Alright guys. Are you ready for this? Brace yo self and grab a helmet because your mind is about to get blown. ;)
I've been counting macros for a year now and I wish I had known the best tips/tricks from the beginning. That's why I want to do this for YOU!! Because I love you, fellow IIFYM-er!! And I want to make your life easier and happier so you can eat delicious food and never ever feel deprived!! Enjoy!! <3
STAPLE PRODUCTS:
1. Low Carb Ice Cream/Protein Ice Cream - This is my favorite, obviously. ;) Edy's Slow Churned 1/2 the fat ice cream is ridiculous and you would never know there are only like 3 grams of fat per serving. As I write this, I am currently only at 131 grams of carbs and 26 fats/day (increasing every week!) and I can *easily* fit 2 servings of this into my macros. I eat this lit-ch-rally every single night. If you are on SUPER low carbs, I recommend Arctic Zero ice cream in the Vanilla Maple, Cookies n' Cream, or Chocolate Mint flavor. All of the other flavors pretty much suck in my opinion. Also, you *MUST* heat Arctic Zero in the microwave for at least 10 seconds before eating it or its gross. And be very liberal with walden farms syrup and 0 fat whipped cream. You can also make your own protein ice cream or protein frozen yogurt ("ProFroYo"/"Proyo"). I'll post those recipes ASAP!
2. Walden Farms Products - I don't know if I could live without these babies in my IIFYM arsenal. Yes, they are made with artificial sweeteners so skip #2 if you aren't down with that. That's a whole other conversation/blog post for a different time. For now, I will tell you these 0 calorie, 0 carb, 0 sugar, 0 fat products are life-changing. THEY ARE HIT OR MISS THOUGH. The only products that I can personally recommend are their pancake syrup (IIFYM HOLY GRAIL!!! *MUST HAVE*), chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, strawberry jam spread, marshmallow spread, and thousand island dressing. The ranch dressing I had to throw out because it was disgusting.
3. 0 Calorie Spray Butter - Spray it on egg whites and add a little garlic powder, salt, pepper, and seasonings. Spray it on toast and add some WF strawberry jam. Spray it on protein waffles and protein pancakes. Spray it on 0 calorie miracle noodles and add seasonings. Just spray it. On everything. You're welcome.
4. Baking Products -
A) Cocoa Powder: I know this sounds random and crazy, but WOAH. Holy fiber source! 2 tbsp of has just 20 calories and 4 grams of fiber. Add it to anything -- mugcakes, protein waffles/pancakes (makes them VERY voluminous), oatmeal, zoats/zeggs, protein shakes… chocolate is your new best friend!
B) Stevia: I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth ever. I don't know what I'd do without stevia. I pretty much add it to everything - mugcakes, coffee, protein waffles/pancakes, oatmeal, protein shakes, greek yogurt… earrrrrthang.
C) Coconut Flour/Almond Flour: These are GREAT for any kind of baking -- especially for protein waffles, pancakes, brownies, cookies, and mugcakes. If you tend to run out of carbs quicker than fats, I'd suggest using almond flour. If you run out of fats quicker than carbs, use coconut flour! Check out my recipes section and try it out!
D) Sugar Free Pudding Mix: This makes everything taste so much betterrrrrrr. Add it to mugcakes, protein waffles/pancakes, greek yogurt, protein shakes. Trust me. *_*
5. Fat Free Pringles - YUM! 0 grams of fat and only 15 carbs (70 cals) for 15 chips… tastes just like regular pringles! These are always on my grocery list! They are one of my favorite carb sources for sure. When I'm on MyFitnessPal and all I just need to add some carbs to finish off my macros, this is my go-to.
6. Condiments - Reduced Sugar Ketchup, Fat Free Miracle Whip… and buffalo wing hot sauce, sirracha, and regular mustard of course because they are all 0 cal ;) Get em'!
