for a few reasons.
1) I want to know the weight of things so I get my macros right (1 small butternut squash is too vague for me).
2) I didn't have almond milk (not a big fan) but I did have some lite Coconut milk and figured that would work just fine (I was right).
So here's my version of the recipe and the delicious end result!
354 calories/14g fat/43g carbs/14g protein
2- Cook your Quinoa. The ratio is generally 2 parts water to one part Quinoa and it takes about 15 minutes on the stove.
3- Grate your cheese so it's ready (unless you bought already grated, then you're just waiting!)
4 - Once done, drain the squash and put into blender. Add coconut milk - start with 1/3 cup and add more if needed to get a silky smooth consistency. I needed about 2/3cup.
5 - Add the mustard. Blend well.
6- Add the sauce to your cooked Quinoa and mix. Add cheese.
7- Optional, transfer to ramekins and bake at 375° until bubbly (I didn't do this as I'm bringing it to work for lunches.
Super delicious, getting some veggies and feeling like I just ate something super bad for me.
Sidenote - that squash, before you add the cheese...it could be eaten on its own as soup, it's SO good. I might try that, a little more coconut milk to thin it out a little. YUM!
The beginning of fall also means comfort food. Comfort food is often also calorie heavy and not so diet/macro friendly. While the beauty of IIFYM is that you can eat whatever you want as long as it fits a big bowl of Macaroni and Cheese (not the box stuff, the REAL stuff) can quickly take up your fats and carbs for the day.
I discovered a recipe on Simply Quinoa for 5-ingredient Quinoa Mac & Cheese and knew I had to try it. I adapted the original recipe a little bit for a few reasons.
1) I want to know the weight of things so I get my macros right (1 small butternut squash is too vague for me).
2) I didn't have almond milk (not a big fan) but I did have some lite Coconut milk and figured that would work just fine (I was right).
So here's my version of the recipe and the delicious end result!
Quinoa Mac'n'Cheese
Serves 4354 calories/14g fat/43g carbs/14g protein
- 425.00g Butternut Squash (cut into apx 1" cubes) - this is a small squash
- 2/3 cup Lite Coconut Milk(I used A Taste of Thai)
- 114.00 g Cheddar cheese (this is a little less than 2cups of shredded cheese - I used medium)
- 172g dry weight Quinoa (apx 1 cup)
- 1 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard (more if you like)
- Salt to taste
3- Grate your cheese so it's ready (unless you bought already grated, then you're just waiting!)
4 - Once done, drain the squash and put into blender. Add coconut milk - start with 1/3 cup and add more if needed to get a silky smooth consistency. I needed about 2/3cup.
6- Add the sauce to your cooked Quinoa and mix. Add cheese.
7- Optional, transfer to ramekins and bake at 375° until bubbly (I didn't do this as I'm bringing it to work for lunches.
Super delicious, getting some veggies and feeling like I just ate something super bad for me.
Sidenote - that squash, before you add the cheese...it could be eaten on its own as soup, it's SO good. I might try that, a little more coconut milk to thin it out a little. YUM!
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Vegetable 'Fried' Rice
Finding make ahead food that I can prepare in bulk that hit macros targets is one of my biggest challenges. I love Chinese food, but let's be honest - it's not very good for us. Just because flexible dieting says I can eat anything If It Fits Your Macros, doesn't mean I want to be eating a ton of fatty foods or wasting calories on things that aren't as healthy as they can be.
I did some experimenting, and with some advice from my sister, I came up with this recipe for Vegetable Fried Rice. I have made this with chicken as well - if you want to add chicken, just cook it ahead of time, dice, and toss in at the end.
Any time I'm meal prepping I start by getting everything out and on the counter. It's happened to me before that I'm sure I have something but then when I'm at that point in the recipe wouldn't you know I'm actually all out.
I love this recipe because it's so super easy - Rice, Veggies (I like
using frozen blends, they're easier on the wallet), Egg Whites (you can
use whole eggs if you prefer) & Toasted Sesame Oil - this is the
trick to making taste like Chinese Food - regular oil just doesn't cut
it
First things first - get your rice on to cook. 48g of dry rice. I use white, but use whatever you're partial to. I also like to undercook mine slightly - keeps it from getting mushy later in the process.
I start by putting 200g of the frozen veggies in the frying pan over medium high heat - no oil yet. I like to get them defrosted before I add the oil - I find it works better.
One the veggies have thawed, add 15ml of toasted sesame oil, let the veggies start to get some colour on them.
Then add in your cooked rice.
Then add your eggs - I use 6 egg whites. I always weigh them, I don't trust measuring cups. More on that in another post!
Pour the eggs in the space you created and let them cook, scrambling gently as you go.
Then toss it all together!
Once it's cooled down, divide it into containers for the week.
I made this recipe into 4 - 145g portions.
This is super easy, it's pretty quick (about 30 minutes including the rice) and it's really tasty!
The macros break down like this
143 Calories
5g fat
21g carbs
4g protein
It's not super high in protein per serving, but it's also not really a meal on it's own, it's more of a side dish so pair this with some chicken or fish and you've got a great IIFYM meal!
I did some experimenting, and with some advice from my sister, I came up with this recipe for Vegetable Fried Rice. I have made this with chicken as well - if you want to add chicken, just cook it ahead of time, dice, and toss in at the end.
