Below you will find a list of posts centered around counting macros. These are in no particular order but will be helpful for those that want to start counting macros or are trying to set a fitness/nutrition goal. There are no shortcuts when it comes to losing weight. You do not have to count macros to lose weight and/or build muscle but pills, creams, wraps, fad diets, etc. are NOT sustainable ways to lose weight nor a healthy way to get the pounds off. I hope you can find some useful information in the posts below.
Reach out if you need any help in calculating your macros. 🙂
- Eating in a deficit
- Starting macros
- My blog
- Food log
- Cooking
- Flexible diet
- Recipes in the app
- Whoop- fitness tracker
- Dialed in
- Servings
- Tracking
- Snacks
- Diet
- Consistent
- Steps
- Real food
- Customize
- Basics
- Meal prep
- Weighing
- Macro info
- App
M E N U
Slow Cooker Herbed Chicken + Rice Pilaf
Bourbon Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries
Hibachi
Caribbean Mango Pork and Tropical Rice
Five-Ingredient Chickpea Pasta + Arugula + Feta
Slow Cooker Herbed Chicken + Rice Pilaf
This is a great easy recipe. I love anything I can throw into the crockpot and just let it cook on its own, especially right now with the kids and I home 24/7. When I cook this I don’t shred the chicken into the dish after it has cooked. I take the chicken out and keep it separate from the rest of the dish. This makes it much easier to count my macros. I weigh out the rest of the food from the crockpot and divide it into 4 containers equally. A lot of crockpot meals I encounter with carrots end up being sweet, but this one is not.
Without the chicken accounted for, the macros for 4 servings the last time I cooked it was 174 calories, 5.8 grams of protein, 31.7 grams of carbohydrates, and 2.5 grams of fat. Make sure to put the chicken on top of the rice mixture, so you can easily take it out and add it into the bowl depending on your macro needs. The recipe calls for you to sear the chicken but if you are in a hurry you can skip that step. It still tastes great.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: wild rice *110-130 grams *2 cups low sodium chicken broth juice of 1 lemon 2 teaspoons dried parsley *10-15 ounces whole baby carrots 1 cup wild mushrooms *250-270 grams *boneless chicken breasts *spray olive oil 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage kosher salt and pepper 4 shallots, halved 1 sprig fresh rosemary
Bourbon Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries
B E S T burgers I have ever purchased are from Liam’s in Thomasville, Ga and from the Pool Hall in Moultrie, Ga. These are some stacked juicy hamburgers. Josh and I have been known to split 3 double cheeseburgers without guilt. I love that he doesn’t judge me for how much food I consume. If we are cooking then we do not typically add cheese and try to keep it healthy.
Josh started adding bourbon to the burgers, because he is a bourbon lover, and he wanted to switch things up. Literally, the best burgers he has ever cooked. We have a RecTeq bullseye and used the round flat top griddle to cook the burgers. He heated the grill to 700 and cooked them quickly. No time to even crack open a drink while the burgers cooked. These were the juiciest burgers I have ever had, beats the socks off of any burger we have ordered or cooked before.
If you don’t smother them in cheese, bacon, and mayonnaise hamburgers can be healthy. When I track my hamburger I weigh out my meat after it has cooked. This is controversial in the world of tracking food, but I think that it makes sense. The fat is going to cook out of the meat, so I don’t actually end up eating all of the fat that was originally in the raw meat.
I am going to add some sweet potato fries with the hamburgers for the kids. I will eat them as a snack later on, but not with this meal. You can always mix a packet of ranch seasoning with non-fat Greek yogurt to dip the sweet potato fries in for a healthy snack.
Hamburgers have your fats, protein, and carbs (if you eat a bun). The only thing I do is eat a second hamburger patty without a bun to get in more protein. Macro-wise there is no reason to add a side dish. I know everyone loves fries with their hamburger but you are doing some major calorie intake if you do that.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients Hamburgers: 80/20 meat- onion powder, garlic powder, season all, chili powder, 1-2 tablespoons burbon, pepper Brioche buns Heirloom tomatoes Lettuce Onion Yellow mustard Ketchup Pickles Fries: 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled *spray olive oil 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper fine sea salt, to taste
Hibachi
We winged this one a bit but I used this link for reference on the homemade yum-yum sauce. I made a few changes to ensure that it was macro-friendly. I linked a similar recipe for the dish if you need to reference how to cook hibachi.
