LET'S TALK SOME SH*T FOR A SECOND...

I'm not going to lie, I could talk about poop for a while... I'm never shy about the subject and it's always great getting a chuckle out of people. But why do I love talking about poop?!

Poop is such a great indicator for health! 

Besides the crappy (pun TOTALLY intended) feeling you get when you don't feel well, your poop can tell you what the hell is up. And on the flip side, poop can be a colorful experience if you've eaten a decent amount of beets...

But why should you be concerned about poop? As it relates to flexible dieting, poop lets us answer the question, "Are we eating enough FIBER?!" 

FIBER

As defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, fiber  or “dietary fiber,” is sometimes called “roughage.” It’s the part of food that can’t be broken down during digestion. So because it moves through your digestive system “undigested,” it plays an important role in keeping your system moving and “in working order.” 

Dietary fiber helps lower cholesterol levels, preventing heart disease and it also helps us avoid Type II diabetes, making it über important when we focus on hitting our carbohydrates for the day. In fact, when starting a flexible diet, you should focus on hitting your fiber number just as you would focus on hitting your other macros. Consider it another number to hit, if you will. 

So what types of fiber are there and why are they different?

• Insoluble Fiber - This is mostly found in whole-grain products, such as wheat bran cereal, vegetables and fruit. It provides “bulk” for stool formation and helps wastes move quickly through your colon. 

• Soluble Fiber - This is found in peas, beans, many vegetables and fruits, oat bran, whole grains, barley, cereals, seeds, rice, and some pasta, crackers, and other bakery products. It slows the digestion of carbohydrates, and can help stabilize blood sugar if you have diabetes. In addition, it helps lower “bad cholesterol.” This, in turn, reduces the risk of heart disease. 

Start looking at the labels on your foods for this information- you'll usually find it under "Carbohydrates" and it will also give you a % of your "DV". Daily Values (DV) are different for everyone, so while these labels give information, keep in mind you may need to adjust! Here's a simple calculation to keep in mind when looking at fiber and how much you should be ingesting on a daily basis: 

Body Wt (lbs) x 20-25% = DV of Fiber (g)

Example: 130lbs x 0.20 = 26g 

***Be advised: DO NOT EXCEED 60g of daily fiber to avoid bloating, gas, constipation, or loose poopies***

From here, you have a good starting point. I learned that my calculated daily fiber intake was a bit too much for my body, so I adjusted by decreasing it by a few grams. You may have to do the same, so just keep an eye on your daily dukies! The perfect #2 is one that just slips right out and wouldn't need a wipe (although you do anyway because...gross).

Okay...so it's pretty obvious fiber and poop are important, but how does this fit into a flexible diet?? 

Sometimes, people don't experience the results they are looking for when it comes to starting a flexible diet- namely, those who are looking to lose weight start saying, "Flexible dieting doesn't work... I'm not losing any fat!" WELL HANG ON THERE A DING DALLY SECOND!

Some people who start a flexible diet (and I admittedly did this too at first) go crazy when they realize they can have a LOT of their "indulgences" so long as it fit within their allotted macros. 

"These Pop Tarts fit!"

"These chili cheese fries fit!"

"These cookies fit!"

"These (insert calorie dense, non-nutritionally dense food) fit!"

The trouble with this (among many things) is that just because it fits, doesn't mean you are BALANCED. Just because your white chocolate cheese cake fits into your flexible diet does NOT mean you are getting the MICROnutrients your body needs and it doesn't mean you are getting the FIBER that you need either. Focusing on hitting your fiber each day helps you to achieve balance in your day to day diet. By focusing on your fiber intake, you end up eating foods that also have your micronutrients and therefore help you eat well. This helps your body stay in tip top shape to help you lose that fat.

So, in summary... Poop plays a huge role in knowing how well you are eating. If you're poopin' well (clean breaks into the toilet...you know what I'm talking about...), you can bet you're eating well. How can you ensure you're eating well enough? Focus on your fiber! Make sure you're hitting those numbers on TOP of your calculated macros! 

Want more hilarious poop information? Read this Buzz Feed article...

6 COMMON FLEXIBLE DIETING MISTAKES - RIKI LONG (GUEST BLOGGER!)

Riki Long is a CrossFit and weightlifting athlete with accolades that include appearances at the 2014 North East CrossFit Games Regionals and the 2014 American Open (48kg). Additional to being a great athlete, she is a fellow flexible dieter and coach as well!!