Any time I'm meal prepping I start by getting everything out and on the counter. It's happened to me before that I'm sure I have something but then when I'm at that point in the recipe wouldn't you know I'm actually all out.
 |
First things first - get your rice on to cook. 48g of dry rice. I use white, but use whatever you're partial to. I also like to undercook mine slightly - keeps it from getting mushy later in the process.
One the veggies have thawed, add 15ml of toasted sesame oil, let the veggies start to get some colour on them.
Then add in your cooked rice.
Let the rice get a little colour and toasty, it'll absorb some of that sesame oil as well and get oh so yummy! Shift the veggie and rice mixture to one side to make room for your eggs.
Then add your eggs - I use 6 egg whites. I always weigh them, I don't trust measuring cups. More on that in another post!
Pour the eggs in the space you created and let them cook, scrambling gently as you go.
Then toss it all together!
Once it's cooled down, divide it into containers for the week.
I made this recipe into 4 - 145g portions.
This is super easy, it's pretty quick (about 30 minutes including the rice) and it's really tasty!
The macros break down like this
143 Calories
5g fat
21g carbs
4g protein
It's not super high in protein per serving, but it's also not really a meal on it's own, it's more of a side dish so pair this with some chicken or fish and you've got a great IIFYM meal!
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Tomato, Bacon & Onion Crustless Quiche
I love quick, easy, portable meals. They make things so much easier when trying to plan meals and stay on track.
Crustless Mini quiches, also called egg cups, are quick to make, packed with protein, and super portable. There are lots of recipes out there and I love coming up with my own. This recipe is for egg cups with Bacon, Ham, Onion and Tomatoes. They also use a lot of egg whites to reduce the fat content. These also don't have any cheese - and I don't even miss it!
Tomato, Bacon & Onion Crustless Quiche
Makes 12 Cups
4 Large Eggs
378g (1.5 Cups) Liquid Egg Whites
35g (7 tbsp) Real Bacon Bits
70g (4 slices) Sliced Black Forest Ham (Diced)
30g Yellow Onion, Diced
85g Tomato, Diced
1.25 Cup 1% Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
1tsp (8ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil to grease muffin tins
1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease muffin tin (I use EVOO, you can also use a cooking spray)
3. Measure and whip eggs together
4. Add Milk, whip
5. Add Salt & Pepper (If desired)
6. Dice Tomato & Onion, add to bottom of muffin tins
7. Dice Ham, add to muffin tins
8. Measure Bacon bits - I find they can sometimes be too large, dice if needed, add to bottom of muffin tins.
9. Pour egg mixture into muffin tins, about 4tbsp per cup
10. Bake for 30 minutes or until set.
11. Let cool for 5 minutes & enjoy. (if saving for later in the week, let cool completely before placing in an airtight container and putting them in the fridge)
Based on MyFitnessPal - these are the nutrition details per serving.
Crustless Mini quiches, also called egg cups, are quick to make, packed with protein, and super portable. There are lots of recipes out there and I love coming up with my own. This recipe is for egg cups with Bacon, Ham, Onion and Tomatoes. They also use a lot of egg whites to reduce the fat content. These also don't have any cheese - and I don't even miss it!
Tomato, Bacon & Onion Crustless Quiche
Makes 12 Cups
4 Large Eggs
378g (1.5 Cups) Liquid Egg Whites
35g (7 tbsp) Real Bacon Bits
70g (4 slices) Sliced Black Forest Ham (Diced)
30g Yellow Onion, Diced
85g Tomato, Diced
1.25 Cup 1% Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
1tsp (8ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil to grease muffin tins
1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease muffin tin (I use EVOO, you can also use a cooking spray)
3. Measure and whip eggs together
4. Add Milk, whip
5. Add Salt & Pepper (If desired)
6. Dice Tomato & Onion, add to bottom of muffin tins
7. Dice Ham, add to muffin tins
 |
| This is why I weigh everything - 4 slices = 70g |
 |
| 4 slices = 67g |
8. Measure Bacon bits - I find they can sometimes be too large, dice if needed, add to bottom of muffin tins.
10. Bake for 30 minutes or until set.
11. Let cool for 5 minutes & enjoy. (if saving for later in the week, let cool completely before placing in an airtight container and putting them in the fridge)
Based on MyFitnessPal - these are the nutrition details per serving.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings 12.0 | |
| Amount Per Serving | |
| calories 65 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat 3 g | 4 % |
| Saturated Fat 1 g | 5 % |
| Monounsaturated Fat 1 g | |
| Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g | |
| Trans Fat 0 g | |
| Cholesterol 67 mg | 22 % |
| Sodium 226 mg | 9 % |
| Potassium 85 mg | 2 % |
| Total Carbohydrate 1 g | 0 % |
| Dietary Fiber 0 g | 1 % |
| Sugars 1 g | |
| Protein 8 g | 16 % |
| Vitamin A | 3 % |
| Vitamin C | 2 % |
| Calcium | 2 % |
| Iron | 2 % |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Red Grapefruit & Pineapple Smoothie
I'm always looking around for new smoothie recipes. Sometimes I make them exactly as written, other times I'm inspired by what I see elsewhere. Today's smoothie is inspired by one I found on another blog. You can see the original at Happiness is Homemade. I actually changed this one a fair bit, but it was inspired by her and I always give credit where credit is due.
