For those of you that are new to meal prepping &/or macro counting I want to explain how I have made things work for myself in hopes that it’ll help you as well!!
Tracking your food can be both a great & bad thing. However, for myself it has been more beneficial than not. I have been doing this for probably 5 years on and off. However, I was just introduced to IIFYM (If it fits your macros) at the start of my bikini prep this past February so almost 9 months now. Whenever I used to track I solely looked at calories, protein carbs and fats did not come to play in my mind. Having said that, a great deal of my diet contained empty calories & definitely NOT enough protein. When my coach introduced me to IIFYM, it was a saving grace! It allowed me to fit in a sweets craving here and there without feeling guilty. It truly saved me to be honest. Prior to IIFYM I deprived myself, not only of treats, but of food period. Always remember – food is your FUEL, you need it to grow, to function, to LIVE!! Now some people become obsessive when tracking and make a bad habit out of it, that is not the goal here. The goal is to keep you on track, but enjoy life as well.
With that being said, here is how I’ve figured everything out to work best for me..
MEAL PLANNING
My on bikini prep meal planning versus off season varies a little & I will explain that for each meal below. Right now I am in off season so my macros are gradually getting higher. Right now I’m around 140P | 45F | 200C. I eat 5 times a day. Breakfast when I wake up usually around 8, then lunch after my workout around 11, a snack 3 hours after that between 2-2:30, dinner between 5:30-6, & my last snack at 7:30-8. You don’t have to be so structured with timing, but this is when I find that I start to get hungry. Spacing my meals out like this helps me spread things out also, it also keeps your metabolism moving to burn fat! I’m not going to say every day works out like this. I have days that timing doesn’t always work, but you make due and change things if need me. The last thing you should do with this is stress – it’ll become second nature in no time. I usually plan the following week’s worth of meals the Friday before so I can go grocery shopping Saturday morning and meal prep on Sunday. When I’m planning, I like to get ideas from people I follow from Instagram as well as recipes I find on Pinterest. Sometimes I try other people’s recipes, sometimes I find a recipe a change it to be my own, and sometimes I make my own – whatever happens, happens! I usually try to plan my breakfast & lunch first. Then I plan dinners for the week. & Then follow with snacks.
BREAKFAST
Eggs are usually my go-to for this meal, but I try to change it up each week to keep it exciting. Although I LOVE my breakfast sandwiches. 🙂 I usually try to find a good balance between protein carbs and fats for this meal, making sure that I have high protein and moderate carbs at least since this is usually the meal I eat before my workout. For example, I might have 2 pieces of toast with spray butter, cinnamon & Truvia, and 4 egg whites on the side mixed with 2 Jimmy Deans Sausage Patties ripped up and scrambled with the eggs and then mix in some ketchup. The sausage becomes my fat & protein, eggs are another protein, and toast being my carbs. In this case, I do not have anything to meal prep unless I buy fresh turkey links and cook them myself. My breakfast is usually the same every day for the week that I am planning for to make it easier. This is my favorite meal of the day so I always make it something to look forward to!
LUNCH
I always have some kind of lean meat with lunch. Whether it be chicken breast, turkey (usually ground), or tuna. Along side that I make sure to have a vegetable of some sort – I love broccoli & carrots!! & Then I usually try to fit a carb in there as well since it tends to be my after workout & body needs to replenish fuel that it just lost from lifting. My lunches are usually pretty low in fat because I like to save room for peanut butter in my snacks. 😉 An example lunch for me: 5 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast, 1/4c brown rice, 1c frozen broccoli, 2/3c frozen carrots all mixed together & sprayed with spray butter. YUM! My lunch is also usually the same for the week that I am planning for. I meal prep this meal on Sunday morning & just disperse them into 5 containers that I’m able to heat up the day of eating. However, certain meals that I choose do not require me to prep ahead of time. For example, last week I had tuna wraps & carrots in which I mixed a can of tuna with 1 tbsp Fat Free Ranch & a little hot sauce, places it on a bed of lettuce on top of a flat out wrap & ate right away so it was super easy!
