Sunday 29 September 2013

Macro's??...So what's all this Talk about Macro's.....



MACRO CITY!!!

So what's all this chatter about Macro's?...every time I look on FB or IG everyone is chatting about Macro's...and that is awesome!

I haven't been this excited about a way of eating since Weight Watcher. WW had great flexibility, you got to structure your day based on Points. Well Macro's work in much the same way.

With either system you can choose how to spend or use your Macro's. You can choose to spend all your WW points on cereal and milk if you so wish, the same with Macro's. Even using your macro's in a poor way, you should still loose or maintain weight.

I'm so excited about Macro's because this time around I know more, have different goals and I have a Diet coach teaching me so much, my brain hurts at times!!

How my love of Macro's Began....

I first heard about Macro's from my Friend Katie. Katie is an Athlete and she also uses Macro's as a way of life. Katie mentioned it to me and I thought...humm sounds interesting, but it seemed like work and at that point in my life more work wasn't appealing....so I left it at...Hummmmm.

Over the Summer I was over having a play day with my Friend Carrie. Carrie is also an Athlete and she is a busy working Mom of 3 young girls. Carrie started talking to me about Macro's too...again I thought, hummm...again more Macro talk...but being in a bad place I didn't really want to listen to much.

Soon after that play day Alyssa talked to me about Macro's...This was after I had spoken to Craig about my eating issues...and we were taking steps to correct it. I was really humbled that Alyssa was offering to step in and help me. So because I respected that so much I decided to listen and really learn  how Macro's work. :)

So how they work in a very short description :) Alyssa did an analysis of my systems for me..she knows my training. With all that info she gives me a break down of daily Goals for food. Those goals are Protein, Carb, Fat and Fiber. I need to intake all the Macro's she instructs me to eat...it really doesn't matter how I get it in...but I have to get it in!

It's likely the best "diet" I have ever learned about. The super cool thing is that it works for starters, and it works for athletes...even elite athletes!!

When I first started with Macro's I played around a TON...so many days I would miss hitting all my macro's and have to figure out a way to hit them the next day. So I made a ton of Bowls!!...Bowls rule...take lots of yummy stuff and mix it together...yeah, that's Macro's!! :)


Example: Cabbage, Spinach, Avocado, Tuna, red peppers, Cucumbers Mayo mixed with mustard as dressing. :) Amazing!!


Mexican: Love this one:)...Cabbage and spinach, Avocado  Re fried beans, tomato, spicy enchilada sauce!!..so Yum :)


** Notice I always make 2...it just makes life easy!!**








So I enter all the ingredients into My fitness pal and I know where I am at for the day...that's why making 2 is really a helpful thing for a busy Mom.

The bowls are good for every day...but the amazing thing is, I'm now in a competition...my Macro numbers started out the same....but I changed from everyday eating to Athlete eating.

I call it Athlete eating because it's all about timing macro's around your training. I make sure I have lots of carbs around my training...load up on fats in the morning, and eat small meals often.

So now I split my carbs to focus on my training schedule. I need to ensure my body is well fed and grows. Alyssa has monitored my Macro's since day one of this challenge.  She started me off close to where I was before the bulk...about 1300 calories broken up how she felt best suited me...she needed to see how I responded. Well I lost weight way to fast...working out burned to much so she upped me to 1500, mostly upping my carbs and Fat...sure enough I still lost. So finally we have settled in well at 1700 calories per day...DOUBLE ...DOUBLE what I was eating before I spoke with Craig!! 

What's also awesome is that I'm only 2lbs lighter then when I weighed in for this competition...but I'm fairly lean!...So having a great macro balance and eating my Macro's timed properly is really working amazing!!

It does take lots of prep to eat like this...but the results are worth it. I eat out of containers a lot-lol...but it's all very routine for me now. I think I have a good pattern and I'm seeing lots of positive changes!!

You get to be creative with Macro's...it gets you excited about food again. You have total control on how you use Macro's and tracking with My fitness Pal keeps you accountable and aware of what goes in your mouth. 

Pre work out Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

If you choose to try Macro's see someone that can set you up with the correct numbers. If you try an on line calculator it doesn't know you!!...I tried it and the numbers were way far off from what Alyssa gave me...and what she has given me is working!

Next week I will be posting about the progress...and YES I will bite the HUGE bullet and post some pictures...the before are going to be tough to post!! But... I'm excited about the changes I've made in 3 weeks...so I'll share what 4 weeks of IIFYM with Alyssa and Training with Craig has done :)


If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

Doing something for me, makes me better for others


2 comments:

  1. That tuna meal looks delish! Is the cabbage raw??

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  2. YES...it's just Cabbage Salad...you can get it a Zehrs or Sobeys!!...I use it a lot for the digestive aids!...as per Alyssa! :)

    ReplyDelete