This smoothie is a little tart, a little tangy, and definitely less sweet than many of my others. I find it very satisfying for breakfast - and it has a lot of the traditional citrus flavour that many of us associate with breakfast.
Red Grapefruit & Pineapple Smoothie
100g Red Grapefruit (I don't have a fancy blender so I make sure to remove as much of the pith and white bits as possible
100g Frozen Pineapple Chunks
115g Plain Yogurt (I use Liberte 2%)
1 Scoop protein powder (I always use vanilla flavour but unflavoured would be great with this)
Combine & Blend
The info (these numbers are using Kaizen Whey Protein Powder - they will vary depending on the powder you use)
Calories: 274
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 33g
Protein: 30g
This smoothie is a little tart, a little tangy, and definitely less sweet than many of my others. I find it very satisfying for breakfast - and it has a lot of the traditional citrus flavour that many of us associate with breakfast.
Red Grapefruit & Pineapple Smoothie
100g Red Grapefruit (I don't have a fancy blender so I make sure to remove as much of the pith and white bits as possible
100g Frozen Pineapple Chunks
115g Plain Yogurt (I use Liberte 2%)
1 Scoop protein powder (I always use vanilla flavour but unflavoured would be great with this)
Combine & Blend
 |
| 100g Red Grapefruit - about 3/4 of a regular sized one |
 |
| (this is what was left over) |
 |
| 100g of frozen pineapple |
 |
| Ready to consume!! |
Calories: 274
Fat: 2g
Carbs: 33g
Protein: 30g
Friday, June 26, 2015
IIFYM - Planning for a night out
We all have to go out and have fun sometimes. This week has been a doozie for me in terms of trying to plan for being out of the house and special events. Tuesday - Adam's Birthday, Wednesday - RUSH Concert for Adam's Birthday, Thursday - Ball game with some friends. That's a lot of chances to mess up your macros and fall off the wagon. The trick is planning ahead. Plan for the 'bad' things you want to eat and work backwards from there. I'm not claiming I'm perfect at this, but trying makes a big difference!
Tuesday
Seeing as it was Adam's birthday, that means cake. When it comes to Adam there's only one kind of cake worth eating - Carrot Cake. So, Monday night I started planning. I know there will be carrot cake, where can I buy one that I know all the nutritional information? Panera! Perfect. So I planned to buy one of their amazing Carrot Cupcakes and split it between us (they're 650 calorie monsters - no one needs to eat a whole one!)
My daily targets are
Calories 1,666
Carbs 128
Fat 68
Protein 136
That cupcake knocked off 325 calories/49g carbs/13g fat/4g protein - and remember that's for HALF!
But look at it...it's so Yummy! One of the best parts of IIFYM, you can make foods like this work and you don't need to feel guilty about enjoying them!
Breakfast
Tea with Milk
Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie
274 Cals/16g Carb/9g Fat/30g Protein
Morning Snack
Tea with Milk
1/2 Old Mill Blueberry Bagel
1 Laughing Cow Light Wedge
166 Cals/27g Carb/4g Fat/7g Protein
Lunch
Curry Cayenne Chicken (100g)
Mini Cucumber
Baby Carrots (85g)
1 Original Mini Babybel
30g Pranana Kilamanjaro Trail Mix (this stuff is DELISH!)
Tea with Milk
466 Cals/22g Carb/21g Fat/44g Protein
Dinner
President's Choice Blue Menu Turkey Burger
President's Choice Honey Mustard (2tsps)
Muscle Pharm Cookies and Cream Protein Shake
Mini Babybel Original
430 Cals/13g Carb/17g Fat/54g Protein
Totals for the day
1661 Cals/127g Carb/65g Fat/139g Protein
It's possible to make any food fit your macros, and it's possible to go out and have fun - you just have to plan ahead.
For the concert I've planned to bring my supper to work and eat on the train (or at my desk before I leave) and I've allowed myself a beer at the concert. I haven't worked through the ball game yet, not sure if I'll eat at the game or before I get there. I will let you know though.
**post concert update...I failed, I didn't drink my beer! How crazy is that, I messed up my macros by deciding I didn't really want a beer after all...who have I become!?
Tuesday
Seeing as it was Adam's birthday, that means cake. When it comes to Adam there's only one kind of cake worth eating - Carrot Cake. So, Monday night I started planning. I know there will be carrot cake, where can I buy one that I know all the nutritional information? Panera! Perfect. So I planned to buy one of their amazing Carrot Cupcakes and split it between us (they're 650 calorie monsters - no one needs to eat a whole one!)
My daily targets are
Calories 1,666
Carbs 128
Fat 68
Protein 136
That cupcake knocked off 325 calories/49g carbs/13g fat/4g protein - and remember that's for HALF!
But look at it...it's so Yummy! One of the best parts of IIFYM, you can make foods like this work and you don't need to feel guilty about enjoying them!
So after accounting for those macros and using MFP I started at breakfast. Here's how the rest of my day went down.
Breakfast
Tea with Milk
Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie
274 Cals/16g Carb/9g Fat/30g Protein
Morning Snack
Tea with Milk
1/2 Old Mill Blueberry Bagel
1 Laughing Cow Light Wedge
166 Cals/27g Carb/4g Fat/7g Protein
Lunch
Curry Cayenne Chicken (100g)
Mini Cucumber
Baby Carrots (85g)
1 Original Mini Babybel
30g Pranana Kilamanjaro Trail Mix (this stuff is DELISH!)
