I have mixed feelings about eating “healthier” alternatives to the treats we love and sometimes crave.
I think it is important we know when we need those macro-friendly versions to keep us on track and even when it is simply better to indulge in the real thing.
And I will personally do both, depending on the situation and even the specific craving.
Because we can find a balance between indulging and staying on track toward our goals. What that balance is though, will be unique for each of us!
Like I LOVE dessert.
Do I need a sweet treat at the end of the night?
No.
But do I want one?
HECK YES!
And especially as the weather warms up, my cravings for ice cream increase.
But I know if I get a pint of…well…anything…that whole pint will be gone.
And then I’ll feel crappy and won’t sleep well from the sugar and have a crappy workout the next day.
Now, sometimes, despite the fact I know this will happen, I still indulge and enjoy. (Balance, right!?)
BUT often I find I just feel better, and stay on track toward my goals, when I swap in a satisfying, but more macro-friendly alternative!
That’s why I love this Chocolate Greek Yogurt Ice Cream.
I can make the one serving, satisfy my sweet tooth and even pack in 20 grams of protein!
So if you’re an ice cream fiend too, try this delicious recipe!
Chocolate Greek Yogurt Ice Cream
INGREDIENTS: 2 1/2 oz Fat-Free Plain Greek Yogurt 1/2 scoop Vanilla (or chocolate) Whey Protein 1 tsp Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder 1/2 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk 1 tsp Vanilla Extract 2 tbsp Stevia or sweetener of choice
Blend yogurt, protein powder, cocoa, stevia and almond milk thoroughly.
Place in freezer.
Take out the ice cream after an hour and turn it over gently with a spoon to avoid it becoming one big ice block. Do it again every 30 minutes until it has the right consistency (it should take about 2 hours total).
You can either eat it right away (after the 2 hours) or keep it in the freezer for up to a week. If you leave it in the freezer, take it out 5-10 min before you serve it to let it soften up a bit.
Ok before you start getting all mad that I’m saying all carbs are created equal….hear me out.
And I could have said all fats are created equal or proteins…but it probably wouldn’t have made you as mad or as curious 😛 (Just kidding….but seriously…)
Sooo….how can I claim all carbs are created equal?
Because guess what?
If you dial in your macro ratios correctly, and according to your goals, as long as you stay within those ratios, you’ll get results regardless of whether your carbs are all fruits and vegetables or they’re only sugar and white bread.
Yup…weight loss and body composition goals are really all about calories and macros.
Quality…well it doesn’t really matter.
Now I’m not giving you an excuse to just eat crap. BUT…
If your macros are off, you may not see the results you want no matter how “healthy” your diet is or how high a “quality” the foods you are eating are.
Now I’m not saying focusing on whole, natural foods…more NUTRIENT DENSE foods…isn’t important.
They 100% are for your health.
And I do think you function better and feel fuller when your diet is made up of foods that give your body the nutrients it needs.
Focusing on whole, natural foods only helps you get better results faster.
BUT I also think sometimes we get so focused on depriving ourselves of the foods we enjoy, stressing over QUALITY, that we sabotage ourselves.
While we are killing ourselves eating “well,” our macro ratio and calorie intake aren’t in line with our goals so we don’t end up seeing the results we want.
No wonder we get frustrated and give up, feeling like nothing will ever work!
So what am I telling you?
Basically, if your macro ratios are out of whack, it doesn’t matter that you’re eating nutrient dense foods.
That sweet potato…well those calories and CARBS are still going to count as much toward your calories and carbs as that white bread will.
Basically, that carb is just that…a carb.
Eat too much of either type of carb and you’re not going to get the results you want.
(Honestly….”clean” is going to be soooo dependent on your dietary preference and 9 different people will tell you different foods are evil that you could drive yourself insane obsessing over this….)
Stop depriving yourself of all of the foods you love so you end up binging each and every weekend after being worn out from the constant restriction (hmm just thinking about how maybe this happened this week, huh!?).
Find a BALANCE where you focus on nutrient dense foods, but also still enjoy the foods you love.
Because if you want to change your body composition and lose weight or even gain muscle?
It’s really all about FOCUSING ON THOSE MACROS!
(And guess what? When you dial in your macro ratios, often we do overall dial in the whole, natural foods more but in a way that is less restrictive so we end up being more consistent which is TRULY the key to overall wellbeing!)
Need a macro ratio you can use to track and log with?
Take my Macro Cycling Quiz to help you get started!
(PLEASE NOTE….this is of course a discussion about “healthy” overall alcohol intake and a “healthy” relationship to drinking so if discussing alcohol is a trigger, please ignore this post and know I will love you for doing so.)
I get asked if I drink it…
YES.
