![]() Taco salad: lettuce, beans and fajita veggies + lean ground beef + cheese or avocadoįlank steak + mashed potatoes + leafy green veg + cooking oil Try to create meals that look something like this: Look for recipes or stick to meals that can be pieced together with separate macro components, like a taco salad, versus a dish like a casserole or lasagna, which can be much harder to track and isn’t as precise. This may be in the way of cooking oil, a condiment (like salad dressing or a mayo-based sauce) or a garnish, like avocado or nuts.Įggs (even though they are protein, whole eggs also offer a healthy dose of fat)įinding and using recipes that are not only easy to cook but also easy to track is key. I like to think of the fat component of my meal as something that’s fun and mainly how I’m going to make the food on my plate taste even better. More than likely, you will incur some fat along the way depending on your protein and carb choices - most protein sources also contain some fat and fats are also present if you are preparing your meal with any cooking oil. Many of these carbs are also high in fiber which can help keep you full and satisfied. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with these options and they are actually really helpful for someone with higher targets that may have a hard time hitting their daily intake. ![]() These higher carb foods are what we generally think of as carbs - bread, rice, pasta, etc. (For more on adding high volume foods to your day, check out this post)Īdding in more calorie dense veggies, beans or grains may be needed depending on your specific goals and targets. The highest volume foods are generally fruits and vegetables, which also help you hit your micronutrient and fiber targets as well. For the same approximate macros, you could easily have a whole giant salad with tons of veggies, chicken, and dressing in a giant bowl for about 24P/8F/24C. As an example, a standard protein bar is about 24P/10F/26C. Eating higher volume meals means choosing nutrient dense foods that will give you more food for fewer macros. LOWER CARB OPTIONS: FRUITS AND VEGETABLES We always recommend having fruits and vegetables on your plate, but the rest of your carb options have a ton of flexibility. Higher carb options are more calorie-dense, but can be really helpful if you have a hard time hitting your targets. Lower carb options, like fruits and veggies, are great if you need to make your macros stretch. When it comes to carbs, you can pick and choose what works best with your specific macro targets. You may have to click around on a few and see if the numbers look similar on most of the entries and then choose one that looks best. For example: if you are prepping for the week by cooking a batch of boneless, skinless chicken breast in the oven, enter "baked boneless, skinless chicken breast " into your tracking app and find an entry that matches best. But, if you are prepping and weighing out cooked protein, track it as such and be as specific as possible in doing so. ![]() If cooking raw protein to eat immediately, try to weigh it raw before. NOTE: Weighing your protein raw is always more accurate, but the best rule is to just track it as you weigh it. Here are some easy go-to lean protein sources: (For reference, when estimating a meal out, most restaurants serve 6-8 ounces of cooked protein.) 4-5 ounces of cooked protein is pretty standard for portion size. When choosing a protein source, first stick to lean proteins that have more calories from protein than from fat. Start with your easily identifiable protein source, then add in your carbs (tailoring them to your specific needs), then a fat source. We recommend starting with meals where you can easily identify the specific macronutrient groups on your plate. Think about your ingredients in terms of their primary nutrient content (ex: rice = carbs, chicken = protein, avocado = fat) as a way to make creating meals a bit easier. KEEP THINGS SIMPLE BY BUILDING YOUR MEALS WITH SEPARATE INGREDIENTS THAT ARE EASY TO TRACK: ![]() This is not the time to get fancy with your recipes in the kitchen or learn to cook when you have never cooked previously. Add in the challenge of cooking your own food while trying to learn the basic nutrition information for your food and ensure your meals hit your targets and it can be a bit overwhelming. From figuring out your food scale to learning the ins and outs of your tracking app, it can take some time and practice. There is undoubtedly a bit of a learning curve when you first start tracking your macros.
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