Tea with Milk
466 Cals/22g Carb/21g Fat/44g Protein
Dinner
President's Choice Blue Menu Turkey Burger
President's Choice Honey Mustard (2tsps)
Muscle Pharm Cookies and Cream Protein Shake
Mini Babybel Original
430 Cals/13g Carb/17g Fat/54g Protein
Totals for the day
1661 Cals/127g Carb/65g Fat/139g Protein
It's possible to make any food fit your macros, and it's possible to go out and have fun - you just have to plan ahead.
For the concert I've planned to bring my supper to work and eat on the train (or at my desk before I leave) and I've allowed myself a beer at the concert. I haven't worked through the ball game yet, not sure if I'll eat at the game or before I get there. I will let you know though.
**post concert update...I failed, I didn't drink my beer! How crazy is that, I messed up my macros by deciding I didn't really want a beer after all...who have I become!?
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Mango Pineapple Smoothie
This smoothie is a break from my normal - there's no berries and it's not pink!
It's still delicious (and simple)
75g Frozen Pineapple
70g Frozen Mango
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
Water as needed for desired thickness
BLEND
That's it, super delicious.
How it breaks down...
202cal/24g carb/0g fat/24g Protein
75g Frozen Pineapple
70g Frozen Mango
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
Water as needed for desired thickness
BLEND
That's it, super delicious.
How it breaks down...
202cal/24g carb/0g fat/24g Protein
Friday, June 19, 2015
Big Batch Curry Cayenne Chicken
In order to make Flexible Dieting/IIFYM work, meal planning is a must. Trying to wing it will generally leave you trying to find foods with 10g of protein, 3g of fat and 16g of carbs at the end of the day and that can sometimes be difficult.
I like to prepare a week of lunches at a time (if at all possible) and I will often eat the same thing - or very similar things - every day for a week because I don't mind doing it and it makes my life easier.
This is one of my go to chicken recipes. It works on its own or in a salad or with a side of pasta. Versatility is also key.
I start with 1kg of boneless skinless chicken breasts (hitting it bang on a kg can be hard, but get it as close as you can!)
I then create my spice blend
1 tbsp onion powder (8g)
1/2 tbsp curry powder (3g) - If you're not a big curry fan you may want to reduce this, it can be intense!
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper (4g)
3/4 tsp salt (9g)
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil (20ml)
I let the whole thing marinate for about half an hour or so and then grill it on my indoor grill. Once it's cooled enough to handle I slice it and break it out into 100g portions. Doing this makes it really easy to grab an go and know that it's a perfect portion.
Most of the time I buy frozen chicken breasts at Costco - huge cost savings. I will often season the meat as it thaws. I generally try to avoid putting the meat on the grill before it's completely thawed, but sometimes it happens...
This recipe makes 6 perfect 100g servings (well...it did today. Depending on how much moisture cooks out of the chicken you may end up with more or less)
They breakdown like this
192 calories/1g carbs/5g fat/32g protein.
I like to prepare a week of lunches at a time (if at all possible) and I will often eat the same thing - or very similar things - every day for a week because I don't mind doing it and it makes my life easier.
This is one of my go to chicken recipes. It works on its own or in a salad or with a side of pasta. Versatility is also key.
I start with 1kg of boneless skinless chicken breasts (hitting it bang on a kg can be hard, but get it as close as you can!)
I then create my spice blend
1 tbsp onion powder (8g)
1/2 tbsp curry powder (3g) - If you're not a big curry fan you may want to reduce this, it can be intense!
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper (4g)
3/4 tsp salt (9g)
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil (20ml)
I let the whole thing marinate for about half an hour or so and then grill it on my indoor grill. Once it's cooled enough to handle I slice it and break it out into 100g portions. Doing this makes it really easy to grab an go and know that it's a perfect portion.
Most of the time I buy frozen chicken breasts at Costco - huge cost savings. I will often season the meat as it thaws. I generally try to avoid putting the meat on the grill before it's completely thawed, but sometimes it happens...
This recipe makes 6 perfect 100g servings (well...it did today. Depending on how much moisture cooks out of the chicken you may end up with more or less)
They breakdown like this
192 calories/1g carbs/5g fat/32g protein.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
IIFYM - How it breaks down & a day in the life
In trying to figure out what I should be eating, the carb goals in my
previous post didn't feel right so I did some more digging.
I came across IIFYM.com. They have another calculator and discussion forums. I asked a few people, I used their calculators and came up with numbers that are fairly similar but more comfortable to me.
The targets that I'm going to be using are Calories: 1666 (that sounds so high still - it scares me a little bit) 127.7g carbs, 68g fat, and 135.9g protein (in case you missed it, my other calculator has 1656 calories, 166g carbs, 49g fat, 137g protein). I find this fat to carb ratio feels more comfortable to me - at least on paper. We'll see how it goes.
I've installed a crack on my MFP on my home computer allowing me to input my macros in grams or very precise percentages (unlike the MFP defaults). If you want to do the same, you can get the crack here.
This is my first day on my new IIFYM plan. I'm going to blog it and see how it breaks down. Full disclosure, I'm winging it today - dangerous I know. I didn't get to the grocery store yesterday so the fridge had slim pickings AND I ran out of frozen fruit so there was no breakfast smoothie today (completely sucks).