I had the incredible opportunity to meet Riki while competing in Miami, FL at Wodapalooza and it sorta went down like this:

Tiffany sees Riki….(Damn it, don’t be a weirdo!)…(Posts on Riki’s Instagram, “Hey we were in the same heat for the last WOD and stood in line together, but I didn’t wanna be creepy and scream ‘I FOLLOW YOU ON INSTAGRAM!’…”)

Needless to say, Riki was able to look past my awkwardness because we have since been able to chat back and forth about flexible dieting and it has been such a great learning experience. I’ve asked her to share some of her knowledge for Eat Ice Cream Get Abs, so below are her 6 common mistakes that flexible dieters make.

Be sure to follow her on Instagram (@lil_riki_) and check out her website (www.LilRikiFitness.com) for more information on her and flexible dieting!

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Fitness and dieting. We all have our own methods. Dieting seems to be the hardest part though, right? I mean we spend hours upon hours at the gym, whether its globo gym or a CrossFit Box, but our gainz (and losses) are still not reflecting our gym dedication! “Why don’t I have pecs like Rich Froning?” “ I want to snatch as much as Morghan King.” –What gives?   Dieting is hard because we make it hard. I want to talk about the 6 common mistakes people make when practicing flexible dieting. Fix these mistakes, and you are well on your way to being a macro counting pro:

1. NOT measuring their food in grams- “But the package says 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is 16 grams of fat, 6 grams of carbs and 6 grams of protein.” Correct, but if you see the back label, there is a number in the parentheses that probably says 32 grams in weight. A peanut butter connoisseur’s single tablespoon would most likely be bigger than the average person’s tablespoon. For accuracy and consistency, measure it out in grams. You’d be surprised by how much your single servings should look.
2. Forgetting to track supplements- In the beginning I neglected this for a month. Most athletes take some type of fish oil. Oil. What is oil? Fat, so it needs to be logged in. Even fiber capsules need to be logged, yes its fiber but we count all carbs, not just the net carbs.
3. Calorie dense versus volume- This is where people start abusing the flexible diet. I will have clients complaining to me that they are starving and I need to adjust their macros. Sometimes they’re not even on a cut! So the first thing I ask is for their food log:  What you see above is poor planning and calorie dense foods. Now, there is nothing wrong with consuming any of these foods, but now this person only has 100 calories to work with for dinner. Perhaps instead of the rice at lunch, this person could have had broccoli and saved some carbs for later. A quest bar is fine, but for a person that is only consuming 1300 calories per day, this is probably not the best idea. Plan your days ahead of time, eat for volume, and make sure you get in your micros before picking out bagels and quest bars.
4. Not planning- See above! I’m serious guys. The reason why so many people fail on their diets is because of piss poor planning. Don’t just wing it and then get mad at your coach because YOU didn’t hit your macros. Plan!
5. Not double checking MFP- Beware, friends! Some people out there only count calories, or net carbs. There are so many entries for bananas in the My Fitness Pal app. Which one do you use? First, look at the entries with the most confirmations, second be sure you can measure it in grams (not cups, length, number of bruises, etc.), and lastly, research that it is correct using the interwebs. This goes for the scanner too. I have scanned a loaf of bread and the company used the same exact bar code on their hotdog buns apparently. You can’t trust anyone!
6. Food avoidance- I stayed a “clean” eater for about two weeks until I had my first doughnut on flexible dieting, ahem, first six doughnuts…Yeah, I went hard in the paint. It didn’t stop there either; I was on a sugar high and ate any sugary, gluten filled processed treat I could get my hands on. When you taboo a food, you usually crave it more. This is how the binge process comes about. Be a STRICT dieter, not a RESTRICTED dieter.

Have questions about some of this?? ASK AWAY!!

MMMMACRONUTRIENTS! - PART 3 (CARBOHYDRATES)

NOM NOM FREAKING NOM! When we think of carbs, we think of delicious indulgences like cake, chips, cookies, waffles, toast, candy, crackers… It’s no wonder we love to eat carbs! A low carb diet? Kill me, right? That’s so hard when I’m over here drooling over French toast!