Beer?…meh. Wine?…meh. Craft cocktails and margaritas?
Hells to the YEAH!
I also get asked about how it fits into the macro cycling program and a healthy lifestyle in general.
I’ll tell you right now…
NO alcohol is healthy.
Now don’t go trying to defend the health benefits of your wine…Cause that just really isn’t all that it’s touted to be.
First off, most of us DO NOT actually get those supposed benefits.
And secondly, most of us aren’t really consuming wine for it’s health benefits in the EXTREMELY moderate amounts it should be consumed.
Basically studies showed the healthiest amount of alcohol was ZERO.
Sorry to break it to you, but as I jokingly say all of the time – Alcohol is a toxin.
Drink it knowing this.
But that doesn’t mean there can’t be a reason to ENJOY alcohol.
I would argue the only real “benefit” of alcohol is that you ENJOY it and life is meant to be enjoyed.
And that by relaxing, and enjoying a couple of drinks with friends, you can lower stress levels, which may, in the end, do much more to benefit your overall health than a few drinks will do to negatively impact it.
Because STRESS does play a major role in our overall health. Much more of one than we give it credit for.
So if alcohol is a part of your lifestyle, it doesn’t have to be eliminated.
But how do you TRACK alcohol if you’re counting macros?
I do tell clients though that when they are starting out with tracking their macros to keep it to their “cheat day” or at least 1-2 set days.
Logging alcohol is an interesting thing.
While beer and wine will register a few carbs, alcohol will register as calories but not really a macro since it’s…well…it’s own macro.
So if you’re trying to track and log, you can count it as either a fat or carb, whichever you have more of with the ratio you are using.
You will then divide the calories in your alcohol by 4 for carbs or 9 for fat to get the grams of each you would have consumed. (No you can’t count it as protein :-P)
If you can, I do recommend counting it as a fat because alcohol suppresses fat oxidation.
So alcohol can fit into a balanced lifestyle even while you’re tracking to get a specific result.
I will tell you though that if you want FASTER RESULTS, eliminating alcohol, if even just for a time, can be key.
Let’s face it…most of us get a few drinks in us and want some not so healthy treats!
Plus, even if you avoid overindulging, alcohol can also negatively impact the benefits you see from your training done PRIOR TO drinking by inhibiting protein synthesis and lipolysis (or fat loss).
Not to mention it usually makes for a crappier training session the next day (hehe this picture below cracks me up)!
And dudes…you have it worse as drinking negatively impacts your testosterone levels too!
Plus, it can perpetuate and create inflammation, which can not only make you feel aches and pains more but be detrimental to your workouts AND your recovery!
So, while I’m sure this sounded negative, my overall feeling is that you can find a balance and that alcohol doesn’t have to be something you eliminate.
Just go in with your eyes wide open when you do decide to indulge.
Find that lifestyle balance that helps you eat according to your goals!
I don’t care what your dietary preference is…Protein is key if you want to lose fat and build lean muscle.
(By dietary preference I mean Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo, Gluten-Free…)
While you can lose weight by simply cutting calories to some extent that doesn’t guarantee you that lean, cut look we’re usually striving for when we’re trying to lose weight.
To get that lean look, you need to make sure to increase your protein intake while in a calorie deficit.
And for my non-meat eating friends?
It can be a bit more challenging, which is why I wanted to share one of the Vegetarian recipes from my 4-Week Macro Cycling Accelerator.
In a large nonstick, skillet, add half the garlic and ginger, cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add crumbled tempeh.
Cook for about 7 minutes; only stir 1-2 times (the goal is to attain browning). Add 2 tablespoons coconut aminos and Sriracha, stir to evenly mix.
Cook for another 7 minutes, again, don’t stir too much. Once browned well, set aside.
While tempeh is cooking prepare glaze.
In a small sauce pan, heat honey, 1 teaspoon of coconut aminos and the other half of the garlic and ginger over medium heat. Honey should bubble and boil. Let cook for 1 minute.
Let cool slightly then add sesame oil.
To prepare each wrap, add a bit of carrot, scoop of tempeh mixture to a piece of lettuce and top with a drizzle of glaze. ENJOY!
There legit looks like there is absolutely no difference between these two images above.
I mean maybe if you look really closely you can see the peanut butter is spread thinner on one…or the bananas are cut a bit thicker.
But if you were making this for yourself, you can see how it would be so easy to make the second and THINK it was the same portion size if you didn’t measure it.
And that’s EXACTLY the problem.
Most of us aren’t as good at “eyeballing” our portion sizes as we think.
And our hunger levels, as well as our stress levels, can dramatically impact exactly how big or small a portion looks….trust me.
