What I'm Eating Wednesday

Here goes with another food diary! I’m still considering myself in a cut, and I’ll probably stay here for a little bit before I truly reverse up. I just felt like I needed a change and I actually do feel a tiny bit leaner so far at these numbers rather than when I was eating at 1618 calories. It’s confusing. I know. Here’s a quick summary of my history with my macro-goals: Feel free to skip! I get all chatty. Surprise surprise.

I started tracking about two years ago at those lowest numbers 1618 calories/170c/42f/140p… I leaned out in what felt like a really short time period and was able to start reversing my calories up within about a month. I reversed by raising carbs by 10 or 20, and fats by 3-5 each week until I reached about 2300 calories. I ate at those new numbers which were somewhere around 280c/60-70f/140p (don’t test the math, I’m too lazy to confirm right now!)… for about six to 8 months.. maybe close to a year, before I saw the scale creep up a few pounds over a trip and tried to do a mini cut. I thought it would fall off fast like the first time but it didn’t. Eventually I decided I’d accept the new, higher scale number and slightly thicker frame… I didn’t have a ton of fat, I had just enjoyed how lean I felt a few pounds lighter but realized it wasn’t worth it anymore!

So I gave my body a break and reversed up again, this time hoping to push my metabolism a little higher. I prepared myself to let the scale climb only one or two pounds… and at one point I was eating over 300 carbs and around 2500 calories! That was super fun. But I did start to feel a little softer… and after a few months… it was time to head to Hawaii and all sorts of fun beach trip with the family! So I did it again. Tried the quick pre-trip cut. Which I’ve read is a bad idea for a million reasons. But obviously I don’t listen… I just wanna feel cute in a suit! ha.

Sorry this is really dragging… but bottom line. Results were about the same. Maybe down a pound- maybe two. Maybe felt a little tighter. Who knows and who really cares since the next two months were filled with family, food, travel, and improvised work outs.

So that brings me to now. I came back from the summer… figured for sure after mostly maintaining at 2500 in the Spring…. then eating pretty liberally throughout the summer with rough tracking (definitely over 2200 each day) that THIS time, that 1618 calorie range would FOR SURE WORK. But SURPRISE! Kind of the same deal. Bodies are funny.

For reference, I’m five pounds up from where I like, but 9 or 10 up from where I maintained for 6-8 months… and actually 14 up from the leanest I got when I started macros! That sounds nuts. Maybe it’s the muscle I’ve added through weight training (I will admit I see some new shapes I’m appreciating!) maybe my tracking has gotten a tiny bit too relaxed, maybe I’m getting older, maybe my work outs are less intense… who knows! Luckily I enjoy this process of tracking and setting goals and experimenting. That’s where I’m at.

So after six weeks at those 1618 calories with pretty much no notable improvements to me, definitely none on the scale (not the best measure but still a measure) I decided to reverse just a hair to see if things started moving with a little more fuel. I’ll probably stay here for another month or two before I reverse back up to around 2300 calories… regardless of the scale!

In the mean time. It’s a good thing I love my food no matter what. Here’s what I’m eating today:

A full day of eating at 200c/52f/140p 1828 calories

What I ate today:

Pre-workout: Plain rice cake with 30 g light and fit yogurt, 20 grams nectarines, 3 g PB drizzle, 3 g granola
Post workout: Tried the new pumpkin spice flapjack mighty muffin! (It wasn’t in My Fitness Pal yet so I logged the S’more… but I hate the s’more FYI!) Did half, with 75 g pumpkin light and fit yogurt, 75 g cottage cheese, 15 g figs, 15 g blueberries, 5 g granola, 4 g mini chocolate chips, 3 g PB drizzle. (I know I get HOOKED ON THINGS. And then I drizzle them in a tiny bit of peanut butter that seem to small to matter but it’s NOT!)
Lunch: My usual Turkey Crunch Wrap. I tried! I tried to consider something new, pretty much for your sake. And — so you wouldn’t think I am the weirdest and most habitual eater of all time. But the truth is out. I am the weirdest and most habitual eater of all time. At least I don’t drizzle this in peanut butter. But I did stuff it with the few decent peach slices I could gather. (You can use “lillie10” for 10% off a 24 pack of these wraps that I love if you decide you need some too!)
Snack: G2G bar! I’m well aware that protein bars are not the best way to make your food stretch when you’re in a cut. This has as many calories as my crunch wrap. But I don’t want a second crunch wrap in the afternoon. Things are busy and crazy with kids. I don’t want to think or plan or even weigh. I want to grab. I want to grab their cheezits and nibbles of their yogurt bowls of sips of their smoothies… and I want something sweet to survive the long journey ahead until bed time. Ha! So if I plan for this baby. I can push as long as I want and then when I find myself wanting to snatch something from my pantry. IT’S TIME. And then there’s literally nothing I’d rather eat because these are SUPER GOOD. It may as well be a chocolate chip cookie to me. And I’m not one of those people that doesn’t know what a real cookie tastes like. Trust me. And I do have a code for these… “Lillie” for 20% off on their website.
Dinner: These easy enchiladas! I’m just gonna swap out the chicken mixture I usually do for straight bbq pork because I made a bunch last night. I always run out of protein so I had to reduce my amount to just 120 g which will be lean… so if they seem too wimpy– I’ll just use three tortillas and free up a tiny handful of carbs for some mango on top or a little more granola or fruit on my dessert!
Dessert: (Copied in from last week): My favorite dessert bowl ever since I went to Hawaii and was trying to lighten up my usual massive dessert a little bit to compensate for all of the vacation eating! It sounds so weird and I’m sure it’s not for everyone but here’s what I do!
- 75 g each, low fat knudsen cottage cheese (brand matters big time to me), Dannon light and fit vanilla yogurt, and tonight, Dreyers Slow Churned mint chip. I mix those three things together and now I’ve got a big bowl to top! WIIIIITH……
- ½ of a Flapjacked double chocolate mighty muffin (that one’s technically an affiliate link FYI)… underdone, cooled a tiny bit and then plopped on the side. More details about those on the massive dessert bowl post over here. Or this lighter day-time version here.
- 7 g Cocoa bar in a Jar (I drizzle it on first and freeze for like two minutes while my muffin cools and I chop fruit)- I love Monique, whose company it is, and I LOVE the product. Small biz, so only sold online.- She gave me a code for 10% off so use this if you order: “LILLIELOVESMACROS10”
- 10 g Purely Elizabeth granola
- Sometimes like 4 g mini chocolate chips and/or peanut butter but not tonight
- 25 g bananas tonight (didn’t make it for the photo)– usually strawberries and peaches… I know the flavor combo sounds weird. But I. Can’t. Get. Enough. Something about the tart and sweet maybe? And the not too sweet because it’s not all ice cream? I don’t know but I’m digging it.