DINNER
When I’m prepping, I make my own dinners and dinner separately for my husband, although you do not have to do this – I just found it easier to have the same thing each night of the week days. During off season, I make dinner for both my husband & I each night so we are eating the same thing. I plan a different meal for dinner each night or at least every other night and have leftovers the following day. I usually get my ideas here from Pinterest and just change things where need be. For example, I usually turn to fat free or reduced fat options and I never cook with real butter because it upsets my stomach from eating so clean all of the time. My go to – SPRAY BUTTER!! I make all kinds of meals for dinners. I always try to find a balance between healthy, yet enjoyable. Follow me on Pinterest, I have a board called “Yummy Goodness” that I post all kinds of recipes that I want to or have tried! I also have a board of the recipes I post on here. The link to my Pinterest –> Lyss Robb’s Pinterest. If you’re worried about having to make something every night then you have some options. Do as I do in bikini prep & plan the same thing to eat each night & prep it the Sunday before while prepping your other meals. You could also prep a couple different things on Sunday to where you can just throw them in the oven or unfreeze them throughout the week. Do what works for you!!
SNACKS
This is where I have fun. 🙂 I LOVE trying different protein treat recipes & different protein bars. On prep – I choose an afternoon snack for the week as well as a before bed snack for the week. When not on prep – I usually decide a snack for the afternoon for the week or have a protein bar and then have whatever fits in the evening. In this case, if I’m making a recipe I usually prep it the Sunday before so it’s already baked for the week and I can just refrigerate it to keep it good. For example, today I prepped individual protein pumpkin pies (I’ll be sharing the recipe as long they taste good when I try them). 🙂
ALWAYS PLAN THINGS THAT YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO!! Life is too short to eat things that you don’t like & when you follow IIFYM, it makes ZERO sense to fit something in that you’re not going to enjoy.
MACRO COUNTING
Depending on what your fitness journey is, where you are at in that journey, and what your goals are your macros may change weekly or they may remain the same for a few weeks. I have reversed dieted (as I’ve talked about in other posts) up to the point that I am at today. At this point, I have found a balance of not needing to add any more in because I am gaining lean muscle, increasing my weight, while minimizing my fat gain. If you find that you’re losing weight, you’ll need to up your macros. If you find that you’re gaining weight and are on a mission to lose, then you need to decrease your macros. I usually do this in increments of 5-10 carbs & 1-3 fats. My protein has remained basically the same with no increase or decrease (I do about 1.3 per lb to put on lean muscle for the weight lifting that I do).
PROTEIN
With my protein being as high as it is, I try to have 30g at every big meal & divvy out the rest between snacks. Your body can only digest 30g Protein at a time, although sometimes I do end up having higher since I have to reach 140g each day.
FATS
My fats usually come from peanut butter, I’m obsessed.. who isn’t?! 😉 However, I always log my breakfast, lunch, and dinner first and then see what fats I have remaining for snacks.
CARBS
My carbs come from all different food sources, but I usually try to make them be complex carbs. Complex carbs are foods such as whole grain breads, sweet potatoes, brown rice, fruits, veges. I do have simple carbs here & there though – I LOVE making Quest s’mores. I bake the Quest bar that’s cut into 4 pieces at 400F for 2 minutes on each side and sandwich them with Marshmallow Fluff.. to die for!! My breakfast, lunch, & dinner always contain complex carbs. My snacks go both ways, sometimes being complex, sometimes being simple. IIFYM is all about balance, you just need to find yours.
TRACKING MY NUMBERS
I have used the Myfitnesspal app, but I don’t like that on my phone I can’t see my specific macro numbers easily so I use an app called MyPlate by Livestrong and I love it!! The day or night before I always log what I’m going to be eating the next day for a few reasons. One, so I have set in my head ok, this is what I’m going to have. Two, so it takes away the guess work and you don’t stress throughout the day thinking about if you’re going to be able to fit things in or not. Third & Lastly, because it’s what works for me! Again, find what works for you. 🙂 I treat it as a math puzzle (if you don’t like math, don’t do that haha). Being +/-5g of each of my macros each day is a goal for me & it’s something I aim to achieve for my health. Don’t let it stress you out. Yes, in the beginning it can be intimidating, but it’ll come to you with time!
You may even get to a point that you don’t need to track, that you can kind of guess and know that you’re fueling your body with the right amount of calories from the macros contained in your foods. For me, at least for now, I need to track in order to ensure that I need enough otherwise I spiral down and that’s the last thing I want. I have a goal in mind and I’m set on achieving that. Like I said earlier, you NEED food to grow. IIFYM teaches you not to be afraid of food, but to love & embrace it. Have FUN with fitting in your foods, it’s like a daily challenge that you have to conquer. 😉
If anyone has any questions or I didn’t cover something that someone is struggling with please do not hesitate to ask! Comment here, email me at A-Hepler@hotmail.com, or find me on Instagram –> @lyssrobb. I’d love to help out!!
<3Lyss 🙂
Watch Me Grow💪 