When we first met, mid-September, Steph took my weight and measurements and determined the Macros that she wanted me to follow. Each day, I'm supposed to eat exactly the same number of calories consisting of a specific number of grams of Fats, Protein and Carbohydrates. She encouraged me to use My Fitness Pal to track these things, an app I promptly installed on my phone and iPad.
Honestly, those first two weeks I was really swamped and didn't take the time to try and figure out how to use My Fitness Pal, or really, how to follow the Macros she had assigned me. And, shockingly (sarcasm), the scale showed no signs of moving. Finally, enough was enough. I sat down, Googled "Macros," started watching YouTube videos, visiting different blogs and websites, and finally started to wrap my mind around what this whole "Macros" thing was all about.
Here's where things got interesting.
It turns out, that all those healthy meals I had been preparing at home had calories. Lots of calories. They weren't all bad calories. But my Jennie O 93% Lean Ground turkey (6 oz) was 255 calories. Put that together with some chopped black olives (3 TB), black beans (1/2 C), spinach (2 C), cucumber (1 C), tomato (1 Roma), bell pepper (1), egg whites (1 C), feta cheese (1 oz), and vinegar (2 TB) and olive oil (1 TB) and you have a super healthy lunch. But add those things together and we are talking an 821 calorie salad!
WHOA!
That's a LOT of calories!!!
The protein shake that I drink with my breakfast (not as a meal replacement), is 230 calories. Plus my egg whites, oatmeal, sliced almonds, and fruit.
YIKES!
I quickly realized that while Steph had given me what seemed like a LOT of calories in my allotted daily Macros, those calories spent themselves mighty quickly, even when I was preparing healthy, nutritious foods.
It occurred to me that I had been living my life like an ostrich--with my head buried in the sand. I knew that I was eating healthy foods, for the most part, so I didn't really pay attention to portions, and when I had a treat, I just figured that my healthy eating was balancing it out.
WRONG.
Even healthy foods have calories. Often, more than you think (protein).
Initially, I think I suspected that things were not adding up, as I wasn't losing those pesky Extra Pounds that I wanted to get rid of. But for a while, I just didn't want to face the music. Somehow I thought it was better just not knowing the details.
I don't know why I'm afraid of the details sometimes. Why I fear the very answers that I am looking for. I think it's part of human nature, or at least part of Anela nature, to want to ignore things, because facing the facts means changing our behaviors, and sometimes, I'm just lazy. Tired. Busy. Full of excuses. Sometimes, I just don't want to change.
But here's the thing. My mom used to post inspirational quotes on our back door when I was a teenager. She probably thought we never paid attention, but I remember them. All of them. One of them said this:
If you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you've always gotten.
Bam!
If I continued to hide, afraid to find out what I was really eating, then I would keep gaining weight, and continue to be frustrated and unhappy with myself.
So, I decided to SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP (my new motto, by the way), and finally start recording every single thing that I ate (using My Fitness Pal).
I haven't been perfect at keeping track of things, but I've done a thousand percent better these past few weeks than I did those first two.
And I've discovered a little secret.
You can plug your food in a day or two AHEAD OF TIME and play around with different options until you find what is going to best fit your Macros (and your tastes, for that matter).
GAME CHANGER!!!
I'm kind of obsessive about it now, actually. I'm secretly a data nerd (in addition to being nerdy about all kinds of other things), and have found that I LOVE plugging in my food and trying to get as close to my Macros as possible without going over my numbers. Also, I now meticulously check food labels to try and get as much bang as possible for my calorie "buck." I looked at at least a dozen different brands of Greek Yogurt before I settled on the HEB brand 100 calorie cups, because they have 0 Fat, 10 Carbs and 13 Protein (you'd be surprised at how much the Fat, Carbs and Protein varied for different brands). Since I have a hard time fulfilling my daily Protein Macros, I try to find things that are high in Protein and have little or no Fat and Carbs, like HEB Greek Yogurt and egg whites.
Oh man. Egg whites are my new best friend. I eat them in oatmeal, salads, veggie stir frys, and sometimes just by themselves with a little salsa on top. Mmmmmm. Yummy. So much Protein, NO Fat, and a tiny amount of Carbs. If I could buy stock in egg whites, I would.
Anyhow, I feel empowered now, knowing exactly what I am eating and where all of my calories come from. And honestly, it does make it easier for me to resist temptations. I can better plan for things like going out to dinner with friends. I make better choices (got the Turkey Burger the other night at Carl's Junior because it had 490 calories compared to the 880 calories in the Guacamole Bacon Burger that I really wanted to get). I can have that Fun sized packet of M&Ms, as long as I plan for it and reserve 3 grams of Fat and 10 grams of Carbs in my daily Macros.
Now that my head isn't buried in the sand anymore, I've seen some other things as well. Like the numbers on the scale, finally starting to go down.
:-)