Breakfast
Old Mill Blueberry Bagel - 260cal/50g carb/3g fat/ 8g protein
Laughing Cow Light (2 wedges) - 50cal/2g carb/3g fat/4g protein
Tea w/ 1tsbp 1% milk - 11cal/1g carb/0g fat/1g protein
Morning Snacks (I drink a lot of tea - if I don't track it these pesky calories would get away from me!)
Tea w/ 1tsbp 1% milk - 11cal/1g carb/0g fat/1g protein
Tea w/ 1tsbp 1% milk - 11cal/1g carb/0g fat/1g protein
Lunch
Because I failed at grocery shopping this weekend, I have to buy my lunch today (something I'm trying to avoid as Adam and I are trying to save for a house and every penny counts!) One of the big things with IIFYM is it has a reputation as a 'junk food diet'. Instagram is filled with people eating chips and pop-tarts. That's great, if that's what you want to eat, power to you. Adam and I have committed to eating a healthier diet, and to us that means cutting out deep-fried foods, potato chips and the like (save for the occasional special event - Adam did have nachos at the movies on Saturday).
So for lunch today I'm going with one of my favourites - an Avocado Chicken Cobb Salad from Panera with a baguette side. The other 'risk' eating out is portion control - it's up to the restaurant to be consistent. I'm just going to have to trust that they practice portion control and hope that things are accurate. Groceries is on my list of things to do tonight so tomorrow I should be good to go and have my whole day planned!
Here's how the Chicken Cobb with Avocado stacks up
650 cal/16g carb/48g fat/41g protein
and my beloved baguette (which was warm from the oven I might add...
90cal/18g carb/1g fat/3g protein
After that lunch - I'm STUFFED!
That leaves me with this for the rest of the day - fingers crossed I can hit this bang on (apparently within 5g is the acceptable range).
583 Calories
39g Carbs
13g Fat
77g Protein
Afternoon Snacks
Tea w/ 1tsbp 1% milk - 11cal/1g carb/0g fat/1g protein
Purity Peppermint Nob - 30cal/8g carbs/0g fat/0g protein
**I have a little tub of these Newfoundland delights that my massage therapist brought me back as a treat (she's the best). I try to keep them hidden to avoid the temptation but today I couldn't resist!
Supper
I came across IIFYM.com. They have another calculator and discussion forums. I asked a few people, I used their calculators and came up with numbers that are fairly similar but more comfortable to me.
The targets that I'm going to be using are Calories: 1666 (that sounds so high still - it scares me a little bit) 127.7g carbs, 68g fat, and 135.9g protein (in case you missed it, my other calculator has 1656 calories, 166g carbs, 49g fat, 137g protein). I find this fat to carb ratio feels more comfortable to me - at least on paper. We'll see how it goes.
I've installed a crack on my MFP on my home computer allowing me to input my macros in grams or very precise percentages (unlike the MFP defaults). If you want to do the same, you can get the crack here.
This is my first day on my new IIFYM plan. I'm going to blog it and see how it breaks down. Full disclosure, I'm winging it today - dangerous I know. I didn't get to the grocery store yesterday so the fridge had slim pickings AND I ran out of frozen fruit so there was no breakfast smoothie today (completely sucks).
Breakfast
Old Mill Blueberry Bagel - 260cal/50g carb/3g fat/ 8g protein
Laughing Cow Light (2 wedges) - 50cal/2g carb/3g fat/4g protein
Tea w/ 1tsbp 1% milk - 11cal/1g carb/0g fat/1g protein
Morning Snacks (I drink a lot of tea - if I don't track it these pesky calories would get away from me!)
Tea w/ 1tsbp 1% milk - 11cal/1g carb/0g fat/1g protein
Tea w/ 1tsbp 1% milk - 11cal/1g carb/0g fat/1g protein
Lunch
Because I failed at grocery shopping this weekend, I have to buy my lunch today (something I'm trying to avoid as Adam and I are trying to save for a house and every penny counts!) One of the big things with IIFYM is it has a reputation as a 'junk food diet'. Instagram is filled with people eating chips and pop-tarts. That's great, if that's what you want to eat, power to you. Adam and I have committed to eating a healthier diet, and to us that means cutting out deep-fried foods, potato chips and the like (save for the occasional special event - Adam did have nachos at the movies on Saturday).
So for lunch today I'm going with one of my favourites - an Avocado Chicken Cobb Salad from Panera with a baguette side. The other 'risk' eating out is portion control - it's up to the restaurant to be consistent. I'm just going to have to trust that they practice portion control and hope that things are accurate. Groceries is on my list of things to do tonight so tomorrow I should be good to go and have my whole day planned!
 |
| My delicious lunch! |
Here's how the Chicken Cobb with Avocado stacks up
650 cal/16g carb/48g fat/41g protein
and my beloved baguette (which was warm from the oven I might add...
90cal/18g carb/1g fat/3g protein
After that lunch - I'm STUFFED!
That leaves me with this for the rest of the day - fingers crossed I can hit this bang on (apparently within 5g is the acceptable range).
583 Calories
39g Carbs
13g Fat
77g Protein
Afternoon Snacks
Tea w/ 1tsbp 1% milk - 11cal/1g carb/0g fat/1g protein
Purity Peppermint Nob - 30cal/8g carbs/0g fat/0g protein
**I have a little tub of these Newfoundland delights that my massage therapist brought me back as a treat (she's the best). I try to keep them hidden to avoid the temptation but today I couldn't resist!
 | |
| If you haven't tried these, you're missing out. Purity Foods in Newfoundland makes the best hard candies out there! |
Supper
Here's where failing to plan ahead is really kicking my rear.