7. International Delight Fat Free & Sugar Free Coffee Creamers - SO GOOD!!! 1 tbsp is only 15 calories. They have tons of flavors, my personal favorites are Caramel Marshmallow and Chocolate Almond Biscotti. They seriously taste like full fat/full sugar creamers. Any brand is great though, as long as it's a flavor you like and low carbs/fats. So go enjoy your guilt free coffee!
8. MIracle Noodles/Shirataki Noodles - THESE ARE A GAME CHANGER!!! Made from the Japanese Konnyaku vegetable, these guys are 0 calories, 0 carbs, 0 fat -- its just straight up fiber and water. AND THEY TASTE AMAZING!!! You MUST prepare it the right way though and it's super easy. They come in a bag filled with water so strain them and rinse them (they smell kinda fishy/weird before they are cooked). Spray a pan with some pam and throw them in and cook for about 2 minutes. I always spray some 0 calorie butter on it and add seasonings. Then you can add any type of sauce, vegetables, and/or meat. Most epic 0 carb pasta ever! They come in rice, angel hair pasta, and fettuccini pasta! Click here to buy on amazon.
9. Zucchini Pasta - Can you tell I'm italian? I LOVE pasta! So here's another low carb pasta option that is one of my favs. It's cheaper than Miracle Noodles and a SUPER high volume food. You do need a spiralizer, but they are cheap and super easy to use (even though they look kinda crazy). Similar to the miracle noodles, just cook them for a few minutes until they are about the consistency of pasta. I love adding pasta sauce, cheese, and grilled chicken to make chicken parmesan OR adding some bragg's liquid aminos (healthier version of soy sauce), PB2, grilled chicken, and lime juice to make a chicken pad thai dish (recipe coming soon!). So good y'all.
10. PB2 - Powdered peanut butter without the calories and fat (45 cals for 2 tbsp)! Add a little water (and stevia if you like it sweet) and you've got peanut butta for dayyyyyyz! I love adding it to pad thai dishes, into oatmeal, on top of protein pancakes/waffles, mugcakes, protein ice cream, and in my greek yogurt *__*!
11. Low Carb Bread/Wraps - For bread, I always buy the Healthy Life brand (35 cal - 1F/5C/2.5P). Flat Out wraps are great for using to make wraps and use as a pizza crust base! I've also heard AMAZING things about P28 Protein Bread. This is next on my list to try!
12. Wheat Puffs - VOLUME FOOD!!! When you are craving cereal but don't have a lot of carbs left, 1 cup of these are 60 cal (13C/0F/3P). Add some almond milk, stevia, and protein powder for a delicious protein cereal!
13. 30 Calorie Almond Milk - GREAT staple product for protein shakes, adding to cereal, protein glaze (almond milk + protein powder), etc. A must have!
14. Nonfat Greek Yogurt - I hate the way this tastes by itself. BUT, it's AMAZING when you add protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, pb2, etc, and top it with cookies/s'mores goldfish/wheat puffs/sprinkles/whatever fits your macros… 1 cup is 10C/24P/0F… and it's sooooo good. I love making protein frozen yogurt ("PROYO"). I'll post a recipe for that ASAP!
15. Protein Powder - This is a no-brainer but I wanted to share my personal favorites! My absolute favorite protein powder flavors are by Cellucor -- Cinnamon Swirl, Cookies n' Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, FunFetti Cake Batter, Red Velvet Cake Batter, and Molten Chocolate. Next on my list to try is the new S'mores flavor. These are all soooo great as protein shakes and for creating fun recipes!
16. Quest Bars - These ROCK. I mainly love these because of how much FIBER is in one bar. For instance, my favorite bar, the Cookies n' Cream flavor has 180 cal - 7F/22C/21P and get this… ***17g FIBER*** What?! That's almost my whole day worth of fiber! Heck YUS. I usually only eat about 1/4 of a bar at a time and break it into little pieces to use as a topping. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend broiling, toasting, or microwaving these for a little bit before eating a whole bar because they can taste like cardboard if you don't. Adding a little heat makes a world of difference!
