One thing I’ve learned in my almost two weeks of “counting” macros and really concentrating on my training has been how the quality of my nutrition can make not only what you eat more enjoyable but how MUCH you eat can increase as well. Let me put it to you this way: 1680 calories can be consumed in one meal at a restuarant, 3 meals if choosing processed goods, and 5-6 meals if eating unprocessed whole foods. The biggest difference that I am also noticing is the portion sizes aren’t necessarily getting smaller as the number of meals increase – because the quality of the food is better, you actually get More which in turn means you’re Not hungry!
Check out how today looks: (note: the foods listed and the macros have been carefully calculated specifically to MY needs. If you are interested in finding out what your numbers would be please do not hesitate to contact me)
– Woke up at 7am – spent about an hour searching through my social media for motivation to get up (some days it’s hard – I was up late last night working on some stuff so I was super sleepy this morning)
– Got to the gym around 8:30 for fasted cardio (not everyone likes to do cardio fasted, I will post more on this and why I do it in a future blog)
– Spent 45minutes on the stair climber followed by about 50 minutes practicing BodyPump 93 with warm up weight.
– Headed home for breakfast which consisted of:
Note: ISO-gen is what popped up on MFP when I scanned the barcode for Dymatize ISO-100 hydrolyzed whey protein
Then I cooked/meal prepped for the next few days, cleaned around the house, and got ready for meal #2:
A lot of people may think my meals are “boring” but I quiet enjoy what i eat… please note that not every day looks like this – but today I have managed to get in as much food as I can while maintaining my macros pretty darned close to my goal!
For meal #3 & #5 I have chosen to eat similarly and very simply. Many nights meal #5 or 6 (this all depends on what time I was up in the morning – today I woke up late so I’m sticking to 5 meals) is a home made protein pudding, and some days I may have a quest bar because I’m on the go. Since today I’m home from work, (unusual for a Wednesday) naturally I am able to be a little more nutrient dense with my meals!
Meal 3&5 will look like this:
Meal #3 (logged as dinner)
Meal #5 (logged under snack)
And because I like things out of order and I plan on doing a chest workout later followed by a protein shake today I will have 1st Phorm’s phormula-1 CTC protein with some peanut butter (because why not) : Meal 4:
Note: snacks includes meal #5 so don’t get confused with the numbers!
Totals for the day:
I have hit my protein goal at 147g perfectly, I could potentially consume 3 more grams of carbs, and 1g more of fat, and somehow my numbers, although below macros, added up to 1737 vs 1680 cals (micronutrients can sometimes change mathematic values) but for all intensive purposesI’m very happy with the numbers today. The days that I fill my carbs with both fibrous veggies and white rice (yes, I eat white rice only …. sue me!) are the days that I’m not hungry. The days that I fill my carb quota with everything except rice and fibrous veggies (with the exception of sweet potatoes) I am starving by the time I get home from work.
What could I do to make this day better? I should probably change out one of the chicken meals with either fish or turkey to change the micronutrient profile and (with the fish) get some healthy omegas in there.
This is not my everyday, but it is a semi-typical food day – again most days I sub out my home made protein pudding for almost all of one of those chicken/rice/veggie meals or the post workout protein shake. Since I did so much fasted cardio today I decided I’d “experiment” and see just how much rice I could eat in one day while still staying within my goal numbers!
My advice? Find the whole foods you love, and stick to them. I love chicken with rice and green beans, occasionally I’ll switch it up and eat asparagus or Brussels sprouts or sweet potatoes instead of rice – but generally speaking this is what my days look like!
Don’t get caught up in the numbers
Remember the goals shown here are mine, calculated with my body and my activity level in mind. Also, the meals are things that I enjoy eating.
If you are interested in learning more please do not hesitate to email me @ pugsandpushups@gmail.com
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