I'm having a Presidents Choice Blue Menu Turkey Burger on a Country Harvest Ancient Grain Roll. Even though these are pre-packages foods I still weigh them to make sure I'm getting an accurate serving size. The portion on the package is an average - we all know there are variances. I had a tsp of honey mustard on the burger as well
Breakdown for the meal
363 calories/31g carbs/14g fat/48g protein
that means I still need 48g of protein today and 1g over on fats and carbs...egg whites here I come.
So I managed to eat 6 egg whites, half of what I needed. So I finish my day 27g of protein short of my goals. Not the best day to start with, but tomorrow's a new day and I'm currently planning my eating so I can knock it out of the park!
Monday, June 15, 2015
IIFYM...still trying to figure this out
After posting yesterday about my own macros calculations, I took another look at what the nutrition consultant at the gym gave me and I'm more confused than ever.
Her plan tells me 1500 calories a day. When I work things out I get 1656 calories per day.
Using today as an example.
Following her plan today I have
536 Calories
2g of Carbs
28g of Fat
42g of Protein
Based on the calculations I get I have
609 Calories
75g of Carbs
12g of Fat
48g of Protein
I'm not sure about my carb/fat split. Right now I chose the 60/40 Carb to Fat setting, maybe I should have it flipped the other way...I'm not sure.
Now I'm torn about what I should be eating - do I follow her plan (where she didn't really give me the actual macro percentages or grams and her diet plan doesn't seem to add up to the numbers) or do I try and make this work based on what I'm calculating.
Also thinking about food in terms of macros instead of calories is a weird adjustment. It's not just 600 more calories I need today, it's a specific breakdown and I'm not sure how to get it.
I'm so confused, but I'm going to figure this out and I'm going to stick with it.
Her plan tells me 1500 calories a day. When I work things out I get 1656 calories per day.
Using today as an example.
Following her plan today I have
536 Calories
2g of Carbs
28g of Fat
42g of Protein
Based on the calculations I get I have
609 Calories
75g of Carbs
12g of Fat
48g of Protein
I'm not sure about my carb/fat split. Right now I chose the 60/40 Carb to Fat setting, maybe I should have it flipped the other way...I'm not sure.
Now I'm torn about what I should be eating - do I follow her plan (where she didn't really give me the actual macro percentages or grams and her diet plan doesn't seem to add up to the numbers) or do I try and make this work based on what I'm calculating.
Also thinking about food in terms of macros instead of calories is a weird adjustment. It's not just 600 more calories I need today, it's a specific breakdown and I'm not sure how to get it.
I'm so confused, but I'm going to figure this out and I'm going to stick with it.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) - Getting Started
As I've said before. I'm not an expert. I don't pretend to be. I'm not a big fan of diets or weight loss programs, mostly because I want to be able to eat the foods I want. That's why IIFYM makes sense to me and appeals to me. The diet plan that I was given at the gym by the 'nutrition consultant' is based on this principle and I decided to do my own homework and see how it works and try and work out my own meal plans that fit my goals.
I've done a lot of googling and reading online to try and figure out how to do this. There's a lot of information out there and it doesn't all agree. Here's what I did and how I started.
Google brought me to Skinny Meg, someone I already follow and find very inspirational, and brought me to this post - IIFYM - Getting Started. Some of what I'm going to say I'm going to steal from Meg, some is a combination of many websites. I think you need to do what works for you and a lot of IIFYM (also called Flexible Dieting) is finding what works for you and your body.
The biggest challenge I've had is finding a Macros Calculator that made sense. The one Meg shared was actually really helpful so I'm copying her. Here's what everything looks like when I fill it in
I've done a lot of googling and reading online to try and figure out how to do this. There's a lot of information out there and it doesn't all agree. Here's what I did and how I started.
Google brought me to Skinny Meg, someone I already follow and find very inspirational, and brought me to this post - IIFYM - Getting Started. Some of what I'm going to say I'm going to steal from Meg, some is a combination of many websites. I think you need to do what works for you and a lot of IIFYM (also called Flexible Dieting) is finding what works for you and your body.
The biggest challenge I've had is finding a Macros Calculator that made sense. The one Meg shared was actually really helpful so I'm copying her. Here's what everything looks like when I fill it in
I'm basing some of this information on what the nutrition consultant told me previously. The protein number is a little lower than what she had mentioned - I think she had me closer to .9g but I'm going to try working with 0.8g and see how that works. This is all about what your body responds well to.
One of the big challenges I've found with this is there's no eating back of exercise calories. MyFitnessPal, which I use religiously to track my food, encourages eating back. This calculator works in how much you're working out already (you'll see that if you change your activity level) so you get what it tells you and that's it!
For right now, I'm still on the meal plan the Diet Consultant (or whatever she is) gave me, but I'm going to start trying to plan my own meals based on these numbers and go from there. I love the idea of being able to work in a trip to Menchies or that weekend beer or wine.
Friday, June 12, 2015
The Diet Plan - Phase 2
Some of you have probably seen my original diet plan from the 'nutrition consultant' at my gym (I keep changing her title, I know, I just don't know what it is and I'm losing faith in her - I think she's just someone with an IIFYM app to be honest).