In the most recent of times, carbs have been given a bad reputation out there on the streets- they lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, they make you feel bloated, fluffy… The list goes on.

But I’m here to tell you that carbs are important! They are especially important for functional fitness athletes and those individuals looking to increase their lean muscle. Carbs can be your friend! And just like friends, it’s important to choose the quality of your carbs… Choosing good friends and carbs are both important :)

So why are carbs important?

Carbs mean energy! Carbs are the main source of energy for our bodies, not just for our gym activities, but also for our internal bodily functions! Carbs are needed for our nervous system, our kidneys, our brain, our muscles…everything! CARBS ARE GOOD!

But why are some diets high in carbs vs low in carbs? Well, here’s what I know:

• For fat loss: Your carb allotment will typically be lower than the rest of your macros. Why? Weight change boils down to one simple concept: If you can burn more calories than you consume, this will result in weight loss. If you burn less calories than you consume, this will result in weight gain. But why carbs? Why not protein? Remember the blog entry “Mmmmacronutrients – Part 2 (Protein)“? In there, I discussed that proteins are the building blocks for tissue and require energy to be built. In other words, protein synthesis (the act of putting the protein “building blocks” together to make something, like muscle) burns calories. The presence of the protein that we eat coupled with a good exercise program stimulates the body to work/burn calories and helps us lose body fat. In a lower carb diet, the body doesn’t readily have the energy it’s used to using to build proteins, so it goes to other macros for energy: FAT (and some protein too, but for now, just think fat).
  • Why can’t you eliminate carbs completely from a diet for weight loss? Remember that carbs = energy! If you are an athlete, lead an active lifestyle, or anything of that nature, carbs are even MORE important because we need an energy source for our proteins to be built! If I had a pile of bricks that I wanted to turn into a house, but I had no construction workers to help put the bricks together, my pile of bricks would just sit there. Eventually, they would just collect dirt and I’d have to store them away because they weren’t getting used. BUT if I had an entire crew of construction workers, the bricks would be lined, walls would be built, and I would eventually have my house! Well the same goes for proteins and carbs. If we consume proteins but no carbs, our body would not be able to build! The protein would just sit there and eventually they would be stored…. AS FAT.
• But what about for muscle gain? Your carb allotment will typically be more than the rest of your macros. Why? Well, taking the flip side of what we discussed about proteins and how they need carbs to be built, we need to fuel our protein synthesis like crazy when we are looking to bulk/gain. Plus, more calories IN than out, mean an increase in weight.

Not all carbs, however, are the same! I mean, YES, this is Flexible Dieting which means “if it fits then you can eat it”, BUT if you’re REALLY looking to lose fat or be healthy in general, you better brush up on what your “good” carbs are! Here are some of my favorite carb choices- some are better for you than others, and I’ll go into why…

• SWEET POTATO – Zero fat, packed with fiber, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C, the sweet potato presents as one of the best choices for carbs. It’s a fave of mine and a huge bag at Costco is only around $6. They keep for a very long time if you take a hiatus from them so it’s always worth the money.
• BROCCOLI – Zero fat and packed with the same stuff as sweet potato, the only down side is that you have to eat quite a bit of broccoli to reach any sufficient amount of carbohydrate. This can get tough- and if your digestive track isn’t used to broccoli…. well, let’s just say it’s one of the gassiest foods on the market.
• DRIED FRUIT – Also packed with fiber, fruits are Mother Nature’s candy. Watch out, though, they contain a lot of sugar, which you don’t want a whole lot of. I like to eat the dried mangos.
• OATMEAL – A super easy way to get your carbs in with not a lot of volume. Low in fat, high in iron.
• WAFFLES – I personally am in love with Eggo’s lately. The small squares that hold my sugar free syrup are perfect for storing all the flavor… A box of 72 waffles at Costco is only $10!!! CARB IT UP! Obviously NOT the healthiest of choices, but they make for a delicious treat every now and then. I like to put some fat free ice cream on top of a waffle and drizzle honey on it all for dessert. YUM :)

Those are my favorites… what about you??

MMMMACRONUTRIENTS! - PART 2 (PROTEINS)

Proteins can be one of the hardest macronutrients to meet when starting a flexible diet. In a world where carbs and fats are easily accessible, convenient, inexpensive, and delicious… well OF COURSE meeting protein numbers is going to be hard!

