Macronutrients, IIFYM?? Fat loss

Is Flexible Dieting for YOU?

What is a "Macro" and why should I eat them?

 *scroll to the bottom for a cheat sheet!

A "macro" is a short term for Macro-nutrient.  Macro-nutrients are protein, fat and carbohydrates.  These three macro-nutrients make up the calorie content of all foods.  Any type of food will have a combo of protein, fat and/or carbs or it can be just one of these macros; oil, for example, is just fat. Peanut butter is fat, protein and carbs.  All three of these macros have a caloric value assigned to them and however many grams of each macro a food has determines the total calories in the food.  By reaching for macros during your day rather than just overall calories you will be eating for optimal fat-loss and body composition. All three are very important for overall health.  Note, ALL three, we do not cut out a nutrient (i.e. carbs- because vegetables and fruit are carbs, we need those!) for weight loss.

This way of eating and constructing your meals is not a new concept but one that is well proven by science.  It is a way to construct your daily intake of calories and nutrients that, as long as you stick to it, will give you the best results and body composition (muscle to fat ratio).  It is not "calorie counting" but rather "macro tracking."      

It is a way to eat the foods you like while still hitting the weight-loss or health goals you are shooting for.  As long as you get foods to fit into the numbers calculated for your specific body, activity and goals then you can eat it...if it fits into your calculated macros for the day, it's fine!  This is a wonderfully flexible way of eating that will make your life easier and make reaching your goals a sustainable lifestyle, because you get to eat what is enjoyable.  It is also important to reach for healthy foods but this lifestyle makes it so you get your treats every now and then and are less likely to "fall off the wagon" or binge.

How do I track them?

First you need to know what they are for you, this is done by getting them calculated for you at your current fitness state (I can do that for you!).  The best way to track is to measure what you eat, by cups, tablespoons or, ideally, grams on a kitchen food sale.  Make sure you get the right amount that you are eating then plug them into an app and start logging your food. You will eventually learn what are great choices that help you hit your daily goals.

There are many great apps out there:

MyFitnessPal.com (free- but the paid version will let you track specific macros)

Macros by calorie count (android- free)

Macros+ (Iphone)

fatSecret.com

sparkpeople.com

 **If this sounds scary or confusing and leaves you wondering how to even begin, I can help you with that.  Nutrition counseling is fast and easy and you'll get step by step help, by phone or email assistance along the way....my priority is simply to guide you to a healthier lifestyle.  You won't weigh and track forever, it's a learning tool!

So, macros are the building blocks of food, which is the building block of your body.  You eat them every single day without even thinking about it. You can choose which foods of each macro you want to eat and how to arrange them or which way of eating you prefer, I.e. vegetarian, vegan, paleo or simply "normal", it all contains macros!  If you eat them in the right proportions, right amounts of each for your fat-loss or body-reshaping journey then you will see much greater success.

Macro cheat sheet, what goes into what category?!

 

Fit mommy, fit baby!

Hi everyone! I hope Spring is going well and you're as happy as I am to be out of the cold and into the (already) sweltering heat! It makes me happy :)  Guess what?! I was a featured blogger on For Two Fitness! They sell some pretty cool workout clothes for pregnant moms but also provide great advice on staying healthy and working out. Check out my blog here!  Then stop in and check out the rest of their website.


On another note:
We just finished a "Spring into Summer" 6 week lifestyle challenge at the HeartStrong Fitness studio and the winners were announced!

All the final check ins done and the winner was announced in our private facebook group but I thought I'd let everyone know that Michelle Leaf was our grand prize winner of the Spring into Summer 6 week challenge! She has done amazing! Such a great inspiration!
*EVERYONE lost inches (and that's what we want...smaller and tighter!) 
*not everyone lost pounds but I always say it's not about the scale in the grand scheme of things  next time we'll change it up for the final results. But I am so proud of everyone who did this challenge and I hope you all keep up the workouts and healthy choices! Thank you!

This challenge gave me some grief a little bit. See, I always say that it's about the inches lost not what the scale says....but for this challenge sake, to make it fair, we had to do percent of total weight lost. This is an easier one that will be most fair across the board. I'm thinking I'll rearrange the way I do the next challenge because inches are certainly much more telling of body change than just the scale. I mean, I'm all about gaining muscle, and that's just what everyone did! yay!


Hope you have a happy and healthy weekend!

We don't eat the same?!

I get many questions about nutrition but the one that I get most come from the women that are trying to get their nutrition on track is that they have to deal with feeding a family or husband on that meal plan! The dilemma is how is Mom supposed to eat when she has kids don't eat what you eat and husbands that tend to eat way more than you eat.  Think of it this way, your kids are growing and run everywhere, they don't even comprehend how to walk through the house, they play sports and are jumping up and down in place because its annoying...I mean...fun. Your husband is, well, a man, and typically he's bigger than you, or taller than you and his metabolism is different than yours. Our needs aren't the same as our husbands' needs.

