I thought I'd start a new series about what my meal choices are. I've mentioned before that I follow a method of eating called If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM). Basically, you have a set amount of fats, proteins, carbs, and to a lesser degree, fiber that you have to eat a day, and as long as you hit those numbers, you can have pretty much whatever you want.
What drew me to the program were the pictures all over social media of people eating Pop Tarts and big bowls of cereal and such, and they were still fit. Sign me up!
That way of eating is actually perfectly okay with IIFYM, but it's not typically my choice. I am a big eater, and you just can't eat that type of food in high volume and still expect to be lean (which is my ultimate goal).
What IIFYM does allow me to do is eat those things when I want/need to, and not completely derail my progress. I prefer having some sort of "cheat" food fairly regularly, and now cravings for such foods have almost completely disappeared. I just go ahead and plan for them in MyFitnessPal (add me as a friend!) and I'm all set!
I try to eat almost completely whole, "clean" foods and just small portions of the fun stuff. I thought I'd start walking you through my daily foods, but these posts may get boring quickly. I tend towards food ruts anyway, but if I'm following a meal plan, eating the same things regularly just makes things so much easier. I know what to fix for myself, and I know when and how much to eat to stay full. I like the simplicity of that, but I will say that I'm currently in a love/hate relationship with chicken. I eat so much of if that I'm surprised I'm not clucking by now.
Here's my usual breakfast:
This terrible picture is of 184g of egg white substitute (the equivalent of 4 egg whites). I'm currently using the Target store brand, but I'll use whichever store brand I happen to run into when I run out. I sprinkle it with black pepper, and Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil blend and Extra Spicy Blend.
Ok, maybe more than a sprinkle.
My "breakfast dessert" (I'm making that a thing) is this:
1 packet of Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar instant oatmeal
1 serving of Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed Meal
1/2serving of Nuts n' More Chocolate Peanut Butter
1packet Stevia
33g of raspberries (although I prefer blueberries)
Lunch has been the exact same thing for months, although I'm thinking of lowering my fats, so I may have to cut out the guacamole:
4oz chicken
100g zucchini
100g onion
1 serving (sometimes 2) salsa
1 100calorie Wholly Guacamole packet
Mid-day snack:
Quest bar (my favorite flavors are Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, S'mores, and Cookies & Cream. In that order.)
Dinner varies. Truth be told, I'd eat the same thing for dinner as I do for lunch just to make things easier. I actually do do that when Steve isn't home.
Ok. Sometimes even when he is.
I've been feeling guilty that I haven't been cooking for my family much, so I'm trying to find meals that I can eat, too, or that I can easily modify to fit my needs.
For instance, Monday I made hamburgers. I used Laura's Lean Ground Beef (96/4), and put mine on a sandwich thin instead of a regular bun. I also used lots of lettuce, tomato, onion, and sugar free bread & butter pickles to add some volume for very little calories.
Last night I made Mix and Mama's Chicken & Ranch Enchilada Stack. I used low carb tortillas, fat free ranch, and cheese made with 2% (the fat free just doesn't melt nicely).
Tonight I'm making her Grilled Chipotle Chicken over Savory Waffles. I will just have the chicken. And maybe a few bites of waffle.
Tomorrow night's dinner is still TBD (although it will probably be turkey burgers) and Friday night is always pizza and popcorn night at our house. I typically eat one slice of pizza (we make ours homemade) and make a big ol' Jethro salad to go with it. This Friday, however, is opening night for Inside Out, so we'll go out to eat after the movie.
At night, I'll generally have a snack. It's usually a cup of Greek yogurt, half a serving of protein granola, a packet of stevia, and 33g of fruit (generally strawberries).
Since dinner varies, my macro count varies a little. But I'm fairly consistently hitting 160P, 140C, 36F, and 35g of fiber. That brings me to roughly 1500 calories, which is a good total for me to be cutting weight without losing much muscle in the process.
Hope this helps give some insight on what life on IIFYM is like. The tough part in the beginning for me was getting used to measuring out all of my portions, but now me and my food scale are total BFFs and I'm completely used to measuring everything now. It's habit.
I'll keep these posts up until they get too boring to write or to read.
Happy Hump Day!
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