Why I Count Calories and What I Eat In A Day
I’m gonna shoot you guys straight because you know that’s my M.O. I don’t typically sugarcoat things because why? Let’s just rip the bandaid and deal with things upfront.
I’ve never believed in “diet culture.” The only true “diet” I ever attempted was Keto this time last year, and I did it specifically in preparation for my best friend’s wedding and a tight bridesmaid dress. I only partook for a month and, while I lost a 6 quick pounds, I gained them back even quicker because that’s what diets do—mind fuck you into thinking you’re suddenly a losing weight machine only to be like LOLJK the second you go back to your “old ways.”
In short, diets aren’t sustainable.
However, food and nutrition mean more than any miles ran, steps walked, or weights lifted and that’s the ugly, annoying, downright depressing truth. I know I’m stepping into dangerous tides writing about this because we’re living in a time where loving your body as it is is celebrated, encouraged, and incredibly powerful; where people aren’t working out or eating right to see progress. They’re just doing what feels right, and I support it. I’m into it. I’m jealous of the women who achieve it confidently. But I’ve also always been wildly fascinated by health and nutrition and exercise and figuring out the best combination of all three for me. Plus, I have to see tangible results and progress or my motivation is kaput.
7 weeks ago, I signed up with a personal trainer for the first time ever. I’ve always prided myself on being 100% self-motivated; I’ve never taken kindly to group classes or anything of the like. While I did a short stint at Orange Theory and enjoyed it, I’ve always been a solo artist when it comes to exercise and figuring out my “diet.” However, this past year, things went awry. I found myself in serious lack of motivation or excitement about the gym and more or less stopped paying attention to what I ate or how often I indulged. All this resulted in me being my heaviest and not very happy about it. I was uncomfortable, insecure, and met with frustration every day when jeans that had fit me a few months earlier could barely button. So, I did something drastic in hiring a trainer—Meg. Meg is a Maryland native but currently lives in Florida. She’s stunning, obviously has a killer bod, and has a Spotify playlist called “Wanna Dry Hump?” Clearly, I was sold almost immediately. And Meg isn’t just an exercise trainer—she’s a lifestyle trainer. In signing up with her, I knew I was going to be held closely accountable for my nutrition for the first time maybe ever and that it wasn’t going to be easy or fun for me. But I needed the challenge and support, so I dove in.
Here’s the skinny: Based off all the information you give her, Meg calculates macro and calorie goals for you. She of course also gives you a custom workout/exercise plan, but puts major emphasis on the nutrition part of things. When she first sent me my calorie goals, I think I cried a little. The deficit she had created for me seemed so intense, so impossible, I just knew I was gonna fail. And ya know what, guys? I did. For the first 5 weeks, I sort of treated her calorie goals for me as an option. Something I could or couldn’t do if I felt like it or not. I was constantly crushing the workouts, but also constantly slipping up with nutrition. At 5 weeks, when I had seen little to no change on the scale, in measurements, and really even in photos, I emailed Meg extremely frustrated.
“Meg, I am frustrated. Why have I not lost even half an inch anywhere??? Is this normal? I feel like my body is just stuck where it is and will not budge. I FEEL great in terms of being active and healthy, but I need tangible results to feel amazing about it all. I can't see a difference in pictures at all, especially from the side and back. I just feel like I'm not making progress and it makes me want to cry. I've never lifted so heavily and so consistently and am putting in so much work, but am wondering if I'm doing it all wrong?”
That is a direct excerpt from the email I sent her. And here’s some of her response:
“I'm just going to cut straight to the point and be honest here because on team Megmo, we don't BS around and you can't question why you haven't changed in measurements if you have only executed a part of the plan. You can't blame your body for not changing if you're not executing THE biggest factor in all of this: YOUR NUTRITION. You admitted it yourself and have before that you over-indulged & went over your calories. We had one good week last week as far as calorie averages go, but we need CONSISTENCY. I need you hitting your nutritional goals week after week in order to even assess whether those are good numbers for you to hit, but we haven't had a week yet where you've hit those calorie goals since we began.
You can lift heavy, go balls to the MF walls with cardio and HIIT, but if your nutrition isn't dialed in, it's all for nothing...seriously. Sounds craptastic but it's the reality. You ARE putting in work and I appreciate that so much - you're a freaking baller in the gym and you motivate me to go slam shit around, but where the problem lies is in your food intake. Follow your calorie goals I have set for you, stop telling yourself your body is stuck.
You can't execute a plan 50% (although nutrition is more like 80%....) and expect 100% progress.”