So why are proteins so important?

• They help with enzyme and hormone production (among other bodily chemicals)
• They are the building blocks of bone, cartilage, and tissue (like muscle!)

For athletes, getting enough protein is HUGE in recovering from your daily training schedules- they are, after all, the building blocks for our muscles. The typical and general explanation can be understood as this: During a workout/training session, your body utilizes muscle and breaks it down. In order for your body to be just as strong or even stronger by your next training session and in the future, you need to re-build this muscle tissue. Well you can’t rebuild if you don’t have your building materials (PROTEIN)!

For others on a flexible diet, maybe your goal is to lose fat, lose weight, lean out, etc… well protein is just as important for this process as it is in your recovery after the gym!! For weight loss, your body needs to burn energy/burn calories/workworkwork! What better way to make your body work than by giving it a job to do: BUILD! Think of protein as a bunch of bricks that need to be a house- as you build this wall, brick by brick, you’re using up energy- BURNING CALORIES. By consuming protein, your body is now saying, “I need to do something with this… let’s get to work.” Typically (and against common belief), in a weight loss plan, your protein numbers are actually going to be higher than a weight gain plan. I’ll be going into this reasoning in the blog entry Mmmmacronutrients – Carbohydrates (Part 3).

Here are some good proteins to add into your diet:

• Meat – This is a pretty obvious one if you were born in this millennia. Meat is a main source of protein for many of us and if we are looking to build muscle or maintain our lean muscle mass, it only makes sense to eat muscle tissue! When incorporating meat into your diet, it’s important to remember that animal protein can contain a good deal of fat. Just be sure to count the fat too! Some of my favorite meats:
  • Beef – can be high in fat dependent on the cut.
  • Salmon – fats from salmon are the good kind! This makes salmon a good source of healthy fats too!
  • Cod – nearly zero fat making it a good source of JUST protein when you need it.
  • Chicken Thigh – I think a lot of people think dark meat is “bad” and therefore lean more towards chicken breast or white meat. Chicken breast is really hard for me to enjoy and, really, the only reason it’s considered “healthy” is due to a low fat content. But that’s the beauty of flexible dieting: I can eat fat if it fits!
• Greek Yogurt – I like getting the non-fat plain greek yogurt which is 0 fat a few carbs and loads of protein. Doing this allows me to control for how much “other stuff” can be put into it. For example, instead of buying greek yogurt with fruit already in it, I can buy the plain greek yogurt and add my own. I can add fruit, I can add honey, OR if I want to limit my sugars/carbs, I actually put stevia into it for a 0 carb 0 calories sweetener.
• Cottage Cheese – Similar to greek yogurt for me in the sense that I eat it pretty much the same way.
• Peanut Butter – This becomes super handy when I need protein AND fat. Goes on anything or I can just eat a spoonful of it!
• Protein Powder – A SUPER easy way to meet your macros because you can literally pour out how much you need. I usually have 1-3 protein shakes per day, but if you’re looking to have less, then I suggest just having this in the house so you can top off your macro tank at the end of the day with whatever protein you have left to reach. My favorite protein powders: Pro7ein Synthesis, Forzo Pro Protein, and Xendurance Extreme Xecute… all 3 products I purchase atNutrishop South Valley.

Are you a vegetarian? Vegan? Here are some other options for protein sources!

BE CAREFUL- many foods advertise as having protein content but some foods only contain incomplete proteins. This can apply more for vegetarians or vegans, but regardless, you want to be sure you eat COMPLETE proteins! What are complete vs incomplete proteins?  Click the question to read an article about the difference, but I’ll be blogging about that in the future too :)

So what proteins work for you? Leave a comment and let other people know!

MMMMACRONUTRIENTS! - PART 1 (FATS)

The most common questions I get when people begin their new flexible diet are usually related to finding foods that contain their specific macro need.

“I need something that’s fatty/carby/proteiny…”

If you’re following a flexible diet, I’m sure you can heavily relate to this. Usually, this happens at the end of our day when, although we’ve carefully planned out our entire day’s worth of food, we are left with a few grams of this or a few grams of that. And if you’re new to the flexible dieting game, finding these foods can be hard!