In the past when we got together with our friends we always seemed to be cooking hibachi. It was not the healthiest version though, there was always a ton of oil used on the rice and vegetables. We opted to use very little oil and only 1 tablespoon of butter. We kept the rice, vegetables, and meat separate in order to track it all correctly. I have not eaten yum-yum sauce in a really long time, so I cannot really say if this is a good dupe or not, but I liked it a lot. It ended up making six servings and was pretty spicy. If you do not like spicy just leave out the cayenne.
We have a RecTeq bullseye and used the round flat top griddle to cook our hibachi. If you do not have a grill or flat top, you can always cook it on the stovetop in a large wok.
Start with your cooked cold rice first. Add in one egg, matchstick carrots, and chopped green onions to the cold cooked rice. Spray pan with olive oil and 1/2 Tbsp of butter, and saute’ the rice mixture.
Cook your vegetables next. You can pick any vegetables of your liking, but I stick with zucchini. mushrooms, onions, broccoli. Spray the pan with olive oil and add 1 to 2 Tbsp of soy sauce, then throw the vegetables on. I keep my vegetables separate to accurately track them.
Spray your pan once more with olive oil if needed and cook your chopped chicken. Cut your chicken into 1 inch pieces to cook quickly and avoid cutting up after you have plated the dish.
Add your homemade yum-yum sauce and you have a healthy hibachi meal. Go easy on the tomato paste in the sauce or it will be overwhelming and higher in carbs than you want.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: chicken breast matchstick carrots 3-4 medium zucchini 4 heads of broccoli 1 onion or green onions 8 ounces mushrooms soy sauce sauce: Tomato paste *15-20 grams Garlic powder Paprika 70-80 grams non-fat greek yogurt Cayenne pepper Water *add water to your consistency preference *add in sqeeze of lemon juice
Caribbean Mango Pork and Tropical Rice
I can’t help but think of our trip to Grand Cayman when I see the word the Caribbean. I love to sightsee, but I think my favorite thing about traveling is eating the local food. Grand Cayman and The Ritz Carlton did not disappoint, the breakfast, in particular, was the highlight of my day. No joke. Best breakfast buffet I have ever seen in my life! I wish I would have taken a picture, a buffet doesn’t sound fancy and delicious, but this one was.
I am going to substitute chicken for pork. I like to cook my chicken breast in the crockpot when I know it will be shredded up and used in a taco or bowl. I am going to add a little bit of liquid so the chicken does not dry out. For the rice, I am going to do just plain rice, but I want the rice to have some flavor as well.
*Changes I make to meet my macros.
Ingredients: 3 chicken breast 1 ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon fresh ginger or ground *Fresh ginger 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon all-spice 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 oranges juiced 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 can black beans (1/4 cup per serving) 1-2 mangos peeled + chopped TROPICAL RICE *use plain jasmine rice with green onions and matchstick carrots + spices + juices or follow recipe 1 cup uncooked jasmine or basmati rice 1 cup canned coconut milk 3/4 cup coconut water 3 tablespoons unsweetened flaked coconut 1 tablespoon coconut oil juice + zest of 1 lime 1/2 cup grated carrots 2 green onions chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt + pepper
Five-Ingredient Chickpea Pasta + Arugula + Feta
I ate this for the first time last week and really enjoyed it. The arugula was a great touch of freshness in the pasta. I was not too sure how I would feel about a salad/pasta but obviously, I am eating it two weeks in a row, so I liked it. Last week I had it with shrimp, but this week I am going to try out the chicken. There is a decent amount of protein in the pasta, but do not get confused by the labeling. The front of the box leads you to believe one serving is 22 grams of protein when that is actually two servings and will give you over 300 calories of just pasta.
I also loved just how simple this dish was, nothing super fancy but fresh and tasty. Click on the link for more direct instructions on how to cook this dish.
-chickpea pasta cooked according to the directions on the box (reserve 1 cup of the pasta water)
-while pasta cooks, cook your shrimp
-sauté 1Tbsp butter & minced garlic
– add cooked pasta + reserved pasta water + juice of one lemon + salt + pepper + red pepper flakes to garlic + butter
-stir until melted + heated through
-divide pasta into 4 servings
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 2 c chickpea pasta 2 heaping cups arugula 4 oz feta cheese, in brine *reduced-fat feta 1 lemon, juice + zest 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced 1/4 c olive oil *1 Tbsp butter salt and pepper
Thanks for sharing! I’m excited about learning to count macros and cooking some of the delicious recipes you’ve shared!
Thank you so much! If you need any help, just let me know 🙂