Easy Guidelines for Choosing your Macro Nutrients

Although I am neither a dietitian nor a nutritionist, I have done some serious reading when it comes to Clean Eating and Superfoods.  I often find myself confused as to why people have such a difficult time simply choosing healthy foods over fatty, unhealthy foods and I have to remind myself of two things.

One, most people are not going to take the time to do the research themselves. The amount of time it took me to read the 12 books that educated me on the whys and hows of eating clean, is not the amount of time that the average person working 40-60 hour weeks is going to have to educate themselves about their food choices.

Two, as a Beachbody Coach I have had the opportunity to thoroughly read through multiple program Nutritional Guides, which has armed me with the knowledge of portion sizes, and appropriate healthy food choices.  Order any program, and Beachbody provides you with an arsenal of information on which foods land at the top of Michi's Ladder, and which ones fall short on providing the most nutritional value to your daily diet.

*circle = carb, triangle = fat, square = protein

That being said, one program that breaks down good macro nutrient food choices particularly well is Hip Hop Abs Nutritional Guide.  Although I know I am stealing this information from the book, I think it's important to share here, so that others can benefit from how easy it can be to make the right food choices. So, here are some guidelines when choosing your macro nutrients.

PROTEINS:

• Choose lean meats (turkey, chicken, pork) over fatty red meats.
• The portion of meat in a meal should be no larger than the palm of your hand (around 3-4 oz.)
• Broil, grill or bake--never fry!
• Avoid cream sauces and gravies.
• If you don't eat meat, substitute tempeh, tofu, low-fat dairy products, and legumes.

VEGETABLES:

• A large salad is great, but try to limit the amount of dressing to one or two tablespoons; using too much can blow the whole reason for eating salad in the first place.  Clear dressings like vinaigrette tend to be less fatty than creamier, cheesier ones.  Also, try dipping your fork tines in dressing to get flavor without pouring on too many calories.
• Steamed or raw veggies have so few calories, you can pretty much eat them until you're no longer hungry.  A plateful of raw veggies has about 100 calories. Indulge!
• Avoid butter or cream-based sauces. Lemon juice, soy sauce, and mustard are good options for adding flavor to your veggies without adding fat calories.

BREADS, PASTAS, RICE, AND FRUITS:

• Be sure to eat whole grains and brown rice instead of refined grains and white rice.  Remember, fiber slows down sugar absorption, helping your body to better process those sugars instead of just storing them as fat. 
• Always eat whole fruits over fruit juices.
• Foods in this category are calorie-dense, so limit your intake to three small servings per day.

FATS:

• Avoid saturated and trans fats in red meats, full-fat dairy, and processed foods.
• Avocados, raw nuts, flaxseeds, and olive oil are great sources of essential fatty acids--just keep the portions very small, since fat is extremely dense and has more than twice the calories per gram as protein and carbs.

Using a food tracker like MyFitnessPal will help you track your caloric intake, and also provide you with a chart on the ratios of your macro nutrients.  I cannot express how important it is to utilize free sites like this one when learning to control your caloric intake, and balance your macro nutrients.  

When I saw Jillian Michaels live at Lowell Auditorium she kept reiterating the importance of tracking your food when making a lifestyle change to eating healthy and clean.  The importance of doing so for at least 30-days helps one to identify their food habits, and make modifications in those habits, while at the same time creating a new habit: food awareness. As she states, most people eat the same 50 things over and over again.  We are creatures of habit. Tracking your food for a 30-day period allows you to see what those foods are, and creates a general outline of what foods will be in your diet on a daily basis.  After 30-days. you should have a pretty good idea of what foods you like and dislike, as well as the caloric base of each meal should you chose it to be in your diet on any given day. 

If you have never tracked your foods, I highly suggest starting here.  It will be startling to see how much you're over eating, and where your lacking not only in your macro nutrients, but also your vitamins and minerals.  Always be honest with yourself when it comes to portions sizes.  Lying to your food diary does not hurt anyone but yourself.  Don't cheat yourself!

One last suggestion I'll give here is to find yourself a good meal replacement shake.  Something that provides you with all the superfoods that you would NEVER be able to get in your daily diet, even if you ate all day long.  If you haven't checked out Shakeology, you absolutely MUST.  There is no other product on the shelf that does what this does, not as a whole anyway.  Putting your health and fitness first should be a life priority, and you're worth the investment, so why not make sure you're doing everything you can to ensure the most well-rounded healthy lifestyle that you can? 

As always, I would love to hear any questions, comments, or concerns, so feel free to contact me at any time!

Be super...like your food!  Hehehehe!

<3 Maria