When I tell you I had a lady boner caused directly by her no BS response, believe it. Something about me: While I’m sensitive in a lot of ways, I also appreciate nothing more than someone who just tells me like it is. Fuck me up with your bluntness, why don’t you? This email was all I needed to whip me the fuck in shape (figuratively and literally). I realized how insane I was for thinking I could do one part of the plan and not the other and still get results, especially because I know (and have preached before) that YOU CAN’T OUT-EXERCISE A SHIT DIET. So that week, I decided I wasn’t fucking around anymore. And wouldn’t you know, I’ve already seen progress in two weeks and, something that started as really hard and anxiety-provoking (keeping very close track of my calories), has become second nature. I’m not crazy with it. It doesn’t necessarily rule my life. But it challenges me and is reteaching me how to feel full and satisfied without stuffing my face to the point of hating myself (which has been my move since birth). Yes, I use My Fitness Pal to track it all, and the #1 piece of advice I can give to anyone who is currently or planning to attempt to track their intake is log as much as you can ahead of the day so you know exactly what you have to work with. This meaning that because I schedule out my dinners and lunches and know the nutritional info for them, I can pre-log them into MFP for lunch and dinner and have a very clear idea of how many “leftover” calories I have to spend on snacks and the like. It makes this entire process 1000000x easier and DOABLE.
I know, I know. It’s taken forever to get to the “good” part about what I eat in a day. But I felt passionate about explaining the story behind why I’m even posting this, which is to give you an idea of how I’m achieving my goals in a way that works for me. It’s been hard, don’t me wrong. It’s been a serious adjustment. But I feel so much better and I’m seeing results, and that’s why I signed up for personal training in the first place. Another major tip about all this calorie counting: Meg has taught me that it’s your weekly average that matters. You don’t have to be perfect every day; that’s insane and rarely happens. Some days you’re naturally less hungry and others, you can’t be satiated. But as long as your 7-day average is within range, THAT’S the golden fucking ticket.
SO. Here’s a GENERAL idea of what I eat in a day to stay on track (meals change every week because I don’t do monotony, so take all this lightly).
BREAKFAST
Some days, I will naturally intermittent fast. It’s never planned; I sort of just gage how hungry I feel when I wake up and if it’s suddenly 10:30 or 11am and I’ve yet to eat, I’ll just wait until lunch.
But usually, I do either:
Kodiak Protein Oatmeal with 2 spoons of granola and 2-3 cut up strawberries OR
Plain, fat-free greek yogurt with 2 tsp of honey, 2 spoons of granola, and fresh blueberries OR
Half of an Ezekiel bread english muffin with 1 spoon of peanut butter and 1/2 of a large banana or 1 small banana
LUNCH
Protein-packed tuna salad on toasted Ezekiel bread (2 slices) with carrots, celery and hummus OR
The best taco meat ever on a bed of lettuce with sliced up grape tomatoes, half of a tiny avocado from Trader Joe’s, 2 spoons of shredded cheese, and my favorite salsa as “dressing” OR
Baked salmon with the incredible Caesar dressing on a bed of massaged kale and a few spoons of shredded parmesan cheese OR
Dinner leftovers from the night before because I often cook two meals a week and switch them on and off between lunch and dinners all week!
SNACKS
I don’t eat all of these, obviously. This is just my pile I choose a few from each day:
Watermelon and pineapple chunks with a heavy dose of Tajin
Light and Fit Greek yogurt, plain or with granola (if I didn’t have for breakfast)
Carrots and celery with hummus or salsa (if I didn’t have for lunch)
String cheese or a Babybel cheese
Volpi’s Rolinis (a stick of mozz with prosciutto wrapped around it — sold at Trader Joe’s!)
An apple with 1 TBSP of peanut butter (sometimes 2 if I can afford it)
Hint of Sea Salt Nut Thins with hummus
A small handful of roasted and salted almonds
DINNER
This varies all the time because I love to cook! I either look at my own recipes on my blog or Google something or, lately, pick a Defined Dish recipe to make. Regardless of what it is, I enter its info into MFP to make sure it’s within my goals for the day (and the more protein, the better!).
DESSERT
A serving size of Trader Joe’s Light Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice Cream (SO GOOD) OR
2-3 Trader Joe’s small Peanut Butter cups (frozen! Hot tip) OR
2-3 cups of Boom Chicka Pop’s Light Kettle Corn (FUCKING PERFECT and 35 calories/cup)
I’m sure none of that was a surprise. In truth, it’s all pretty damn standard. I guess for me the difference is how much it varies from how I WAS eating most of 2019. Snacks were bowls of cereal or potato chips or Cheez-Its or Goldfish or candy, candy, candy (all due to where I work and the snacks they provide). Dinners were healthy but not portioned out, so I was probably eating 2 servings a meal. It’s the little changes that make the biggest differences (another thing Meg has reminded me of) and, while it’s hard as fuck some days and I want to say FUCK IT and grab that bag of Cheez-Its and wash it down with 6 Starbursts, I remember a) my goals, b) how good it feels to hit those goals, c) how great I’ve been feeling in general and then I snap the fuck out of it.
I hope this has helped or enlightened you in some way. Also, it goes without saying but I can’t recommend Meg enough if you’re looking to change things up big time. Reach out to her and tell her Emma sent you.
xox,
SHOP EMMAZON
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