Now with general weight loss, you may be able to “get away with” a little more deviation in your portions, especially if you’ve started your journey by cutting out specific foods.
But for fat loss…well you can’t.
We NEED to track if we have specific goals because it’s just so easy for our portions to become distorted.
Something that literally can look exactly the same can have 100 calories more and double the fat. (And heck, if you’re a nut butter fiend like me, that extra tbsp can EASILY become 2 or 3 more…)
And this is exactly why we can FEEL like we’re doing all of the right things yet not seeing the results we want.
Small portion distortions at each meal can add up.
And let’s face it too…the portions that usually become distorted aren’t generally the lean meats or even veggies….
It’s usually the nuts or the dried fruit or the crackers we have “just a couple extra of.”
It’s not that we are even eating “unclean,” whatever “clean” means to you.
But those little things we tend to want to have “extra” of are usually calorically more dense and not as “macro friendly.”
We have to remember that fat loss requires a calorie deficit AND tweaks to our macro ratios…both of which can easily become skewed by “just a few more” constantly being added in.
Tracking may be annoying. It may be tedious. Heck, you may even think it sucks.
But it not only gets easier, it’s truly key to results.
Plus, is 5 minutes of logging a day or an extra few minutes weighing out your food at each meal really worse than not reaching your goals?
You’re making great progress. Really sticking to the program and seeing great results.
But then…your results start to slow. And a few weeks even go by where you feel like you aren’t making any progress.
You didn’t change anything.
You’re still in a calorie deficit…So why aren’t things working!?
Don’t freak out! Don’t get upset and completely say “SCREW IT!”
First off, there will be periods we don’t “see” results, but changes are still occurring.
And secondly, it may just be time for a little “diet break!”
If your goal is weight loss, you do need to be in a calorie deficit.
BUT our bodies adapt to what we give them – this includes the workouts we do and even our DIET.
But when our body adapts, we can’t just keep cutting calories lower and lower. Instead, it may be time to change up those macro ratios or even BUMP our calories for a bit.
And that is where a diet break comes in handy.
It is simply a change up for our body. It is an increase in calories and often a slight adjustment in macro ratios.
Now a diet break does NOT mean go on a week long binge. And it doesn’t mean you aren’t SATISFIED even with what you’ve been doing.
It is actually a CALCULATED technique used to kickstart progress when results have slowed and help you mentally recharge a bit.
Dieting breaks are a great way to help you intensify your training and break through a weight loss plateau before returning to your calorie deficit.
The change in ratios and bump in calories can help you intensify your training for a bit to build extra muscle and it can help make sure your hormones are at optimal levels, especially if your carbs, or fats, have been at lower levels.
And amazingly, sometime that BUMP in calories and change in ratios can result in WEIGHT LOSS even though it goes against what we think we have to do to lose weight aka be in a calorie deficit.
Not to mention the diet break can mentally recharge us and even kickstart better results as we return to a deficit.
So how can you implement a diet break?
A diet break is not a cheat day or even a carb re-feed. It is actually an EXTENDED period of eating calories more at your maintenance level.
Note too I didn’t say just eat as much as you want. You are just eating more at what your body needs to maintain where you are at – this is still a CALCULATED technique not a free-for-all.
You can do a diet break in a couple of different ways.
You can take a complete diet break, which can be 1-2 weeks of increased calories and even looser tracking.
Or you can take a partial diet break, where you still strictly track but simply increase your calories by 500 or eat more at maintenance level.
How often you include a diet break may also depend on your level of leanness and even how long it may take you to reach your goal.
If you are leaner and looking to maintain that level of leanness, or even drop that last little bit (especially if you are a physique competitor), you may use a diet break every 4-6 weeks.
While if you are just starting out and have more weight to lose, you may implement one every 3 or so months.
However, if you do have more weight to lose, and know your goal may take a year to accomplish, you may find it helpful to include diet breaks at schedule times since you’ll be in a deficit for longer and the mental break will help.
The key is to know that you CAN use a diet break when you mentally feel fatigued, especially if you’ve been dieting for awhile, OR if you’ve even hit a plateau (and don’t want to cut calories lower because your deficit is already larger).
Remember this isn’t just a one day carb re-feed or cheat day.
This is a 7-14 day higher calorie cycle where you are still focused on quality foods and hitting your macros albeit potentially less strictly.
However, if you do a diet break, you do want to up the carbs for this cycle while upping calories if you’ve been on a lower carb ratio.
The increase in carbs is part of why this break works as it helps to regulate hormones so you can potentially drop some extra pounds your body has been holding on to.
Ready to really understand proper nutrition and figure out what will work for YOUR body and YOUR goals, as your body and goals even change over time?