Well fear not! The next few blog entries will be about my “go-to” foods with a little explanation why I think they’re so good. Sometimes, foods are good because they’re convenient, other times, they’re good because they’ve got awesome nutritional properties, and sometimes, they’re in between!

Check out the list below and if you have any “go-to” foods of your own, leave a comment so other people can give it a go!

FATS

If you are brand new not only to Flexible Dieting, but also to structured and healthy eating, you’ve probably been taught that fat is bad; that it leads to weight gain and a slew of other ailments like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, etc. While there is some truth to that, there is also truth in what has been deemed “good fats” that are actually good FOR you! Good fats help regulate our moods, they help fight fatigue, and can even help with weight loss! The key to fats in our diet isn’t to eliminate it, but to choose the right kind.

1. GHEE – If you have no clue what this is, that’s okay! I was recently introduced to it and as I read more and more about this stuff, I started realizing how amazing it is for you!! Ghee is clarified butter- basically, all of the water and milk is cooked out of the butter, leaving only the purest form of it! Good ghee is made from organic, pasture-raised, grass-fed cows.
   • HEALTH BENEFITS: improved digestion, decreased inflammation, rich in Vitamins A, D, E, K, weight LOSS, decreased risk of heart disease…
   • WHERE TO GET IT: I bought my current jar of ghee at Whole Foods made by Purity Farms. Ghee won’t be sold in your standard grocery store unfortunately, but any whole foods or farmer’s market type place should have it. You can also order it online as well!
   • HOW TO EAT IT: You can use ghee in anything you’d use butter for! It has a high smoking point making it awesome to cook with, you can melt it on top of bread, you can can even eat it by itself (although I wouldn’t recommend it- I’ve tried). I usually put 2-3 teaspoons of it in my bulletproof coffee in the morning- DELISH.
2. GRASS FED BUTTER – Similar to ghee, this is regular butter made from grass-fed cows as well. It’s got many of the same health benefits as ghee, but it a little bit easier to spread (since it still contains the water and milk contents vs the clarified butter). This is a bit more affordable than ghee.
   • HEALTH BENEFITS: Similar to ghee!
   • WHERE TO GET IT: Again, grass-fed butter won’t usually be found at your standard grocery store. You are sure to find it at stores described above such as Sprouts, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and any farmer’s market. Some brands to look for (that I’ve tried): Kerrygold Irish Butter and Organic Valley.
   • HOW TO EAT IT: Just like ghee! Again, it’s easier to spread, so this may be a good one for bread, waffles, etc. Again, I wouldn’t recommend eating it on its own- but I’ve tried it…
3. EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL – You know what this is and I’m sure you’ve cooked with it in the past at LEAST.
4. HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM – Yep, you read right… whipping cream. The stuff they put into the bottle with the little N2O charger attached to the handle to make whipped cream that goes on top of your Frappuccino. This stuff is SO good in coffee, so good on its own, and just….well… tasty.
   • HEALTH BENEFITS: Unfortunately, this isn’t really the best form of fat, so take it in small quantities. I put it on this list because it’s often time convenient, cheap, and easy to add to so many things.
   • WHERE TO GET IT: You can get a half gallon at Costco. I don’t because I can’t possibly drink that much heavy whipping cream and stay within my macros before it spoils. You can easily find this at any grocery store in almost any size up to a quart. It’s cheap and easy to find making it a convenient fat.
   • HOW TO EAT IT: I’m sure you’ve got ideas…
5. AVOCADO – Unlike the other fats listed above that are ONLY fat, avocado has other macro properties, so you have to remember to add them in.
   • HEALTH BENEFITS: SO high in fiber and filled with good fats!
   • WHERE TO GET IT: I hate that avos are so damn expensive. One time, I found them at the Ghetto Grocery Store (as my old roommate called it) for $0.50 each- AND THEY WERE GOOD STILL. Since then, my price standard for avos increased to a level where every time I see them at the grocery store for $1.99+, I rarely allow myself to buy them anymore. I’ve bought them at Costco, 6 for $6.99 a few times.
   • HOW TO EAT IT: By itself, with salted sunflower seeds, guacamole, with mayo (more fat!), with an egg cooked in it, on a salad… the list goes on.