It was determined that we should change things up to avoid a plateau and I should have a high carb cheat day just to mess with my metabolism. She asked what I really wanted to eat. My answer - a pretzel bagel from Tim Hortons (LOVE those things) and a loaded baked potato. I also told her I didn't want to eat anything really bad. Adam and I have been doing so well not eating fast food and takeout I didn't want to undo that.
We also decided to change up my meals - we decided to add Tilapia (something I recently discovered I like) and keep the chicken. I did mention that I can't eat fish at work - it's one of the rules for lunches, nothing that smells strongly. We have an open concept office and a lot of clients come in. We don't want it to smell like a cafeteria.
This is the meal plan she sent me (again - all typos are hers)
I read this and immediately realized that she didn't listen to me, and who wants to eat the same protein twice a day for 10 days? That seems like a bit much. I emailed her back and we've switched the tilapia to chicken for lunch and I confirmed that it's 100g of tilapia and then 3oz of chicken for lunch (I wish she'd use the same units for everything, but thankfully my food scale makes it easy to switch back and forth).
I'm sort of excited about the bagels for breakfast, I do love bagels, but it feels very wrong to be eating them every day. Everything I've ever known about dieting says that bagels are bad. We'll see how this goes. Phase one seemed to work pretty well, let's see how phase 2 goes. (I'm still undecided if I'll be going back for phase 3...)
It was determined that we should change things up to avoid a plateau and I should have a high carb cheat day just to mess with my metabolism. She asked what I really wanted to eat. My answer - a pretzel bagel from Tim Hortons (LOVE those things) and a loaded baked potato. I also told her I didn't want to eat anything really bad. Adam and I have been doing so well not eating fast food and takeout I didn't want to undo that.
We also decided to change up my meals - we decided to add Tilapia (something I recently discovered I like) and keep the chicken. I did mention that I can't eat fish at work - it's one of the rules for lunches, nothing that smells strongly. We have an open concept office and a lot of clients come in. We don't want it to smell like a cafeteria.
This is the meal plan she sent me (again - all typos are hers)
●High Carb Cheat Day
*must be on a workout day
Breakfast: Fruit smoothie, 4oz plain yogurt, 100g berries with 1 scoop protein powder
Snack: 1 hardboiled egg, 1 pretzel bagel
Lunch: 1 tilapia fillet, medium salad with lettuce, spinach or kale, tomato, cucumber, 1 original babybel
Preworkout: 1 beef burger, small fries
Post workout: 1 protein shake
Dinner: Sauteed vegitables using 2tsp olive oil
*must be on a workout day
Breakfast: Fruit smoothie, 4oz plain yogurt, 100g berries with 1 scoop protein powder
Snack: 1 hardboiled egg, 1 pretzel bagel
Lunch: 1 tilapia fillet, medium salad with lettuce, spinach or kale, tomato, cucumber, 1 original babybel
Preworkout: 1 beef burger, small fries
Post workout: 1 protein shake
Dinner: Sauteed vegitables using 2tsp olive oil
●Regular Diet:
Breakfast: Fruit smoothie, 4oz plain yogurt, 100g berries with 1 scoop protein powder with 1 raisin, blueberry or plain bagel, 1 laughing cow cheese wedge
Snack: 2 hardboiled eggs, 1/4 cup almonds
Lunch: 1 tilapia fillet, sauteed vegitables using 2 tsp olive oil
Post Workout: 1 protein scoop mixed with water
Dinner: 1 tilapia fillet, medium salad, 1 original babybel
Breakfast: Fruit smoothie, 4oz plain yogurt, 100g berries with 1 scoop protein powder with 1 raisin, blueberry or plain bagel, 1 laughing cow cheese wedge
Snack: 2 hardboiled eggs, 1/4 cup almonds
Lunch: 1 tilapia fillet, sauteed vegitables using 2 tsp olive oil
Post Workout: 1 protein scoop mixed with water
Dinner: 1 tilapia fillet, medium salad, 1 original babybel
I read this and immediately realized that she didn't listen to me, and who wants to eat the same protein twice a day for 10 days? That seems like a bit much. I emailed her back and we've switched the tilapia to chicken for lunch and I confirmed that it's 100g of tilapia and then 3oz of chicken for lunch (I wish she'd use the same units for everything, but thankfully my food scale makes it easy to switch back and forth).
I'm sort of excited about the bagels for breakfast, I do love bagels, but it feels very wrong to be eating them every day. Everything I've ever known about dieting says that bagels are bad. We'll see how this goes. Phase one seemed to work pretty well, let's see how phase 2 goes. (I'm still undecided if I'll be going back for phase 3...)
Thursday, June 11, 2015
IIFYM
Okay, so I met with the 'nutritionist' a while ago now. After spending 3 amazing days in Pittsburgh with Adam celebrating our first wedding anniversary and enjoying lots of food that wasn't good for me I started her meal plan. I (mostly) followed it to a T - and I lost 4 pounds in 10 days (and that's after eating a lot of really bad food for the 3 days before).
She was supposed to give me a revised plan but that took too long so I sort of stuck to the original plan for another week sort of made up my own keeping the IIFYM theories in place. I lost 2 more pounds.
I am going to be honest. I'm not convinced that I'm losing pure fat, I'm willing to bet there's some muscle mass being lost as well, I don't see any other way that I'm losing so much all of a sudden but I'm going to go with it.
