This week is the official start of my macro program. I met with most of my people last week and have had a few sign-up this weekend. I am super excited to get the ball rolling and start helping people reach their goals. I always feel an enormous amount of pressure and anxiety when I teach a class. I want everyone to feel comfortable, end the program with all the positive feelings, and feel like they are heading in the right direction when it comes to reaching their goal.
Most goals are long term and cannot be met within the 8-week span. My goal is to get people on the path to reaching their goals. I want to equip them with the knowledge and healthy habits to track on their own. Tracking is not a life-long commitment if you are committed to it in the beginning. If you half-way track, you will not see the results that you want, if any. Binging on the weekends can override any good that you did during the week.
Tracking is not easy to stick to, but it is sustainable throughout all seasons of life. If you want to commit to tracking your food, you have to have the right mindset, as with learning any new skill. If you join a nutrition class and doubt that it will work for you, then chances are you will not try your best. If you have a mindset of failure, then you are likely going to fail. If you tackle learning a new skill with positivity, then chances are you will succeed, but if you do fail you are more likely to continue trying.
You must choose to have a positive mindset, it does not just happen naturally. You will naturally doubt your ability to overcome adversity, but you can. In a time where everyone wants instant gratification and for things to come easily, you must choose to have a positive mindset and keep working even when you want to stop. Nothing worth having ever comes easy and along with that, you need the right attitude to push through.
M E N U
Stir Fry
Brisket Tacos
I thought that leftover brisket was best served in an omelet but after making these tacos, I’d be happy if we smoked a brisket just for taco meat. The first time we made these we had some leftover brisket from The Fourth of July and decided to throw some into tacos. I had some leftover Verde from that week and random toppings. Honestly, they ended up being some top quality tacos. I wasn’t expecting to like them as much as I did.
We kept the tacos super simple, but they ended up being so delicious. To make the Verde roast the tomatillos, garlic, green onion, and jalapeno in the oven until the tomatillos are tender and soft, 20-25 minutes on 425 degrees. Throw the roasted tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno, and green onions into the blender with the juice of one lime and cilantro.
If you don’t want to make your own Verde, the store bought is fine too.
Ingredients: beef brisket, smoked to temperature 1 raw red onion, diced 7-10 grams fiesta blend cheese per taco fresh cilantro, chopped fresh jalapeño, diced squeeze of lime per taco low carb/high fiber tortilla Tomatillo Sauce: 6 small tomatillos, husked *verde if you can’t find tomatillos 1 jalapeño 4 green onions juice of 1 lime 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
Blueberry Feta Salad
In an effort to keep the carbohydrates balanced, I try to cook two-three “heavy” carbohydrate meals and two-three light carbohydrate meals every week. I will alternate the high carb and low carb meals between lunch and supper so I don’t go over my allotted carbohydrates every day. I don’t worry about which meal of the day has the high carb or low carb, I just focus on keeping it balanced.
With this salad don’t skip making the dressing, don’t try buying some store-bought version, because it won’t be the same. Any dressing made with lemon juice is right up my alley. I skip the olive oil and just up the amount of lemon juice and it makes it extra healthy. I don’t mind eating fats but I would much rather save my fat for the almonds or avocado, not the olive oil.
Usually, I pick between almonds of avocado. I don’t want to go over on my fat because of one dish. Typically 1/4th of an avocado is 1 ounce. 1 ounce of avocado is 50 calories, 0.5 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of carbs, and 4.5 grams of fat. You can add both, just make sure you watch the calories, fat adds up quickly. Two ounces of avocado is 100 calories and that would be about a fourth of what I would want my total calories to be for one meal. In my opinion, it is just a lot of calories for something so small. Just make sure you weigh it and track it.
*Change I make to meet my macros.
Ingredients: 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound) *Steak- filet or sirloin 8 cups mixed salad greens 1 cup blueberries (* or strawberries) *1/2 cup to 1 cup per salad 1 large avocado sliced *1 ounce or less per salad 1 cup almonds *9-12 almonds per salad 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese *10-12 grams non-fat feta 1/2 large red onion thinly sliced Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing: 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil *omit oil 1/3 cup lemon juice *add more lemon juice 2 tablespoons honey *1 ounce of honey 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard *2 tablespoons 2 cloves garlic minced 1 teaspoon poppy seeds 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Stir Fry
We are making our own stir fry this week with pasta zero noodles. Trust me when I say you are going to want to rinse these thoroughly or they will smell funky. I like to cook them on the stovetop.
We are going to keep it very basic with broccoli, onion, sweet bell peppers, and zucchini. For the protein, we are going to use chicken breast tenders and season them with Tiger Sauce. I love this sauce, we started using it a few weeks ago on some random cuts of grilled chicken and it was a hit.
A meal like this is ideal for those that are just starting out tracking. You can keep all of your ingredients separate and it isn’t your boring typical meal-prep food. I am going to saute’ the broccoli, onion, and peppers. Before we grill the chicken we will throw the zucchini on to cook.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: Chicken breast tenders 3-4 zucchini 3 heads broccoli 1 onion 2-3 bell peppers salt pepper garlic zero calorie olive oil spray
White Chicken Chili
I have two different chili recipes that I use for white chicken chili. One has very few ingredients and the other just gives you more options as far as flavor goes. You can’t really go wrong with either one.
There is a local restaurant in town that makes white chicken chili that he adores, so I tried my best to find a recipe that could hold its own. If I tweak the recipe that contains very few ingredients, then it is a hit. If you leave out the sour cream and refrain from grabbing the crackers, this is a super healthy meal and a great option for these cold days.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 6 C. Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth *4-6 depending on broth 3-4 C. Cooked & Chopped/Shredded Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (1 1/2 lb.) 2 (15 Oz.) Cans White Beans, Drained & Rinsed 2 C. Salsa Verde 2 Tsp. Cumin Salt & Pepper to Taste *add in: onion, cilantro, jalapeno
Healthy Turkey Chili
You would not think that chili could be low calorie, but I assure you that it can. If you keep watch on the number of calories that you are taking in throughout the day, you can still have great “normal” food. There is no need to starve yourself to lose weight! Promise. This also means, do not throw any extras into this chili, like cheese, crackers and/or sour cream. Those extras will add up very quickly and you will be in a bad spot.
Keep in mind when you look at my changes that I am making enough for my kids to eat (hopefully, kids can be so picky) and for Josh and myself to have for supper and lunch. Typically this can easily get around 7 large servings. Each serving is 391 calories, 35.6 grams of protein, 25.2 grams of carbohydrates, and 16.5 grams of fat.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 1 lb. extra lean ground turkey *2-3 pounds 80/20 or ground venison 1 bell pepper -red, green, yellow or orange *6-7 ounces of green bell pepper 2 stalks celery, chopped 1 sweet onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 28 oz can fire roasted tomatoes *4 cans fire roasted tomatoes 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed *2 cans black beans 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed 1 tablespoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley Garnish (optional) shredded, low fat cheddar cheese *Omit fresh parsley