This list is short, but just a few of my “go-to” fats. It’s important to remember that FATS CAN BE FRIENDS! Through flexible dieting, we learn to eat in moderation and through good choices, we can maintain a healthy lifestyle!!

What are your “go-to” fats? What works for you??

DO'S AND DON'TS FOR FLEXIBLE DIETING

The following are tips (from personal experience) that will make this journey just a little less difficult:

DO’s

1. Do include your supplements that have macro properties into My Fitness Pal – Examples of this include fish oils, protein, etc. If it has macro’s, log it!
2. Do check My Fitness Pal: MFP has a way of changing your total calories on you as you lose/gain weight. For example, if you enter that you gained 2 lbs, and your goals in MFP are to lose weight, MPF will CHANGE YOUR TOTAL CALORIES in an effort to help you continue to lose weight. This is quite thoughtful, but drives a flexible dieter CRAZY!!! The point of macro tracking is to make sure you hit the same numbers every day, which is hard if MFP changes your total calories, thus changing your macro allotment.
3. Celebrate the little successes – So you haven’t lost weight, but you’ve hit 3 PRs (Personal Records) in the gym this week! FU*K YES! Or maybe you’ve gained weight, but you’re looking in the mirror and your stomach is looking flatter?! CELEBRATION!!! Don’t always think about the number on the scale- as cliche as that sounds. Take into consideration other things that are the result of your hard work and flexible dieting: how you feel, how you perform, what your friends are saying about how you look, etc… Take those WINS and celebrate!

DON’Ts

1. Don’t enter foods into My Fitness Pal that have trace amounts or 0 macro properties – For example, black coffee has 0 carbs, 0 fats, and 0 proteins according to MFP. So even though it’s 5 calories, it has no macro value and is therefore a waste of time to enter. Simply enter in the sugar and cream (if you do that)! Of course, you CAN add it if you WANT TO, but I tend to leave it out just because it won’t matter in the big scheme of things for me.
2. Don’t enter in your exercise to MFP – Adding exercise to MFP will add extra calories into your daily allotted calories which will change the number of macros you are allowed to eat (according to MFP). Remember the point of macro tracking is the hit the SAME numbers every day. If you enter in your exercise, you end up throwing those numbers off.
3. Don’t worry about total calories – Total calories is something to NOT worry about when tracking your macros. Theoretically, it should all even out and if you hit your macro numbers, your calories SHOULD read 0 by the end of the day, but sometimes it doesn’t. THAT’S OKAY. It’s okay for you to be under or over your calories, so long as you are hitting your macros. SO- IGNORE THE CALORIES (When did you ever think you could say THAT?!)
4. Don’t be too hard on yourself – Yes, it’s important to hit your numbers, but life happens. Take it all in stride and know that it’s not the end of the world to have a bad eating day. Flexible dieting is wonderful because it’s something you can end up doing for a lifetime, so one bad day among a lifetime of eating? NO BIG DEAL. Get back at it the next day… or maybe the day after… :)

Email me with questions as you have them! Coming soon: FAQs!

Interested in joining the next group? Email me! eaticecreamgetabs@gmail.com You should have a response within 1-2 days :)

TIFFANY'S TOP 10 REASONS FOR ALMOST QUITTING

As people get started with their new flexible diet, it’s easy to get discouraged because you run into a few bumps in the road. Here are my top 10 bumps that I dealt with when I first started and how I dealt with them:

