My husband was out of town last week and most of this week, which left me a little bit more free to be a more flexible for dinner (aka me eating the same thing three nights in a row and letting my kids eat what they think sounds good, within reason). Actually my husband is a good sport when I don't make dinner. He just asks for oatmeal. Good man!
I've also had lots of time to think about food. About my relationship with food. Good and bad. Here's what I've been thinking.
I really love to eat, like most people do. I do have a bad habit of checking instagram or other things on my phone while I eat, which causes me to not really think about how much I'm eating. And, sometimes I tend to overeat if I'm stressed or it's late and my hubby is out of town and the kids are finally in bed, etc. Or whatever. You know what I mean, hopefully.
I've been following a few instagram accounts of ladies that have been counting their macros. I've been reading into a lot about it and took a few days to try it out. I calculated my macros on IIFYM and started tracking the macros of what I was eating on My Fitness Pal.
I kind of loved what I discovered during my macro experiment.
I like having numbers attached to my food. I have been worried about cholesterol levels in food for almost two years (since I found out I have high cholesterol, pretty much genetic, so thanks Dad and "sorry" to my kids!). I haven't really known how to deal with eating better to try to lower my numbers. When I've tried to just eat healthy food that doesn't have cholesterol in it (like dairy and meat) I just found myself hungry all the time. And I really hate being hungry. And sometimes I would eat tons of tortilla chips or whatever because they were cholesterol-free, which I'm sure is way worse for me than just eating a yogurt. I'm sure that eating bad fat and sugar is way worse than eating good protein.
Anyway...I found when I was trying to stay within my macro "budget" I was eating lots more protein than I normally eat, which kept me feeling fuller. And there are lots of food out there with high protein and not too much cholesterol (like low-fat cottage cheese that I blended up with a little ranch dressing mix and dipped carrots into) that are great options.
This was my lunch the first day of my experiment. Costco turkey breast, avocado, a tiny bit of Bolthouse balsamic dressing on some romaine. So yummy! (I had to eat something else two hours later, but that's ok.)
I haven't followed my "macro budget" exactly every day, but it's given me a great idea of what my food should look like, lots of protein, some fat and some carbs. And interesting to see how fast the numbers add up by eating food like granola bars and cereal.
I didn't mind weighing out my food before I ate it. I found that when I was in a rush and really hungry and grabbed something to eat and didn't way it I ended up eating more than I needed. (We got this Food Scale
on Amazon and it was only $10 or so.)
I'm toying with the idea of going all out and following my macro plan. My cholesterol is high enough that if I can't get it down naturally then I'm going to have to go on statins, which isn't my favorite idea. I think it's definitely worth a try.
I do like the idea of counting macros and giving my body the correct ratio of what it needs. And it's kind of like a competition with myself, but fun since it's so flexible and you can eat whatever you want, you just have to decide if it's worth it or not.
I am trying to retrain my body that it's ok to feel hungry. I'd much rather feel a little hungry than feel regretful for eating too much of something (like that darn boom-chicka-pop kettlecorn from Costco). I'm trying to retrain my brain to not freak out whenever I feel hungry. And also take care of my body so I don't get feeling sick, which happens sometimes and makes me grumpy.
I do like the idea of counting macros and giving my body the correct ratio of what it needs. And it's kind of like a competition with myself, but fun since it's so flexible and you can eat whatever you want, you just have to decide if it's worth it or not.
I am trying to retrain my body that it's ok to feel hungry. I'd much rather feel a little hungry than feel regretful for eating too much of something (like that darn boom-chicka-pop kettlecorn from Costco). I'm trying to retrain my brain to not freak out whenever I feel hungry. And also take care of my body so I don't get feeling sick, which happens sometimes and makes me grumpy.
Anyway...that's what I've been thinking. Kind of long. You're my favorite if you made it to this point. (You should leave me a comment so I know you did. And I'll buy you some boom-chicka-pop at costco!)
So, our menu this week looked like this:
Monday: we had turkey taco quinoa skillet as a family
Tuesday: I ate turkey taco quinoa skillet on a bed of lettuce topped with avocado and a smidge of sour cream
Wednesday: I ate turkey taco quinoa skillet on a bed of lettuce topped with avocado and some roasted sweet potatoes
Thursday: Costco rotisserie chicken, grilled flatbread, strawberries and carrots
Friday: my husband is back in town so I tried this Balsamic Rosemary Chicken and Potato Sheet Pan dinner with green beans
Saturday: to be determined
Sunday: something in the instant pot
I'd love to hear what you think about counting macros, or just eating purposefully or high cholesterol or whatever. Feel free to share! I love it when you do. And I love it when you share your menus for the week. It's easy this week since it's almost over!
Talk to you soon!
Jenny
I'd love to hear what you think about counting macros, or just eating purposefully or high cholesterol or whatever. Feel free to share! I love it when you do. And I love it when you share your menus for the week. It's easy this week since it's almost over!
Talk to you soon!
Jenny
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