Here's my situation...my husband is a "hard gainer" meaning, he can pack away 5,000-7,000 calories a day and maybe gain a few. He walks around with a 6-pack because he is so naturally lean, it's really just not fair...some may say he's thin, some say lean, whatever it is, the guy needs to eat more than he does. When he gets on a workout kick (which is few and very far between) he needs even more calories since he's burning some.  I blame this on years of high school and college wrestling requiring him to diet down from small to smaller (we're talking 3%-5% bodyfat at best), so now, he can just "forget" to eat (what?! how does that even happen?)

We went on vacation for 6 days and he gained 7 pounds...he weighed at the doctor, same scale same time of day 10 days apart....the man doesn't gain weight on my food for months! Clearly I need to cook with more oil and fats because that's what we ate all week and that's what he needs. Wait, did I mention his fitness goals are to gain weight? that might make more sense...to those of you whose mindset tends towards the losing weight scenarios.

So back to our nutrition issues.... how does a woman eat when she has a hungry man in the house and maybe even some growing little ones to feed to?  We have always been told that "mom is not a short-order cook" but what if you were, for you? Then you can cook what they need and still eat what you need. That is exactly what I tell my nutrition clients whose biggest complaint is that they can't get the small amount of good food they need because they are always cooking and eating what the rest of the family wants.  I have made it through baby weight-loss, competition prep and normal life now by figuring out how to incorporate what THEY eat and what I eat into one quick and easy cooking process.  It is pretty much an "overlap". We all need veggies, check. We all need a protein, check. We don't all need a filler/carb...so I cook everything together that I can and they get more of the filler (quinoa, sweet potato, brown rice, noodles...) and that would be my measured out portion of what I need or I just don't eat it and I make sure I measure or weight out the portion I need of the chicken/fish/ground turkey....

Here is a meal that I cook often:  (what you don't see is the Amie's GF/organic veggie chili I popped in the microwave for 2 mins. In this case the protein of the meal is different because I didn't want bean/veggie chili so I whipped up some scrambled egg whites...an awesome go-to!)

sweet potato puffs and Brussels sprouts
all cooked on the same pan!

caramelized some onion (totally optional)
and scrambled some egg whites while waiting for oven stuff.

Toddler gets this because she loves
sweet potato puffs and we make her eat the rest

Husband gets this massive pile of SP puffs (almost whole bag)
Brussels sprouts, plus chili and onions

I get this, 4 egg whites, enough puffs to satisfy
 and all the Brussels sprouts I want

See, easy-peasy. Just "overlap" your food so you aren't cooking two different meals. Eat the same healthy, lean protein (and if not then whip up some egg whites for your self, they go with everything!). It is perfectly fine to be a short-order cook if you are doing for your own benefit and health. It won't feel as bad either since you are doing something for yourself. You're eating healthier, smaller portions, keeping food cooking to a minimum and keeping cleaning low because you are using all the same pans.

I will do this with everything...I may have some more suggestions in a few days so keep checking here and Facebook for more meal ideas!

Happy, Healthy Day Friends!

Cookies?! mmmmm

A "cookie" recipe!

Happy "Spring"...but I feel wierd saying that. Here's a tip to brighten up your day maybe!
Now, I've never claimed to be a master chef or an amazing baker but I like to eat, I like simple and I like to make things healthier than they started. Every chance I get I will try something I find on Pinterest or some other blog. This one I tried 5 minutes after seeing, I wanted a cookie that bad.  For this one, I had to put "cookie" in quotes because I just can't call it a cookie...but it was so good they disappeared from the plate faster than I could grab another.  

You'll need a food scale for this...You should probably go ahead and get one anyways....but this was posted by Lean Bodies Consulting on their Facebook page .They always post things that would be "on plan" for nutrition clients and weighing is always the best form of measurement. But I've added what they would roughly translate too. These are 'carbalicious' so would be a great post workout snack! 

Sweet potato Cookie:

200g sweet potatoes (cooked and cooled) (about 3 small)
2 whole eggs
30g almond butter (about 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp of cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350, combine all ingredients until the batter is thick and smooth. Drop small balls of the batter onto a parchment-paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes and then FLIP the cookies and bake for an additional 5 minutes (very important). Cool on a cooling rack.

**The cooling rack is an important step because of the moisture in the sweet potatoes so let them cool before you eat them.
Mine:

Theirs:

Nutrition facts (as determined by myfitness pal):

4 cookies= 115 calories

                     11g carbs
                      6g fat
                       5 g protein
                      2 g fiber