That concludes PART 1 of MACRO COUNTING 101! Stay tuned for tons more tricks, tips, and products that will make your life easy and delicious! Much love!
- C
STAPLE PRODUCTS:
1. Low Carb Ice Cream/Protein Ice Cream - This is my favorite, obviously. ;) Edy's Slow Churned 1/2 the fat ice cream is ridiculous and you would never know there are only like 3 grams of fat per serving. As I write this, I am currently only at 131 grams of carbs and 26 fats/day (increasing every week!) and I can *easily* fit 2 servings of this into my macros. I eat this lit-ch-rally every single night. If you are on SUPER low carbs, I recommend Arctic Zero ice cream in the Vanilla Maple, Cookies n' Cream, or Chocolate Mint flavor. All of the other flavors pretty much suck in my opinion. Also, you *MUST* heat Arctic Zero in the microwave for at least 10 seconds before eating it or its gross. And be very liberal with walden farms syrup and 0 fat whipped cream. You can also make your own protein ice cream or protein frozen yogurt ("ProFroYo"/"Proyo"). I'll post those recipes ASAP!
2. Walden Farms Products - I don't know if I could live without these babies in my IIFYM arsenal. Yes, they are made with artificial sweeteners so skip #2 if you aren't down with that. That's a whole other conversation/blog post for a different time. For now, I will tell you these 0 calorie, 0 carb, 0 sugar, 0 fat products are life-changing. THEY ARE HIT OR MISS THOUGH. The only products that I can personally recommend are their pancake syrup (IIFYM HOLY GRAIL!!! *MUST HAVE*), chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, strawberry jam spread, marshmallow spread, and thousand island dressing. The ranch dressing I had to throw out because it was disgusting.
3. 0 Calorie Spray Butter - Spray it on egg whites and add a little garlic powder, salt, pepper, and seasonings. Spray it on toast and add some WF strawberry jam. Spray it on protein waffles and protein pancakes. Spray it on 0 calorie miracle noodles and add seasonings. Just spray it. On everything. You're welcome.
4. Baking Products -
A) Cocoa Powder: I know this sounds random and crazy, but WOAH. Holy fiber source! 2 tbsp of has just 20 calories and 4 grams of fiber. Add it to anything -- mugcakes, protein waffles/pancakes (makes them VERY voluminous), oatmeal, zoats/zeggs, protein shakes… chocolate is your new best friend!
B) Stevia: I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth ever. I don't know what I'd do without stevia. I pretty much add it to everything - mugcakes, coffee, protein waffles/pancakes, oatmeal, protein shakes, greek yogurt… earrrrrthang.
C) Coconut Flour/Almond Flour: These are GREAT for any kind of baking -- especially for protein waffles, pancakes, brownies, cookies, and mugcakes. If you tend to run out of carbs quicker than fats, I'd suggest using almond flour. If you run out of fats quicker than carbs, use coconut flour! Check out my recipes section and try it out!
D) Sugar Free Pudding Mix: This makes everything taste so much betterrrrrrr. Add it to mugcakes, protein waffles/pancakes, greek yogurt, protein shakes. Trust me. *_*
5. Fat Free Pringles - YUM! 0 grams of fat and only 15 carbs (70 cals) for 15 chips… tastes just like regular pringles! These are always on my grocery list! They are one of my favorite carb sources for sure. When I'm on MyFitnessPal and all I just need to add some carbs to finish off my macros, this is my go-to.
6. Condiments - Reduced Sugar Ketchup, Fat Free Miracle Whip… and buffalo wing hot sauce, sirracha, and regular mustard of course because they are all 0 cal ;) Get em'!
7. International Delight Fat Free & Sugar Free Coffee Creamers - SO GOOD!!! 1 tbsp is only 15 calories. They have tons of flavors, my personal favorites are Caramel Marshmallow and Chocolate Almond Biscotti. They seriously taste like full fat/full sugar creamers. Any brand is great though, as long as it's a flavor you like and low carbs/fats. So go enjoy your guilt free coffee!
