#betterYOULandL | Flexible Eating (MACROS) & Food Diary
Let me give you a little background. I’ve always been active and I love to workout. I had never worried too much about what I was/wasn’t eating. When I turned 35 I noticed my metabolism start to slow down and over the past year I started to feel crappy. I’ve been extra tired, moody, gaining weight, my hair breaking off, etc. It’s been super frustrating. I had my hormones checked and they were way out of whack. It got me thinking about how I eat. So, I started tracking all my food intake in the My Fitness Pal app on my phone and upped my protein, a lot.
FLEXIBLE EATING | MACROS
Have you heard of flexible dieting, or counting your macros? For me, it’s the most sustainable plan I’ve used. I don’t do well with anything that doesn’t allow me to eat what I want. If I want Yogurtland or a bean and cheese burrito, I’ll have it. IF, it fits my macros for the day. What is counting your macros? It’s counting your protein, fat and carbs for the day. You can calculate your own macros HERE. I typically stayed around 1000-1200 calories a day before I started flexible eating, and I was gaining weight. A weight I had maintained for a solid decade. Once I did my calculations I upped my calories to 1450-1600 per day with an average of 110-150 grams of protein per day. You know what happened? I started to lose the pounds that snuck up on me even though I was eating more food!
FOOD DIARY
I log all my food into My Fitness Pal. The app if free but if you want to change the calculations into grams and enter the macro info you are wanting to stick with, then you pay a yearly fee of $49. It’s worth it to me to have everything tracked so I don’t have to overthink it. Here are a few examples of what I’m eating. I won’t bore you with everyday. Mainly because most days look the same…
TUESDAY- Breakfast: Quest Cookie Dough Bar | Lunch: Grilled Chicken Breast. Brown Rice. Grilled Asparagus | Dinner: Bean and Cheese Burrito | Snacks: Beef Jerky. Green Drink. 3 Hard Boiled Eggs (whites only). Quest S’mores Bar
WEDNESDAY- Breakfast: Quest Cookie Dough Bar. 2 Hard Boiled Egg Whites. | Lunch: Smoked Chicken Sausage with Mustard. Peppered Turkey (deli meat) Wrapped Around Pickles | Dinner: Kale Salad with Garbanzo Beans, Tomatoes, Feta, Cucumber and Balsamic. Grilled Salmon. Snacks: 5 Cups Air-Popped Popcorn with 1.5 Tbsp Organic Unsalted Butter. Good & Plenty’s. Watermelon.
Tip: I buy the pre cooked hard boiled eggs from Costco. They are $8.99 for 24 organic eggs. Pre-cooked and peeled and packaged in groups of 6. You guys..they are awesome and don’t smell up your house. I rinse them off and add a little salt. So convenient and easy!
Can you see snacking is where most my macros go? Two reasons. I eat while I work on my laptop & I love to snack with Jeff after the kids go to bed.
I’m excited to share more meal ideas, info on flexible eating and my workouts with you every Thursday during our #betterYOULandL series. Don’t forget to use the hashtag on Instagram so we can see what you’re up to.
Have a great Thursday! XXO lisa
Comments & Replies
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do you find you can still loose weight while drinking diet coke and red bull as long as your diet and exercise are good?
also do you still stop eating before a certain time or limit carbs after a certain time when you are wanting to loose weight?
i have been exercising and eating clean for about six weeks but i almost feel bigger when i exercise, does it take awhile for the weight to come off?
any recommendation for a hormone doctor in san diego?
Loved this post, I have been looking for something new try in my diet. I like the idea of flexible eating. Any ideas for when you have a ton of protein left to fill for the day? And how close do you get to your daily macro goals?
Great post! I have also just started using the myfitnesspal app to track macros and it has been eye opening. Just curious- how tall are you? 1,000 calories seems very low but I guess it depends on your height and weight. Would love to hear more about how the higher caloric intake is affecting you- was it hard to get started, like you felt full all the time? Thanks for sharing!
I feel stuck in a slump like my body is going against my best efforts!
What did your doctor recommend to balance hormones?
What kind of test did they do? And how did you get through the slump to loose the pounds you weren’t wanting?
Hey Lynne, you can go to a hormone therapy doc and have them do some lab work on you to test your hormones. Do your research on synthetic and bio-identical hormones first then find a doc that fits your needs.
For me I workout 4-6 days per week and I count my macros. Because I was eating more good food for my body I started to feel better within a couple weeks. It’s sticking with it and being consistent that can make or break any eating plan you are on. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results within a month. Keep going! XXO lisa
What are your thoughts on grams of sugar per day? I’ve heard a lot of people mention that they try to stay under 30 grams, even with sugar coming from just fruits and veggies. But is that so crazy hard? Or just me?
I don’t pay close attention to my sugars because a sugar is a carb so if I’m staying within my carbs per day I won’t go over on sugar. Hope that helps! XXO lisa
I couldn’t find your post on IG of what you bought at Trader Joes–what day did you post it?
I just recently started counting macros a little over a month ago! It’s been great! I love seeing your menu ideas too! I’m always looking for more ways to add protein to my diet. Thanks for sharing!
Great post!
Thank you so much for reading! Have a great day! XXO lisa
Thanks so much for this post! I’ve seen so many people posting things about macros and flexible dieting, but they are mostly bigger girls who are seriouslying into lifting/bulking up…and that’s not really what I like or have time for at the gym. Also, I will be 35 this year and have recently noticed my weight not budging, or even going up despite my efforts. I can’t get away with eating what I used to even a few years ago, even though I get more exercise. Thanks again for your post!!
I hear what you are saying. The women in my life that inspired me to do macros look incredible. They are tiny and tones and eating up to 2000 cals a day. As we age, our metabolism slows, so I believe it’s good idea to increase your cals now so you have some wiggle room once you turn 40+. Thanks for stopping by. XXO lisa
Love healthy eating posts! Love when pics are included as well…..for some reason when I’m reading things people eat, the actual name of brands and stuff doesn’t stick, but when you include pics, I recognize it in the grocery store and always grab stuff I’ve seen people talking about! Would love more posts like this!!!
Check out our Instagram today. I posted a pic of what I bought at Trader Joe’s today. Hope it’s helpful. Have a great rest of your day! XXO lisa
I love that you wrote about this! I started tracking my macros 2 months ago and it’s crazy to see the difference in body composition since then – and being able to eat dessert when I want it and can fit it, makes it all worth it, and totally sustainable.
I love that you are counting too. It really is so crazy to see how our bodies can change with just a few tweaks. Thanks for reading along today! XXOlisa
Love this post! I never thought to get the pre-cooked eggs from Costco, but thats genius!
If you are weirded out at first like I was, just rinse them off. I think you’ll be hooked! XXO lisa
Hi–Costco seems to have a great selection of organic items! Where did you get the outfit you have on in this article and what size are you in the tank?
Thanks!
Anya
Hi Anya! I just linked the whole outfit on the leg workout post if you want to refresh our homepage. I’m wearing the XS in the tank. Thanks for stopping by! xxo lisa