1. I have so much fat left! WTF! – Avocado, heavy whipping cream, peanut butter, butter, coconut oil, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds
2. I have so much protein left! WTF! – Chicken, protein shakes, beef jerky
3. I have so many carbs left! WTF! – Carb shake (Karbolyn by Nutrishop), dried mango, sweet potato
4. I have to do so much math!! – I went through a LOT of changes with this whole math thing. Contrary to what my ancestors were able to do in the math world, this is NOT my forté, so measuring and weighing my food totally sucked. It was tedious and annoying. Overtime, though, I was able to really understand how to use My Fitness Pal and how my numbers were working. I went from writing everything down on paper for the whole day, to now just knowing how much certain foods are and entering them into MFP whenever I get the chance. It takes practice.
5. It’s been 2 weeks, I don’t see a change… – I had to be patient. 2 weeks wasn’t enough time for me to notice any change on the scale. What I DID notice after 2 weeks however, is that I felt WAY better. Better throughout the day, better in the gym, better overall. Just be patient and trust the process.
6. I’m way over protein – If you’re going to be over any particular macro, this would be the one to be over on. There’s no real way to have “too much” protein in terms of having negative side effects. You still have be careful because going over will of course make you go over your total calories, but as long as you are active, going over protein is okay.
7. My friends just invited me out to lunch – GO TO LUNCH. Don’t be that lame person who says no to a good social occasion because of a diet. Just make good choices and don’t go bonkers. Choose something around a good amount of protein FIRST, then choose your carbs and fats. If you’re at a chain restaurant, you should be able to find the foods on MFP. If you’re at a mom and pop place, look each item up separately and do your best. It won’t be exact, but it’s better than leaving MFP blank.
8. Meal prepping sucks – It does. But what sucks even more is waking up and rushing to pack a lunch and having no time to measure anything. To stay on track, YOU HAVE TO BE COMMITTED TO THE PLAN. This means planning ahead of time to make it easy on yourself. If you haven’t already checked out the blog post on meal prepping, GO :)
9. Everyone makes fun of me! – Screw everyone. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been made fun of or looked at funny for counting the number of chips out of the bag at a party, or asking the restaurant how many ounces of beef they put in a sandwich. But guess what- those SAME people are now asking how I did it; how did I get to looking like I do… and I don’t mean for that to sound conceited in ANY way, but I’m just trying to prove a point. That people will question your methods and think you’re weird. But you know  your goals, and you know what it takes to reach them. Don’t let these sillies get in your way!
10. OMG THIS IS HARD – Yes, this was hard. It still is hard sometimes. But just like anything that requires work…it gets hard! Wanting to lose weight, gain weight, perform better, etc… it all takes diligence and hard work, but when you finally start seeing the body you’ve been working for in the mirror, you’ll be realizing that this process is all worth it!

MEAL PREP

People hate meal prepping and the beauty of flexible dieting is that you don’t necessarily have to meal prep. For me, though, meal prepping is what helps me stay on track to getting my fuel for each day. I literally open the fridge in the morning, throw my pre-packed, pre-measured containers of food into my lunch bag and I am golden for the whole day until I come home for dinner. If you’ve never meal prepped before, this can seem like a daunting task at first- the planning, the cooking, the food packing, (SCREAM!)… but it’s not as bad as you think, and it totally gets easier over time.

Here’s what I do every Sunday: COSTCO. I stock up on the the essentials and then get to work. It takes me 3-4 hours on Sunday to meal prep, which sounds like a lot of time, but it actually saves me time in the long run. 3-4 hours on Sunday totally beats 1 hour to make dinner when I get home and then another hour to prepare for the next day. That would be like 10 hours of meal prep if I waited to do it each day! Here’s an example of what my meal prep looks like:

BREAKFAST PREP:

• Oatmeal – Make 5 servings and put it into 5 containers
• Bacon – Put a ton of strips on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. This saves me SO much time. Cooking it in my skillet takes too much time and only cooks like 5 strips at a time. I put 4 strips on top of the oatmeal in their containers.
• Granola – Place a serving in 5 containers
• Milk – Place a serving into 5 mason jars

LUNCH PREP: 

• Steam a ton of broccoli- put 5 oz in 5 containers
• Pan cook a ton of cod (lemon, grass fed butter, and garlic)- put 5 oz in with the broccoli

SNACK PREP:

• 1.5 oz of dried mango in 5 ziplock baggies
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt (sometimes I add honey if I need carbs. If i want to save my carbs, but want sweetener, I actually add in some Splenda) into 5 containers
• Protein powder into 5 baggies
• 1 avocado

DINNER PREP:

• Bake 6-8 chicken thighs and store in a large container
• Bake 4-6 sweet potatoes and store in a large container
• When I get home during the week, I can just make a plate of food with these items that will balance what I have left to eat from the day. It also allows me to fit in a dessert if I need to also!

So obviously since I’m meal prepping for the week, I pretty much set myself up for eating the same thing everyday. For me, this works. I make things that I know I’ll eat. For others, this might be hard to do because imagining having to eat the same thing every day just sucks.  You’ve got to find something that works for you and makes tracking your macros as easy as possible.

Feel free to leave a comment and let others know what works for you!