I have the new diet plan, I'm going to follow it for 10 more days but I'm not decided yet if I'm going to keep going back and getting a new menu to eat everyday for a week and a half or not. What I am going to do though is try and make IIFYM a little easier for me. My biggest problem is remembering what foods have what macros and how much. Planning a menu can be hard. I'm creating a cheat sheet for myself that has all my favourite foods broken down by macros - the calories don't matter because the macros will work it out.
As I go I'll share this with all of you - I've found lots of helpful info online but I haven't found a cheat sheet like this anywhere (if you know of one - PLEASE tell me!). I promise to be back more regularly and update you on my progress more often. I think some more progress pictures are also in order - I'll see if I can do that this weekend :)
She was supposed to give me a revised plan but that took too long so I sort of stuck to the original plan for another week sort of made up my own keeping the IIFYM theories in place. I lost 2 more pounds.
I am going to be honest. I'm not convinced that I'm losing pure fat, I'm willing to bet there's some muscle mass being lost as well, I don't see any other way that I'm losing so much all of a sudden but I'm going to go with it.
I have the new diet plan, I'm going to follow it for 10 more days but I'm not decided yet if I'm going to keep going back and getting a new menu to eat everyday for a week and a half or not. What I am going to do though is try and make IIFYM a little easier for me. My biggest problem is remembering what foods have what macros and how much. Planning a menu can be hard. I'm creating a cheat sheet for myself that has all my favourite foods broken down by macros - the calories don't matter because the macros will work it out.
As I go I'll share this with all of you - I've found lots of helpful info online but I haven't found a cheat sheet like this anywhere (if you know of one - PLEASE tell me!). I promise to be back more regularly and update you on my progress more often. I think some more progress pictures are also in order - I'll see if I can do that this weekend :)
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
The Diet Plan...
I got the 'menu' from the girl at the gym today. I'm really not sure how I feel about it. She seems to have taken my willingness to eat the same thing frequently a little too much to heart along with my desire to eat ice cream.
This is the plan she sent. (I'm supposed to do this for 10 days and then go back for reassessment and phase 2) - all typos are hers.
Breakfast: Smoothie with 4 oz of plain yogurt, 100g berries, with 1 scoop of protein powder
Lunch: PC blue menu Turkey burger with 1 50g dempsters original bun, lettuce, tomato, 2 laughing cow light wedges, sauteed vegitables (anything green ie. brocolli, asperagus, etc) using 2tsp olive oil
Snack: Skinny cow ice cream sandwich
Post Workout: 1 protein shake scoop with water
Snack: 1 original babybel, 50g avacado
Dinner: 6oz chicken breast, medium salad include lettuce, spinach or kale, tomato, cucumber, 1 original babybel
Lunch: PC blue menu Turkey burger with 1 50g dempsters original bun, lettuce, tomato, 2 laughing cow light wedges, sauteed vegitables (anything green ie. brocolli, asperagus, etc) using 2tsp olive oil
Snack: Skinny cow ice cream sandwich
Post Workout: 1 protein shake scoop with water
Snack: 1 original babybel, 50g avacado
Dinner: 6oz chicken breast, medium salad include lettuce, spinach or kale, tomato, cucumber, 1 original babybel
*please do not switch the order of the snacks
Breakfast - that's no problem, smoothies every day I can do - I'll switch up the berries if I feel like it and that's fine.
Lunch, that's a little tricky. Turkey burgers aren't great cold, so I have to microwave them at work. I can probably manage to eat cold cooked broccoli (heating that won't go over well in my office - they're very 'smelly food averse' and I don't disagree).
I don't think having ice cream for an afternoon snack is going to work at all - there's a freezer at work but that just seems impractical. I also don't need to eat ice cream every day, I wanted to be able to have it as a treat, not a staple.
The post workout snack also works just fine.
Dinner is fine, I can live with that.
I guess lunch and snacks confuse me, I'm also not sure about how the timing is supposed to work. I get home from work at 5:30, gym at 6:00 and then dinner - where does the second snack come in?
I've emailed her some questions to try and figure this out, I do want to give this a shot and see what effect it has.
Adam and I are going away for the long weekend and our ANNIVERSARY (a whole year married - hard to believe) so I won't be starting this until I'm back in my kitchen on Tuesday regardless.
Breakfast - that's no problem, smoothies every day I can do - I'll switch up the berries if I feel like it and that's fine.
Lunch, that's a little tricky. Turkey burgers aren't great cold, so I have to microwave them at work. I can probably manage to eat cold cooked broccoli (heating that won't go over well in my office - they're very 'smelly food averse' and I don't disagree).
I don't think having ice cream for an afternoon snack is going to work at all - there's a freezer at work but that just seems impractical. I also don't need to eat ice cream every day, I wanted to be able to have it as a treat, not a staple.
The post workout snack also works just fine.
Dinner is fine, I can live with that.
I guess lunch and snacks confuse me, I'm also not sure about how the timing is supposed to work. I get home from work at 5:30, gym at 6:00 and then dinner - where does the second snack come in?
I've emailed her some questions to try and figure this out, I do want to give this a shot and see what effect it has.
Adam and I are going away for the long weekend and our ANNIVERSARY (a whole year married - hard to believe) so I won't be starting this until I'm back in my kitchen on Tuesday regardless.
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