8. MIracle Noodles/Shirataki Noodles - THESE ARE A GAME CHANGER!!! Made from the Japanese Konnyaku vegetable, these guys are 0 calories, 0 carbs, 0 fat -- its just straight up fiber and water. AND THEY TASTE AMAZING!!! You MUST prepare it the right way though and it's super easy. They come in a bag filled with water so strain them and rinse them (they smell kinda fishy/weird before they are cooked). Spray a pan with some pam and throw them in and cook for about 2 minutes. I always spray some 0 calorie butter on it and add seasonings. Then you can add any type of sauce, vegetables, and/or meat. Most epic 0 carb pasta ever! They come in rice, angel hair pasta, and fettuccini pasta! Click here to buy on amazon.
9. Zucchini Pasta - Can you tell I'm italian? I LOVE pasta! So here's another low carb pasta option that is one of my favs. It's cheaper than Miracle Noodles and a SUPER high volume food. You do need a spiralizer, but they are cheap and super easy to use (even though they look kinda crazy). Similar to the miracle noodles, just cook them for a few minutes until they are about the consistency of pasta. I love adding pasta sauce, cheese, and grilled chicken to make chicken parmesan OR adding some bragg's liquid aminos (healthier version of soy sauce), PB2, grilled chicken, and lime juice to make a chicken pad thai dish (recipe coming soon!). So good y'all.
10. PB2 - Powdered peanut butter without the calories and fat (45 cals for 2 tbsp)! Add a little water (and stevia if you like it sweet) and you've got peanut butta for dayyyyyyz! I love adding it to pad thai dishes, into oatmeal, on top of protein pancakes/waffles, mugcakes, protein ice cream, and in my greek yogurt *__*!
11. Low Carb Bread/Wraps - For bread, I always buy the Healthy Life brand (35 cal - 1F/5C/2.5P). Flat Out wraps are great for using to make wraps and use as a pizza crust base! I've also heard AMAZING things about P28 Protein Bread. This is next on my list to try!
12. Wheat Puffs - VOLUME FOOD!!! When you are craving cereal but don't have a lot of carbs left, 1 cup of these are 60 cal (13C/0F/3P). Add some almond milk, stevia, and protein powder for a delicious protein cereal!
13. 30 Calorie Almond Milk - GREAT staple product for protein shakes, adding to cereal, protein glaze (almond milk + protein powder), etc. A must have!
14. Nonfat Greek Yogurt - I hate the way this tastes by itself. BUT, it's AMAZING when you add protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, pb2, etc, and top it with cookies/s'mores goldfish/wheat puffs/sprinkles/whatever fits your macros… 1 cup is 10C/24P/0F… and it's sooooo good. I love making protein frozen yogurt ("PROYO"). I'll post a recipe for that ASAP!
15. Protein Powder - This is a no-brainer but I wanted to share my personal favorites! My absolute favorite protein powder flavors are by Cellucor -- Cinnamon Swirl, Cookies n' Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, FunFetti Cake Batter, Red Velvet Cake Batter, and Molten Chocolate. Next on my list to try is the new S'mores flavor. These are all soooo great as protein shakes and for creating fun recipes!
16. Quest Bars - These ROCK. I mainly love these because of how much FIBER is in one bar. For instance, my favorite bar, the Cookies n' Cream flavor has 180 cal - 7F/22C/21P and get this… ***17g FIBER*** What?! That's almost my whole day worth of fiber! Heck YUS. I usually only eat about 1/4 of a bar at a time and break it into little pieces to use as a topping. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend broiling, toasting, or microwaving these for a little bit before eating a whole bar because they can taste like cardboard if you don't. Adding a little heat makes a world of difference!
That concludes PART 1 of MACRO COUNTING 101! Stay tuned for tons more tricks, tips, and products that will make your life easy and delicious! Much love!
- C
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